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Kelsey Cox
Kelsey Cox is the author of Pretty Dead Things. She writes stories within the horror and mystery genres.
Pretty Dead Things
Synopsis
Secrets emerge as a Texas beauty pageant turns deadly in this rich and addictive novel with a jaw-dropping twist from psychological suspense author Kelsey Cox. 2000: Isabelle Whitmore vanishes at Sherman Ranch in Anhalt, Texas, without a trace. 2025: The Lone Star Princess Pageant is about to begin, but this year it’s offering more than an annual dose of rhinestone heels and plunging necklines. Competition is stiffer than ever —and long standing grudges are about to resurface. Ingrid fled Anhalt in the wake of her sister Isabelle’s disappearance and has now returned, just in time for a construction crew to start digging up Sherman Ranch; the pageant brings up past traumas that Melanie can't forget; Cat, newly sober, starts to feel threatened in ways that bring back old demons; and Sarah Lynn, who comes from a long line of pageant winners, knows that losing is not an option. When old resentments and new confrontations reach their boiling point, temperatures drop to deadly degrees as a record-setting storm brings down the state’s power grid. With everyone trapped under one roof, scores will be settled, and more than one person will end up dead. Beauty dies. Secrets never do. KELSEY COX'S NOVELS ARE: "Riveting." —People "Heart-pumping." —Nina Simon "Jaw-dropping." —Amanda Eyre Ward "Joins my auto-buy list forever." —Rachel Hawkins
Vibe
Genres
Characters
Ingrid WhitmoreProtagonist
Isabelle's twin sister, who fled Anhalt after Isabelle's disappearance in 2000 and returns twenty-five years later as construction on Sherman Ranch threatens to unearth old secrets.
Kennedy ClaireAntagonist
Sarah Lynn's ruthless mother and a former pageant competitor herself, obsessed with her daughter's success.
Isabelle WhitmoreSupporting
Ingrid's twin sister, who vanished from Sherman Ranch during the pageant in 2000 and was never found.
Cat DennisSupporting
A newly sober mother rebuilding her relationship with her competing daughter while old fears resurface.
Melanie CampbellSupporting
A hospice nurse and the town's reliable "good egg," whose own past traumas surface as the pageant returns.
Frequently asked questions
Is Pretty Dead Things part of a series?
No. It's a standalone psychological thriller, Kelsey Cox's second novel after her 2025 debut, Party of Liars.
Is Anhalt, Texas a real place?
Yes. Anhalt is a real, largely abandoned unincorporated community in Comal County, in the Texas Hill Country. Sherman Ranch, where the story's events take place, is fictional.
Does the audiobook have multiple narrators?
Yes. The Macmillan Audio production uses multicast narration with five narrators — Andrew Eiden, Brittany Pressley, Mia Wurgaft, Saskia Maarleveld, and Stevi Incremona — voicing the novel's different point-of-view characters.