{"id":36775,"date":"2026-08-21T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/twinsietalk.com\/?p=36775"},"modified":"2026-08-04T09:59:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T14:59:07","slug":"review-thriller-pretty-dead-things-by-kelsey-cox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/twinsietalk.com\/?p=36775","title":{"rendered":"#review #thriller Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81z3wFuF1L._SL1500_.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-36776\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81z3wFuF1L._SL1500_.jpg?resize=197%2C300\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81z3wFuF1L._SL1500_.jpg?resize=197%2C300&amp;ssl=1 197w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81z3wFuF1L._SL1500_.jpg?resize=674%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 674w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81z3wFuF1L._SL1500_.jpg?resize=768%2C1167&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81z3wFuF1L._SL1500_.jpg?w=987&amp;ssl=1 987w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/synopsis.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-26068\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/synopsis.jpg?resize=300%2C100\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/synopsis.jpg?resize=300%2C100&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/synopsis.jpg?resize=768%2C256&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/synopsis.jpg?w=900&amp;ssl=1 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\">Secrets emerge as a<\/span><span class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\">\u00a0Texas\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\">beauty pageant turns deadly in this rich and addictive novel with a jaw-dropping twist from psychological suspense author Kelsey Cox.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\">2000:<\/span>Isabelle Whitmore vanishes at Sherman Ranch in Anhalt, Texas, without a trace.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\">2025:\u00a0<\/span>The Lone Star Princess Pageant is about to begin, but this year it\u2019s offering more than an annual dose of rhinestone heels and plunging necklines. Competition is stiffer than ever \u2015and long standing grudges are about to resurface.\u00a0<span class=\"a-text-bold\">I<\/span><span class=\"a-text-bold\">ngrid<\/span>\u00a0fled Anhalt in the wake of her sister Isabelle\u2019s 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\u00a0<span class=\"a-text-bold\">Melanie\u00a0<\/span>can&#8217;t forget;\u00a0<span class=\"a-text-bold\">Cat,\u00a0<\/span>newly sober, starts to feel threatened in ways that bring back old demons; and\u00a0<span class=\"a-text-bold\">Sarah Lynn<\/span>, who comes from a long line of pageant winners, knows that losing is not an option.<\/p>\n<p>When old resentments and new confrontations reach their boiling point, temperatures drop to deadly degrees as a record-setting storm brings down the state\u2019s power grid. With everyone trapped under one roof, scores will be settled, and more than one person will end up dead.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/goodreads.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-25373\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/goodreads.jpg?resize=300%2C100\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/goodreads.jpg?resize=300%2C100&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/goodreads.jpg?resize=768%2C256&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/goodreads.jpg?w=900&amp;ssl=1 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/240019831-pretty-dead-things\">https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/240019831-pretty-dead-things<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/buylinks.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-25625\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/buylinks.jpg?resize=300%2C100\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/buylinks.jpg?resize=300%2C100&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/buylinks.jpg?resize=768%2C256&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/buylinks.jpg?w=900&amp;ssl=1 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Pretty-Dead-Things-Kelsey-Cox\/dp\/1250378842\/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.gZnshVjW2XFvkzSYTHJt5Ea34L7w4fzlbZPX7pRUr1cgMcuFDTV7UiIv45A911f25kmhM21nCUtHjwfCn-TbaxCWam_rsNuLCkR_xvXVxYk-6VTBbAUSRxULHbU66_192QLztylKMvggMlfk0kjMmnVaX70NT5SULVN0_WErifvuC7g4Cn6bHxPuPy5XsJTk1gMuh43JlFgudCMWFH75MXp5YemgJwO73AdHqUCQvYw.Ifz3JXBIijEMus-765BVbEx03-XjSuOKE2S3gCni0f4&amp;qid=1785854378&amp;sr=8-1\">https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Pretty-Dead-Things-Kelsey-Cox\/dp\/1250378842\/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.gZnshVjW2XFvkzSYTHJt5Ea34L7w4fzlbZPX7pRUr1cgMcuFDTV7UiIv45A911f25kmhM21nCUtHjwfCn-TbaxCWam_rsNuLCkR_xvXVxYk-6VTBbAUSRxULHbU66_192QLztylKMvggMlfk0kjMmnVaX70NT5SULVN0_WErifvuC7g4Cn6bHxPuPy5XsJTk1gMuh43JlFgudCMWFH75MXp5YemgJwO73AdHqUCQvYw.Ifz3JXBIijEMus-765BVbEx03-XjSuOKE2S3gCni0f4&amp;qid=1785854378&amp;sr=8-1<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dee.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-25380\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dee.jpg?resize=300%2C100\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dee.jpg?resize=300%2C100&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dee.jpg?resize=768%2C256&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/dee.jpg?w=900&amp;ssl=1 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>i bought this book and here is my honest review<\/p>\n<p>Small town drama surrounding the local Miss Lone Star Princess Pageant, apparently someone would kill for the title. Izzy went missing 25 years ago and her family never got the answers or knew where she was. friends turned on each other, and Izzy&#8217;s boyfriend Ben was the main suspect for the town. But when local teens were trespassing where they weren&#8217;t supposed to be they under covered the remains of Izzy, days before the pageant. but now that she&#8217;s been found more questions than answers were brought to the surface. will the family get answers now that she was found all these years later or will someone else be added to the Miss Lone Star Princess Pageant death list. omg this was such a great mystery read I never saw the ending coming defiantly keeps you on your toes<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/abouttheauthor.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-25376\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/abouttheauthor.jpg?resize=300%2C100\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/abouttheauthor.jpg?resize=300%2C100&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/abouttheauthor.jpg?resize=768%2C256&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/twinsietalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/abouttheauthor.jpg?w=900&amp;ssl=1 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kelsey Cox received her MFA in fiction from Purdue University and works from home in the Texas Hill Country. You can often find her writing at Mammen Family Public Library, chasing around her two young daughters, or watching British mysteries with her mom and aunts. On nights when bedtime goes as planned, she enjoys curling up on the sofa, glass of wine in hand, and a book with complicated characters and a killer twist in her lap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Secrets emerge as a\u00a0Texas\u00a0beauty 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:\u00a0The Lone Star Princess Pageant is about to begin, but this year it\u2019s offering more than an annual dose of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/twinsietalk.com\/?p=36775\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">#review #thriller Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1163,838,437,115],"tags":[1908],"class_list":["post-36775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mystery","category-review","category-standalone","category-thriller","tag-kelsey-cox"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paSW8H-9z9","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twinsietalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twinsietalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twinsietalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twinsietalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twinsietalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36775"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/twinsietalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36777,"href":"https:\/\/twinsietalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36775\/revisions\/36777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twinsietalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twinsietalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twinsietalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}