Three starred reviews!
Beth March’s sisters will stop at nothing to track down her killer—until they begin to suspect each other—in this “brilliantly snappy…electrifying” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) debut thriller that’s also a bold, contemporary reimagining of the beloved classic Little Women.
When Beth March is found dead in the woods on New Year’s Day, her sisters vow to uncover her murderer.
Suspects abound. There’s the neighbor who has feelings for not one but two of the girls. Meg’s manipulative best friend. Amy’s flirtatious mentor. And Beth’s lionhearted first love. But it doesn’t take the surviving sisters much digging to uncover motives each one of the March girls had for doing the unthinkable.
Jo, an aspiring author with a huge following on social media, would do anything to hook readers. Would she kill her sister for the story? Amy dreams of studying art in Europe, but she’ll need money from her aunt—money that’s always been earmarked for Beth. And Meg wouldn’t dream of hurting her sister…but her boyfriend might have, and she’ll protect him at all costs.
Despite the growing suspicion within the family, it’s hard to know for sure if the crime was committed by someone close to home. After all, the March sisters were dragged into the spotlight months ago when their father published a controversial bestseller about his own daughters. Beth could have been killed by anyone.
Beth’s perspective told in flashback unfolds next to Meg, Jo, and Amy’s increasingly fraught investigation as the tragedy threatens to rip the Marches apart.---from the publisher
400 pages 978-1665988698 Ages 13 and up
Keywords: suspense thriller, sisters, murder, mystery and detective, retelling, 13 year old, 14 year old, 15 year old, 16 year old
*****
The home of the Little Women, the March sisters, is quiet in the early morning when Jo stops writing and goes looking for her family. Beth's bed is empty which stops Jo for just a moment until she realizes that Amy's bed is empty too which means the two sisters are together... somewhere.
Last night was Sally Gardiner's New Year's Eve party and Amy and Beth both attended. It was the end of a year and the beginning, hopefully, of the rest of their lives. Beth had auditioned at Plumfield and she's hoping to go to the school and show the world what she can do. Amy is waiting in the wings hoping for enough money to go to Europe to explode her own career- in art.
Then, Amy comes up the staircase, 15 years old, hunched and not herself. Jo is smart enough to know something isn't right. When she discovers Amy left Beth at the party the night before she goes to find Beth and Amy comes along.
They take the shortcut .... a shortcut that will deliver them to a sister in the snow. Then the questions begin.
Every person who has read LITTLE WOMEN knows exactly how Beth died and it wasn't late at night in the cold snow. We know the jealousies, the hopes, the competition, the romance that the lMarch sisters experience in their home waiting for their father to come home. It's a story of connection and helping others and of love.
If you love a good murder mystery with breadcrumbs and tempting clues, you have a good one here. See if you can figure it out before the last couple of chapters. Fun.
But, sitting back after reading this, you have to wonder about what was missing here. These are the sisters we met and stayed with as they met successes and disappointment under the steady hand of their Marmee.
I wonder if the readers of today would feel comfortable with the standards and expectations of our Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth. Do today's readers feel more comfortable with murder and mental illness? Do they need to see someone experience darkness.... the darkness that mirrors their own fears?
The March sisters lived lives in a small world and their love was their most important possession. They weren't afraid to imagine, to be silly, to dress up, to be jealous, and to care.
BETH IS DEAD... but she knew who she was and she had the courage to risk her dreams. She could forgive others. Sounds like someone you would want to know, to emulate, and to share your own dreams with.
So, what's the real mystery here?
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
