Review of Pretty Dead Queens

 I received this book from Netgalley for a fair and honest review.

Pretty Dead Queens by Alexa Donne

Publisher: Crown

Page count: 336

After the death of her mom (screw cancer), seventeen-year-old Cecelia Ellis goes to live with her estranged grandmother, a celebrated author whose Victorian mansion is as creepy as the murder mysteries she writes. On the surface, life is utterly ordinary in the California coastal town . . . until the homecoming queen is murdered. And she’s not Seaview’s first pretty dead queen.

With a copycat killer on the loose, Cecelia throws herself into the investigation, determined to crack the case like the heroines in her grandmother’s books. But the more Cecelia digs into the town’s secrets, the more she worries that her own mystery might not have a storybook ending. 

What I thought

I am always looking for a good young adult mystery and they normally end up being about average. This one I am having a hard time deciding what I my thoughts are on it. Part of me thinks it was sort of average, but the ending was pretty interesting. 

Cecelia has to move in with her grandmother that she doesn't really know very well because her mother died of cancer and she is only seventeen. Her grandmother isn't just an ordinary one, she is a legend in the small town. She is the successful author of several murder mysteries but the big thing is, is that she wrote a book based on a true story that happened right there in the town. 

Cecelia learns from some kids in school that a long time ago there was a homecoming queen murdered and that Maura's first book was based on that murder and that between it and the movie it has pretty much made Seaview a tourist town because people have morbid curiousity. 

Cecelia becomes friends with some of the popular sect, probably because of who her grandmother is, but she doesn't care. She likes them and they seem cool and Natalie seems to be taking her under her wings or making her into her newest play thing, but Cecelia lets it happen. Then during the homecoming football game after those who are running for homecoming Queen have their percession through the football field it's not long till Cecelia finds Natalie in the same school pool, and it looks a lot like the murder from before. 

Maybe it's part curiosity and part dealing with her mothers death but Cecelia decides she must be the one who figures out what happened. There are a lot of suspects, all of her friends plus a few others. 

It took me way longer than it should have to read this but I don't think it's the books fault, I just was busy and it was easier to listen than read, but that also means it didn't grab me either. The first 30% was a bit draggy as the murder doesn't happen till about 30% and then it started getting more interesting but still didn't really grab me but at the same time I wanted to know who done it. 

I thought it was kind of easy to get the killer of the present day murder but a little harder for the older murder. Even if it was easier to guess a few things it could be harder for some to guess the twist and that was probably why I am not sure what I want to rate this one. 

I am going to go with maybe my own personal rating of 3.5 stars, but 4 stars on Goodreads.