"A well-written, nuanced thriller...[An] excellent blend of cruel high school drama, family loyalty, small-town politics, and intrigue ensures that readers will not put this book down...A must have for teen collections."
Description
“Addictively unnerving…burrows right into the cracks of this small town’s foundation, revealing the gruesome truth at its core.” —Ryan La Sala, bestselling author of The Dead of Summer
Two siblings investigate the murder of a friend only to unearth even more deadly mysteries in their small town in this page-turning young adult thriller “that captures the seedy underbelly of small-town politics and the intense bonds of girlhood” (Kirkus Reviews) from the acclaimed author of Their Vicious Games.
When Mikky Graves left his small, stifling hometown of Prophets Lake to live with his estranged mother, he thought nothing could ever make him go back.
Until his sister Kyla’s best friend, Erin, is murdered.
Mikky never worried about leaving Kyla behind at their family-owned funeral home so long as she had Erin. But when Mikky heads home, determined to help Kyla grieve, the sister he encounters barely resembles the one he remembers. Mikky decides, then and there, to do the one thing that seems even more impossible than returning: stay.
As Kyla spirals further into her rage and secrets, Mikky realizes the only thing that can help his sister is finding the truth about who killed Erin. But the more he investigates, the further he’s pulled into other ugly mysteries of Prophets Lake and the beauty brand that is its lifeblood. The town’s rot runs deep, and everyone has something to hide. Perhaps no one more than Kyla herself.
Reviews
"Evoking Twin Peaks, Wellington’s latest delicately peels back the shiny facade of an all-American suburb to examine the darkness within...A compelling work that captures the seedy underbelly of small-town politics and the intense bonds of girlhood."
"Penetrating interrogations of grief, mental health, and the role one’s outward image plays in public perception elevate the overarching narrative, which Wellington presents with refreshing matter-of-factness across a sharp omniscient POV."
"With a mystery full of twists and turns, steeped in small-town secrets and the brutal politics of high school, Girls Who Play Dead is impossible to put down. The way complex characters grapple with grief, mental health, and fraught parental relationships is visceral, the prose heartfelt, and Wellington pulls it off flawlessly."
