Readers will find all the timeless themes of Louise May Alcott’s Little Women—family, independence, selflessness, love, ambition and sisterhood—in Katie Bernet’s debut YA novel, but in a contemporary setting with all the flair and complications of modern life. Mr. March, a hopelessly optimistic writer, pens a thinly disguised novel about his family, including his four daughters Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. He feels it is his masterpiece, but the book is quickly disparaged as an unfair exposé. Most importantly, Beth dies in the novel, which results in him getting death threats; for the family’s safety, he goes into hiding. Even with all this publicity swirling, the March girls and their mother keep their heads up, and Beth and Amy even go to a New Year’s Eve party. When Jo discovers Beth’s bed empty the next morning, she and Amy soon find her—dead, with a halo of blood around her head. Nearly everyone in town is a suspect, including the March sisters, who it seems have all been keeping their own secrets. Beth may have been having second thoughts about attending the prestigious Plumfield Academy, Meg could be in love with Beth’s piano tutor, Amy and her cousin Florence’s art talent may not be the primary interest of their mentor, and Jo’s journalistic nose for clues is quite useful. Each chapter alternates among the sisters, offering “Then” and “Now” points of view, adding to the story’s layers. This has all the romance and heart of the original, with clever twists and darkness in the reimagined storyline. Readers are kept guessing until the very end as these little women find Beth’s killer
