A Beauty Queen’s Guide to Murder and Mayhem is the first book in Kristen Bird’s A Dakota Green Mystery series.
Dakota Green is taken off guard when she finds out that before her mother’s death, her mother arranged for Dakota to compete in a local beauty pageant. Her mother’s hope was that Dakota would win so that she wouldn’t be saddled with the debt from her medical bills.
I signed up for this book, but I was a bit afraid to read it. I thought it might go one of two ways. Either I would hate the main character because she would be a stereotypical beauty queen type and the book would be a slog, or the main character would be a fish out of water and the story would be very enjoyable. I’m happy to say this book was the latter, and I really loved it.
I loved the characters in the book. The contestants were refreshingly friendly and supportive of each other, rather than cutthroat and mean, like I expected them to be. (I will admit, I expected the stereotype.)
The mystery also kept me guessing. So many people had secrets, that any one of the seemed like viable suspects for the crime. The resolution of the case was a surprise, and even after that, there was a final surprise before the end of the book.
I enjoyed A Beauty Queen’s Guide to Murder and Mayhem, and recommend it to anyone who loves a cozy mystery with strong themes of family and friendship.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
A Beauty Queen’s Guide to Murder and Mayhem will be available on February 28 2025.
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