The town of Wolf Ridge calls him The Smiley Face Killer. Bettina Holland calls him her father.

Everyone knows Bettina s father was the one who murdered her mother a decade ago. It s the subject of podcasts, murder tours, and even a highly anticipated docuseries. But after growing up grappling with what that means, a string of copycat murders forces Bett to answer a harder question: What if he didn t?

Old-money Bett must team up with the only person willing to investigate alongside her: bookish goth girl Eugenia, the mortician s daughter, who everyone says puts the makeup on corpses. Can this true crime princess unmask a murderer who s much closer to home than she ever imagined? 

Gritty, gripping, and propulsive from page one, Dead Girls Talking is a ride for readers who love to see girls get their hands dirty as they claw their way to the truth. Peterson s knife-sharp thriller cuts deep, with a wicked sense of humor, a wire-taut atmosphere, and a deadly serious approach to bigger issues of justice and female anger.

AS FEATURED ON THE NERD DAILY AND THE STAR TRIBUNE

"Spine-tingling." Booklist

"Engrossing. This is a book you won't want to put down." Crystal J. Bell, author of The Lamplighter