The prized girl : a novel
(Book)

Days after a young pageant queen named Jenny is found murdered, her small town grieves the loss alongside her picture-perfect parents. At first glance, Jenny's tragic death appears clear-cut for investigators. The most obvious suspect is one of her fans, an older man who may have gotten too close for comfort. But Jenny's half-sister, Virginia--the sarcastic black sheep of the family--isn't so sure of his guilt and takes matters into her own hands to find the killer. But for Jenny's case and Virginia's investigation, there's more to the story. Virginia, still living in town and haunted by her own troubled teenage years, suspects that a similar darkness lay beneath the sparkling veneer of Jenny's life. Alternating between Jenny's final days and Virginia's determined search for the truth, the sisters' dual narratives follow a harrowing trail of suspects, with surprising turns that race toward a shocking finale.

At first glance Jenny's death appears clear-cut for investigators: the murder of a former pageant queen from a safe and loving family, the most obvious suspect an obsessive older man. But her sarcastic, older half-sister Virginia isn't so sure of his guilt. She suspects that a darkness lay beneath the sparkling veneer of Jenny's life, and sets out on a determined search for the truth. -- adapted from jacket