Sarah Barley Books is thrilled to be launching with its inaugural publication, BETH IS DEAD by Katie Bernet (on sale January 6, 2026). Little Women meets One of Us Is Lying in this incredibly fun and original take on the Louisa May Alcott classic.
When Beth March is found dead in the woods on New Year’s Day, her sisters vow to uncover her murderer.
Suspects abound. There’s the neighbor who has feelings for not one but two of the girls. Meg’s manipulative best friend. Amy’s flirtatious mentor. And Beth’s lionhearted first love. But it doesn’t take the surviving sisters much digging to uncover motives each one of the March girls had for doing the unthinkable.
Jo, an aspiring author with a huge following on social media, would do anything to hook readers. Would she kill her sister for the story? Amy dreams of studying art in Europe, but she’ll need money from her aunt—money that’s always been earmarked for Beth. And Meg wouldn’t dream of hurting her sister…but her boyfriend might have, and she’ll protect him at all costs.
Despite the growing suspicion within the family, it’s hard to know for sure if the crime was committed by someone close to home. After all, the March sisters were dragged into the spotlight months ago when their father published a controversial bestseller about his own daughters.
Beth could have been killed by anyone. Beth’s perspective told in flashback unfolds next to Meg, Jo, and Amy’s increasingly fraught investigation as the tragedy threatens to rip the Marches apart.
KATIE BERNET is the author of Beth Is Dead, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. She’s an award-winning creative director, a long-standing member of the DFW Writer’s Workshop, and the director of the 2025 DFW Writer’s Conference. As the oldest of three sisters, she’s a diehard fan of Little Women.
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