Why we’re excited
Over two summers, three young women have drowned in the lake at Tomahawk, Wisconsin. A cancelled true-crime podcaster arrives hoping the story will rescue her career, and the town's new interim sheriff wants her gone before the place becomes famous for the wrong reason. Then another body surfaces.
Jeneva Rose has built a large readership with twisty domestic thrillers such as The Perfect Marriage, and here she turns to a small-town mystery with a media angle. This is one to keep in mind for readers who enjoy podcast-driven crime stories and two women with opposed motives forced into the same investigation, especially as a summer read.
On our most-anticipated list since 21 October 2026. See all the most anticipated books →
What to know about Dead Girl Summer
Jeneva Rose is a familiar name here: 7 of Jeneva Rose’s books have full reviews, averaging 3.9 out of 5. Our favourite to date is Sometimes I Scare Myself – A Collection of Horror (4★).
It sits at No. 2 on our April 2027 most-anticipated list, which ranks the month's books by how many readers have saved them.
From the publisher
This limited deluxe hardcover edition features sprayed edges, illustrated endpapers, and jacket effects - available on the first printing only!
#1 New York Times bestselling author Jeneva Rose returns with her boldest, twistiest thriller yet, where one woman needs a story to save her career—and another needs it to disappear. Welcome to the beach read with a body count.
For two years in a row, the lake town of Tomahawk, Wisconsin has buried its young women. Two drowned the first summer. One more the next.
The locals have a name for it now: Dead Girl Summer.
Disgraced true-crime podcast host Taryn Voss knows all about names—and how quickly they can turn on you. Once the face of a chart-topping show, she was canceled after platforming a deceitful witness whose lies led to an innocent man’s murder. Her audience vanished, advertisers fled, and her credibility collapsed overnight.
So when Taryn hears about Dead Girl Summer—three accidental drownings in a town that survives on being seen as harmless—she sees one last chance at redemption. If she can succeed where law enforcement couldn’t, she won’t just reclaim her career. She’ll reclaim her own story.
But Tomahawk doesn’t want her.
Interim Sheriff Dana Mercer has spent her whole life in this town. Her badge is new, but her name isn’t—and if Tomahawk becomes synonymous with Dead Girl Summer, so does she. She has no intention of letting an outsider turn her town’s darkest chapter into content, especially one with a reputation for chasing a story no matter who gets hurt.
Then a fourth body is found in the lake.
With tourists watching and tensions rising, solving one death means questioning them all.
Description supplied by the publisher.
We haven’t read Dead Girl Summer yet. When our review goes up, it will replace this page.
