Book Review: Beth Is Dead by Katie Bernet

With its festive backdrop and its heartwarming themes of family, giving and gratitude, Little Women has long been a beloved Christmas read for many classic book lovers. And sure enough, this past Christmas I picked up a story about the unforgettable March sisters, Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth. But this wasn’t the titular little women as we’ve always known them. No, this was Katie Bernet’s contemporary YA retelling of the famous quartet – and true to the original story, Beth does die. Only her body is discovered within the initial pages, and she hasn’t passed away from a chronic illness. She’s been murdered.

When Beth’s body is found in the snow not far from the March family home after a New Year’s Eve party, the remaining March sisters are all distraught. They’re also all potential suspects, along with the other people who came into contact with Beth in the weeks and days leading up to her death. Beth was the sweetest of the sisters, the most shy, mild-mannered and sincere. She was a homebody who liked staying at home and playing her piano. Who could have wanted to kill her? And what possible motive could they have had?

The March sisters, different as they all are, have always been close, but Beth’s murder reveals fractures in their relationships. As petty jealousies, simmering resentments and long-held secrets bubble to the surface, the sisters are forced to consider if one of them might have killed Beth. Dig deep enough and almost everyone has a motive, but only one person knows what really happened that night and they’ll go to dangerous lengths to keep the truth from coming out.

At first it’s like a poem that doesn’t make sense until you’ve read it a few times. Beth is lying in the snow. And the snow is red. And the red isn’t just pooled around her but seeping from her. And her eyes are open, but behind them, she’s gone.”

Shifting between the four sisters’ perspectives in both the present and the past, we slowly build up the backstory of the March family. In the past, the girls’ father – a famous author who’s adored by all his children but especially aspiring writer Jo – has done the unthinkable and written a book about his daughters. Not only does its publication send shockwaves through his close-knit family but it’s met with hostility and protests from the public too. From there, the sisters’ happy, ordinary lives begin to spiral and Bernet peppers each chapter with clues, red herrings and dead ends that readers must unravel along with the police trying to solve Beth’s murder. The pace doesn’t let up for a second and the constant swivelling of the spotlight on suspects meant I didn’t guess the culprit until it was finally revealed at the end.

What makes Beth Is Dead such a compulsively readable and satisfying book is how Bernet applies and reshapes Louisa May Alcott’s narrative. Despite the contemporary makeover, each of the sisters are instantly recognisable from Alcott’s story: responsible and nurturing eldest Meg; impatient and headstrong tomboy Jo, soft and virtuous pianist Beth, and petulant, tempestuous artist Amy. Their parents and the boys in the sisters’ lives also share the qualities of Alcott’s creations, and there’s a real joy in seeing how the original characters – so brilliantly written and fleshed out – behave in a modern, social media orientated world. Alcott allowed the March sisters to grow throughout the book and Bernet does the same here, with Beth once again at the heart of their world.

For all the similarities, Bernet could never be accused of trying to imitate or repeat the original story. Beth Is Dead feels original and the pacy murder mystery adds an extra thrill to this story of young women grappling with the pressures of growing up and trying to find their places in the world, whilst navigating sisterhood, love and family. Bernet explores feminism, peer pressure, cancel culture, obsession and grief through a sharp coming-of-age lens, paying homage to the iconic source material but making it entirely relevant for a new generation of readers who might not be familiar with the March sisters.

If you’re a fan of Little Women and you love a twisty whodunnit with a constantly rotating list of suspects, Beth Is Dead will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. It’s obviously a little too soon to be crowning the best YA books of the year but this one’s an early contender.

★★★★★

Beth Is Dead is published by Scholastic on 15 January 2026