Elizabeth Little

"Marissa Dahl ... travels to a small island off the coast of Delaware to work with the legendary--and legendarily demanding--director Tony Rees on a feature film with a familiar logline. Some girl dies ... Whatever the script is, her job is the same. She'll spend her days in the editing room, doing what she does best: turning pictures into stories. But she soon discovers that on this set, nothing is ... as it seems. There are rumors of accidents and indiscretions, of burgeoning scandals and perilous schemes. Half the crew has been fired. The other half wants to quit. Even the actors have figured out something is wrong. And no one seems to know what happened to the editor she was hired to replace. Then she meets the intrepid and incorrigible teenage girls who are determined to solve the real-life murder that is the movie's central subject, and before long, Marissa is drawn into the investigation herself. The only problem is, the killer may still be on the loose. And he might not be finished.

A Novel

Pretty As a Picture

Not the most exciting story but I think this book was very well written. I resonated with some of the quotes, like, “I wonder if her forearms, too, are lean and freckled from a lifetime of being the first one to roll up her sleeves and get things done.” (pg 86). Good book! 

Alicia Evans

I read this in a day. the thing that really caught my attention was the narrator. I felt like I related to her in such a raw and unfiltered way and I feel like that's going to stick with me. overall, it was pretty fast paced although I felt it took a while for action to get started, and the ending was pretty satisfying

Megan Christensen

I read this in a day. the thing that really caught my attention was the narrator. I felt like I related to her in such a raw and unfiltered way and I feel like that's going to stick with me. overall, it was pretty fast paced although I felt it took a while for action to get started, and the ending was pretty satisfying



This is one of those rare books that I enjoyed from the very first page. This mystery thriller is centered around Marissa Dahl, a movie editor, who is hired at the last minute on an ongoing production in Delaware. While working there Marissa encounters many suspicious accidents and eventually a murder that she sets out to solve. The plot and the characters in this novel are top-tier. Everyone in this novel is unapologetically themselves and I love it. Marissa, who is heavily implied to be neurodivergent, is trying to cope with her new surroundings while trying to solve a murder and unfurl a decades-old conspiracy. I related to Marissa throughout the whole novel. A strength of this novel is that even the most unlikable characters are still extremely interesting. It’s always hard trying to write reviews for mysteries because I never want to give anything away. I say all of this to say that this novel is something I would recommend to others and is a fairly quick and enjoyable read.

Sydney Alston

Anna Price

If I was more into movies, I think I would have enjoyed the stories and all of the little references more. Overall it was a good quick read, but fairly predictable.

Some girl dies. Film editor Marissa has read better loglines for films, but still jumps at the chance to travel to a small island to work with the legendary - and legendarily demanding - director Tony Rees. But she soon discovers that on this set, nothing is as it seems. There are rumours of accidents and indiscretions, of burgeoning scandals and perilous schemes. In the midst of this chaos, Marissa is herself drawn into an amateur investigation of the real-life murder that is the movie's central subject. The only problem is, the killer may still be on the loose. And he might not be finished. 'Pretty as a Picture is a glorious buffet - a twisty story, a cinephile's delight, a knockout of a heroine. I loved it' - Laura Lippman, author of Sunburn

Esther

sometimes oddly specific other times a bit outlandish but I love it!

  "No" I say. "Villains, advance the plot. You`re just a second-act complication. "
 and 
  He certainly doesn't need to hear my opinion about the comparative advantages of Avid vs. Adobe Premiere. I could tell him about craft services, maybe?

Šárka Vomelová

I came up with these notes while reading.

• i love the narration of the audiobook
• she's obviously a nerd but she's annoying about it and somehow always brings it up
• she's different but how? 
• useless details
• I'm enjoying the "flashbacks from future" in the form od podcast
• i don't get the relationships of our protagonist with Amy, Josh or Tony 
• love the cinematography randomness
• working with teenagers?
• the kind od creepy and uneasy atmosphere

I guess thats all. I still enjoyed the audiobook and parts of the stories. The first half was very weak for me. The rest was interesting but the last sentence woke up the anger within me.

Karolina

Synopsis: 

Marissa Dahl is a shy film editor who’s been hired to work with the legendary director Tony Rees on his new film. She travels to the small island off the coast of Delaware, where the movie is going to be shot. In the beginning, she tries to stay out of everyone's way and spend her time in the editing room, turning pictures into actual stories. However, even she was able to notice that something very wrong was going on around the set. Scandals, accidents, schemes, and fired crew members were only the beginning of the big mystery. Besides it all, no one seems to know what happened to the editor she was hired to replace. 

After some time she meets two young girls who are determined to solve the murder mystery, which is also a central subject in the movie they are shooting. Shortly after Marissa is drawn into the investigation and tries to find as many clues on who’s the killer as she can, especially that it seems that the killer may still be on the loose. 

Book review: 

I made a huge mistake when I read this book on my way to Croatia. I’m so bad with picking up the important details when I’m in the car and in this book it was very important to do. This is the reason why I cannot tell you if I was surprised by every plot twist because I didn’t pay enough attention or because it was unexpected. That’s my fault. Wrong time and wrong story. However, I can tell you that the plotline was very interesting. I’ve always liked to read stories based around Hollywood and movies, so when I saw this book on NetGalley I immediately decided to read it! I wasn’t disappointed when I finally read it. 

The story focuses on Marissa who at first doesn’t seem like a very interesting character, however, with time I found her interest in mystery very intriguing. Especially, that most of the time she repeats that she prefers to stay back in the editing room and do her job rather than being around people. However, when she learns that no one working on the movie knows why the previous editor was fired, she tries to get out of her comfort zone and find a way to contact him. During her little investigation, she learns much more about the strange atmosphere and accidents on the set. I think from this time on the story and the protagonist was growing on me and I wanted to know more and more about what’s gonna happen next. The introduction of the so-called killer of the girl they made a movie about in the early stage of the book was so unexpected that I just wanted to learn more and more with each chapter. The character I would like to read more about in the book would be Tony, the director. I don’t think we had enough scenes with him to be able to analyze his personality and actions, even if he played a very important part in the story. 

To be honest, I didn’t expect this book to end in the way it did. On one side it was a much smoother ending than I was expecting but on the other, I would never guess that this is how it will end. I don’t know if it’s good or not but I was satisfied with this ending. It was a very nice closure to the book. 

I would like to thank NetGalley, Pushkin Vertigo, and Elizabeth Little for providing me with a copy of this book!

Randy Robbins

I loved the concept of this book and I could empathisize with the lead character. I usually feel like a lot of books should be edited down but this one should have actually been longer. Once she arrived to the movie set, the entire storyline was rushed with very little build-up. Outside of the lead, there was not character development and I found myself not caring about the actual mystery. Not a bad read but it could have been better.

Megan Rose

** spoiler alert **
           Pretty as a Picture was such a thrill to read! I could not put this down and Marissa is now one of my favorite narrators. I found myself laughing out loud at all of the little quips she and the other characters make. I loved all of the film references and the supporting characters. This was a great book to start the new year off with.

Kay Sutherland

A Wall Street Journal, Seattle Times, and CrimeReads Best Mystery Book of 2020 "Funny, fast-paced, and a pleasure to read." --The Wall Street Journal An egomaniacal movie director, an isolated island, and a decades-old murder--the addictive new novel from the bestselling author of Dear Daughter Marissa Dahl, a shy but successful film editor, travels to a small island off the coast of Delaware to work with the legendary--and legendarily demanding--director Tony Rees on a feature film with a familiar logline. Some girl dies. It's not much to go on, but the specifics don't concern Marissa. Whatever the script is, her job is the same. She'll spend her days in the editing room, doing what she does best: turning pictures into stories. But she soon discovers that on this set, nothing is as it's supposed to be--or as it seems. There are rumors of accidents and indiscretions, of burgeoning scandals and perilous schemes. Half the crew has been fired. The other half wants to quit. Even the actors have figured out something is wrong. And no one seems to know what happened to the editor she was hired to replace. Then she meets the intrepid and incorrigible teenage girls who are determined to solve the real-life murder that is the movie's central subject, and before long, Marissa is drawn into the investigation herself. The only problem is, the killer may still be on the loose. And he might not be finished. A wickedly funny exploration of our cultural addiction to tales of murder and mayhem and a thrilling, behind-the-scenes whodunit, Pretty as a Picture is a captivating page-turner from one of the most distinctive voices in crime fiction.

Pretty As a Picture A Novel

Reviews