Bodies to Die For

Brand’s sharp debut sets a murder mystery amid the cutthroat world of fitness influencers. Gemma Jorgenson is a model, bodybuilder, and personal trainer with half a million Instagram followers. After placing second in the national Bikini Olympia competition several years in a row, she’s confident she can finally take gold, boosting her following and potential brand deals in the process. Her path becomes clearer when Bianca Summers, who regularly stands between Gemma and the trophy, turns up dead in her hotel room. Gemma’s mixed feelings about Bianca’s murder give way to full-blown fear when more Bikini Olympia contestants are killed. Meanwhile, software engineer Ashley Sherma, who’s been yo-yo dieting since the fourth grade, has her life changed when she meets the charismatic and eccentric Lydia Wright, founder of the Fat Activist movement, which seeks to reduce the stigma around being overweight. Ashley puts her dark web skills to work for the organization, but soon learns its aims might be less liberatory than Lydia first let on. In short, punchy chapters that alternate perspectives between Gemma and Ashley, Brand—herself a former bodybuilder—sets the two women on a deliriously entertaining collision course. The mix of top-notch suspense and gleeful social satire makes this sing. Agent: Jackson Keeler, Inkworks Entertainment. (June)