A crown. A sash. A body count. When a contestant at the Miss America pageant is found dead, Detective Monica Meyers knows it's no suicide. The evidence screams murder-even as her superiors push for a quick cover-up. Haunted by her own past and risking her career, Monica makes a dangerous choice: send investigative journalist Clara Reese undercover into the pageant itself. Behind the sequins and staged smiles lies something far darker: contestants who vanish without explanation, sponsors with secrets to protect, and a system built to silence the truth. As Monica hunts the case from the outside and Clara risks everything on the inside, the two women edge closer to exposing the darkness at the heart of America's most iconic competition. But the closer they get, the more dangerous the game becomes. Because someone is willing to kill to keep the crown untarnished. Miss America is a razor-sharp thriller for fans of Karin Slaughter, Lisa Gardner, and Tana French-where glamour meets grit, and beauty hides blood.