Beth Is Dead (2026) is Katie Bernet’s debut novel. It reconceives Louisa May Alcott’s classic 1868 novel, Little Women, as a metafictional murder mystery for young adults set in present-day Massachusetts. Bernet repurposes Beth March’s untimely death—a result of scarlet fever in Little Women—as a murder. The ensuing investigation generates paranoia as secrets emerge and public scrutiny wears on the March sisters, threatening to turn them against each other. Themes include The Ethics of Turning Private Lives into Narrative Content, Ambition and Jealousy Under the Pressure of Familial Roles, and The Tension Between Personal Grief and Public Performance. Beth Is Dead is a New York Times, USA Today, and #1 Indie bestseller and has been named an inaugural selection for Reese Witherspoon’s Gen Z Book Club “Sunnie Reads,” a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, an Indie Next Pick, an Apple Books Must-Listen, and a Spotify Editor’s Pick.

This guide refers to the e-book edition of the text published by Sarah Barley Books in 2026.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of addiction, bullying, child death, child sexual abuse, cursing, death by suicide, graphic violence, illness and death, sexual content, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and substance use.

Plot Summary

After a New Year’s Eve party at Sallie Gardiner’s house, Beth March doesn’t come home. Two of her sisters, Jo and Amy, search for her and find her body in the woods nearby. Meg March comes home from college to find the March residence swarming with reporters and police, including Detective Kirke, who suspects that Beth was murdered. Meg blames her father’s book about his daughters, titled Little Women, and the negative attention it has garnered, noting the fact that Beth dies at the end of the novel.

The previous summer, Meg and Jo attended the book launch for Little Women and were surprised to encounter angry protesters claiming that their father, Rob March, had exploited their stories for his career. This backlash escalated, leading to death threats, vandalism, and an intruder in their home. Rob headed to Canada to let things die down. Beth contended with a public who believed she had really died, sparking an identity crisis and a need to prove that she was making something of her life. In the fall, Beth fell in love with the new kid in school, Henry Hummel.

In the present, secrets and potential motives begin to emerge. Amy fought with Beth the night she died and won’t reveal what they fought about. Amy’s also keeping a secret about her romance with Laurie, who was in love with Jo until recently. Jo is seeking a book deal of her own, but her editor keeps pushing her to wring more drama and intrigue out of her family’s story. Meg is torn between the love she still feels for her former boyfriend, John Brooke, and her desire for a more affluent lifestyle than John can provide. John, who was also Beth’s piano tutor, admits that he drove Beth home from the party but insists that he dropped her off and watched her walk safely inside.

Later the previous summer, Aunt March, Rob’s sister, got Beth into Plumfield, a prestigious art school, and offered to pay her tuition. Amy, who wanted the money for a mentorship with famous painter Fred Vaughn, resented Beth’s opportunity. Things became awkward for Jo when Laurie said he loved her and she rejected him. Beth’s relationship with Henry got serious, and Meg became overwhelmed by her fall coursework at Harvard and her fraught relationship with Sallie, who threatened her over a shared secret.

In the present, Amy recalls telling Beth that she doesn’t deserve to go to Plumfield on New Year’s Eve and worries that her cruel words led Beth to die by suicide. Sallie organizes a candlelight vigil that sickens Jo because of how fake and performative it feels. Jo believes that Beth discovered that Sallie was somehow taking advantage of Meg and that Sallie may have killed Beth to keep her quiet. Henry, a computer whiz, helps Jo hack into Sallie’s Google Drive, where they learn that Meg actually authored the essay that got Sallie into Harvard. In fact, Meg has been doing all of Sallie’s coursework for two years. She admits this to the police, but they arrest John Brooke.

Meanwhile, the March family hasn’t been able to reach Rob for six months. He hasn’t returned calls to the police either. Jo, who idolizes her father, vows to find him. John is cleared of guilt by doorbell camera footage and by Jo’s admission that she faked the home intrusion last summer after stealing John’s recording device. When Amy is suspended for drinking alcohol at school, Aunt March accuses her of killing Beth for money. Amy is further horrified to learn that Fred Vaughn sexually abused her cousin and at least six other girls who participated in his art program, and she wonders if he killed Beth because she realized that he’s a predator.

The prior Christmas Eve, Beth and Henry fought over her decision to attend Plumfield. Henry said that he couldn’t live without her and insisted that she never leave him.

In the present, Jo accuses Amy of endangering Beth by being so selfish and naive about Fred. Feeling hurt and betrayed, Amy turns Jo’s notebook over to the police. It reveals Jo’s plan to write a book titled “Beth Is Dead” (286), which looks like motive to the detectives. Eager to identify the real killer, Jo looks for Little Women fans who were obsessed with Beth’s character and stumbles upon Henry’s copy of the book, filled with margin notes depicting just such an obsession.

At the same time, Meg receives information leading her to believe that their father never went to Canada but has been staying in the family cabin at Walden Pond. She and Jo drive there together and find their father’s belongings, but not their father. Henry follows Meg and Jo to the cabin, where he holds them at gunpoint after revealing that he killed Rob and Beth. Amy and Laurie track Jo’s location through her phone, sneak into the cabin, and overpower Henry, holding him until police arrive to arrest him.

Two months later, the remaining members of the March family scatter Rob and Beth’s ashes over Walden Pond. The sisters share their favorite memories of Beth and say goodbye. Henry has pleaded guilty in court and will be in prison for life. Amy is comforted by her belief that Beth would forgive her. Royalties from Little Women will eliminate the family’s financial burdens. Meg and John are back together, and Jo has accepted the romance between Amy and Laurie. Jo’s editor loved her manuscript and intends to publish it. It’s not the story of Beth’s death; it’s the story of her life.