Publishers Weekly
05/13/2024
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)
acclaimed writer and director Susan Walter
Twisty, surprising, and dripping with satire, Lori Brand puts the ‘die’ in diet in this strikingly original murder mystery set in the world of competitive bodybuilding. A fascinating cast of deliciously demented characters will keep you guessing who dunnit, and who’s next. I absolutely devoured it!”
Imogen Church
It’s BLOODY BRILLIANT! Punchy, ballsy, funny, uplifting, and so thrilling that I missed it whenever I put it down. In fact, I read the last quarter in one straight go, scrolling my tablet with my nose because I needed to get the washing up done, but didn’t want to stop! It has the acerbic humour and emotional punch of Physical. I literally cheered out loud at the line: ‘Then she drags her foot back. And kicks Craig in the nuts like it’s the Super Bowl.’ Followed by a massive laugh at ‘I zap him in the balls. As a precaution. I swear.’ It’s a dream of a book and WHAT A DEBUT! Never mind Bodies to Die For, this book is to die for.”
author of Only the Dead Know Peace Alberto Mansur
Brand takes you deep inside the fitness mania. She gives us a peek behind the Instafabulous curtain on how influencers’ lives are less than perfect, and way less than meets the eye; all in a contest where the stakes are literally life and death.”
Booklist
Brand’s debut thriller doesn’t shy away from calling out the ways women are exploited by social media and the fitness and diet industries while simultaneously delivering an entertaining story filled with surprising twists.”
Fangirl Nation
Brand walks a careful line, showing the destructive sides of two competing movements while still telling a compelling story that left me quickly turning pages until the very end.”
author of Kill for Love Laura Picklesimer
Lori Brand’s debut murder thriller Bodies to Die For has it all: deliciously demented kills, side-splitting humor, and razor-sharp satire of the diet and fitness industry.”
New York Times bestselling author of Falling and D T. J. Newman
“Bodies to Die For is a brilliant debut. Lori Brand has cleverly penned a timely, page-turning thriller that will leave you questioning the true cost of perfection. A personal favorite this year!”
Marilyn’s Mystery Reads
With recognizable characters and a fast-moving story, Bodies to Die For is a book that readers will keep thinking about long after they’ve finished it…[A] compelling mystery that resonates all too well in today’s world.”
USA Today bestselling author of The Hurricane Blon Halley Sutton
Bodies to Die For is a wild, twisty romp through the world of bodybuilding and murder. Brand does an excellent job of showing how diet culture really is hell—no matter the size of your body. A perfect thriller for any readers looking for Ruth Ware meets the podcast Maintenance Phase.”
CrimeReads
The most physically—and emotionally—healthy thriller I’ve read in some time.”
