THE INFLUENCERS

When a social media influencer’s husband is murdered, the prime suspects are her five famous daughters.

May Iverson made a name for herself as Mother May I, creating a social media empire built on relatable tips and her signature closing line, “You’re already a good mom.” But what really endeared her to viewers was her family—five daughters whose every moment she captured on camera. Each child was named after their birth month—January, March, April, June, and July—and each of them played a role in their aspirational family. Now that they’re grown, however, it’s clear that perhaps not all of them actually wanted to be on camera. While June and July followed in May’s footsteps to become influencers, January and April are much more private, and March has disappeared entirely. When their stepfather, August, dies, and May’s mansion is the target of an unsuccessful arson attempt, it looks like someone tried to cover up his murder—but who? May’s children are the prime suspects, and it turns out everyone who’s been watching them since birth has an opinion. In their adult debut, McLemore unravels the mystery through multiple points of view—the sisters, May, and even a Greek chorus of Mother May I viewers, introduced as “we the followers of Mother May I”—like a cross between The Virgin Suicides and Keeping Up With the Kardashians. McLemore uncovers the dangerous facade of social media, highlighting how often the children of influencers are mistreated as their parents chase fame. The murder itself, however, doesn’t feel high-stakes enough, possibly because August’s character isn’t given enough time on the page. As a result, the mystery sometimes feels tedious instead of thrilling, and the ideas McLemore explores, like class, race (the girls’ father is Mexican), and the hazards of social media are more exciting than solving the puzzle of who killed August.

A fascinating premise with a mystery that never feels truly engaging.