The Influencers

A social media influencer’s empire is burned to the ground—literally. The top suspects? The five daughters who made her famous.

“A witty and razor-sharp whodunit that will leave you both satisfied and challenged . . . A gorgeous, gloriously scathing story.”—Ashley Herring Blake, author of Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date

What do you really know about the people you’ve made famous?

“Mother May I” Iverson has spent the past twenty-five years building a massively successful influencer empire with endearing videos featuring her five mixed-race daughters. But the girls are all grown up now, and the ramifications of having their entire childhoods commodified start to spill over into public view, especially in light of the pivotal question: Who killed May’s newlywed husband and then torched her mansion to cover it up?

April is a businesswoman feuding with her mother over intellectual property; twins June and July are influencers themselves, threatening to overtake May’s spotlight; January is a theater tech who steers clear of her mother and the limelight; and the youngest . . . well, March has somehow completely disappeared. As the days pass post-murder, everyone has an opinion—the sisters, May, a mysterious “friend of the family,” and the collective voice of the online audience watching the family’s every move—with suspicion flying every direction.

A campy and escapist exploration of race, gender, sexuality, and class, The Influencers is an evisceration of influencer culture and how alienating traditional expectations can be, ripe for the current moment when the first generation of children made famous by their parents are, now, all grown up—and looking for retribution.

Author Biography

Anna-Marie McLemore (they/them) is the author of eleven novels for young adults, including William C. Morris YA Debut Award finalist The Weight of Feathers, Stonewall Honor Book When the Moon Was Ours, New York Times Editors’ Choice Blanca & Roja, Lambda Literary Award finalist Lakelore, and National Book Award nominees The Mirror Season and Self-Made Boys. The Influencers is their adult debut.