Available Formats
Paperback
Published: 1st December 2025
Paperback
Published: 14th February 2025
Hardback
Published: 4th December 2024
CD-Audio, Audiobook
Published: 10th September 2024
Once More From The Top
By (Author) Emily Layden
HarperCollins Publishers
Fourth Estate Ltd
1st December 2025
31st July 2025
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Narrative theme: Coming of age
Crime and mystery: cosy mystery
Paperback
320
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 20mm
270g
A propulsive novel about music, coming of age and the cost of fame, for fans of Megan Abbott and Daisy Jones and the Six.'The secrets simmer in this atmospheric, powerful novel' KATIE BISHOP'You won't be able to put it down' RUFI THORPE
THIS IS MY STORY. NOT MY DEAD BEST FRIEND'S STORY.
Dylan Read, the legendary country pop star, has spent fifteen years learning to craft the perfect good-girl image. But Dylan is privately haunted by the loss of her best friend Kelsey, who went missing the year before Dylans meteoric rise to fame.
When Kelseys body is found at the bottom of a New England lake, Dylan is drawn back to her hometown where she must revisit their ill-fated teenage friendship and reckon with secrets that have stayed hidden for decades
A beautifully written, nuanced thriller, and an unflinching look at a celebrity culture and a loneliness of superstardom RED MAGAZINE
'Lyrical, graceful, utterly propulsive' Ellie Eaton, author of The Divines
'A propulsive and clever mystery where the complications of ambition, fame and female friendship are as compelling as the question of what exactly happened to Kelsey. The prose sings and the secrets simmer in this atmospheric, powerful novel' Katie Bishop, author of The Girls of Summer
'A deliciously insider-y peek into the music industry and fame. Layden has a gift for making the world and her characters feel wonderfully real. You wont be able to put it down' Rufi Thorpe, author of Margo's Got Money Troubles
'A beautifully written, nuanced thriller, and an unflinching look at a celebrity culture and a loneliness of superstardom'Red Magazine
'A perfect, lyrical gut-punch, this novel propels the reader to an incredible conclusion that is at once unexpected and inevitable. Fast-paced, richly textured and impossible to put down' Rachel Kapelke-Dale, author of The Ballerinas
A Taylor Swiftesque pop star is blindsided by the discovery of her high school best friends corpse in this powerhouse sophomore effort from Layden. Authentic characters and lyrical first-person narration bestow the proceedings with dimension, drama, and drive. Megan Abbott fans will devour this Starred review in Publishers Weekly
A juicy mystery filled with gossipand music you can almost hear Starred Kirkus review
Sincere, poignant and moving Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones and the Six on All Girls
'The pages turn fast Kate Elizabeth Russell, author of My Dark Vanessa on All Girls
Emily Layden works in TV development and is the author of the 2021 novel All Girls. A graduate of Stanford University, her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Marie Claire, the Billfold and Runner's World. Once More from the Top is her second novel.