It’s that time of year… it’s almost Halloween! The air is cooler, leaves are falling, and we are in the mood for some suspenseful, young adult thrillers! If you liked One of Us is Lying — which has been on the New York Times Bestsellers List for 190 weeks and has a show coming out on Peacock in October — we’ve got a great list of read-alikes to give you a scare!
All of the titles featured here we have in our collection. To see if an item is available to check out or place on hold, click the cover image or button to the right of the description.
The Good Girls
by Claire Eliza Bartlett
Targeted as suspects in the shocking murder of a high school senior, three teens-including a notorious party girl, a head cheerleader and a would-be valedictorian-race to expose long-buried secrets and identify the real killer.
I Killed Zoe Spanos
by Kit Frick
Anna Cicconi’s summer gig as a nanny is supposed to be a fresh start. But the community has been on edge since Zoe Spanos, a local girl, disappeared New Year’s Eve. Anna’s resemblance to Zoe causes her to delve into Zoe’s life. She becomes increasingly convinced that she and Zoe are connected– and that she knows what happened to her. When Zoe’s body is found in a nearby lake, Anna is charged with manslaughter. But Martina Green, teen host of the Missing Zoe podcast, isn’t satisfied. Can her podcast uncover the truth?
Truly Devious
by Maureen Johnson
When Stevie Bell, an amateur detective, begins her first year at a famous private school in Vermont, she sets a plan to solve the cold case involving the kidnapping of the founder’s wife and daughter shortly after the school opened.
The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” The past has crawled out of its grave: Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
by Holly Jackson
As her senior capstone project, Pippa Fitz-Amobi is determined to find the real killer in a closed, local murder case, but not everyone wants her meddling in the past.
None Shall Sleep
by Ellie Marney
Eighteen-year-olds Emma Lewis and Travis Bell, recruited by the FBI to interview juvenile serial killers, must turn to a notorious teenage sociopath to help track down a new murderer.
The Mary Shelley Club
by Goldy Moldavsky
Scholarship student Rachel keeps to herself at Manchester Prep, preferring the company of horror films to trust fund babies. When a prank puts her on the radar of a mysterious student society, “The Mary Shelley Club”, they subject her to a number of escalating Fear Tests which eventually puts them on the radar of a serial killer.
How We Fall Apart
by Katie Zhao
Jamie Ruan is the queen bee of Sinclair Prep. Until one day, she’s dead. The Proctor, an anonymous poster on the school media app, points the finger at Jamie’s friends. Akil Patel is the school’s track star and he’s running from his secrets. Krystal Choi has a killer sense of fashion, but does that make her a killer? Alexander Lin is always focused on grades, but is hiding a dark secret. Nancy Luo isn’t threatening … unless you get between her and the top spot.
14 Ways to Die
by Vincent Ralph
Ten years ago, Jess’s mother was murdered by the Magpie Man. She was the first of his victims but not the last. Now Jess is the star of a YouTube reality series and she’s using it to catch the killer once and for all. The whole world is watching her every move. And so is the Magpie Man.
They’ll Never Catch Us
by Jessica Goodman
Sisters Stella and Ellie Steckler are both determined to win a scholarship and escape their stifling small town, but their plans are upset when a new girl joins the cross-country team and then disappears.
You're So Dead
by Ash Parsons
Plum Winter and her two best friends sneak into an influencers-only festival event on a private island in the Caribbean. Plum and her friends soon realize that someone has lured each of them to the “festival” to kill them. Someone has a vendetta against every person on the island–and no one is supposed to leave the island alive. So, together, Plum, Antonia, and Marlowe will do whatever it takes to unravel the mystery of the killer, and fight to save themselves and as many influencers as they can, before it’s too late.
That Weekend
by Kara Thomas
After Claire wakes up alone on a mountain with no memory of how she got there, she learns her best friend Kat and Kat’s boyfriend are missing and Kat’s past is full of secrets.
She remembers Friday night, but after that, nothing. Now Kat and Jesse are missing. The answers are buried somewhere in Claire’s memory– and she is pretty sure she is not going to like what she remembers.
The Ivies
by Alexa Donne
Everyone knows the Ivies: the most coveted universities in the United States. Far more important are the Ivies. The Ivies at Claflin Academy, that is. Five girls with the same mission: to get into the Ivy League by any means necessary. I would know. I’m one of them. We disrupt class ranks, club leaderships, and academic competitions…among other things. We improve our own odds by decreasing the fortunes of others. Because hyper-elite competitive college admissions is serious business. And in some cases, it’s deadly.
They Wish They Were Us
by Jessica Goodman
At an exclusive prep school on Long Island, Jill Newman looks forward to her senior year as a member of the school’s most elite clique, the Players, until new evidence surfaces about the murder of her close friend Shaila.
Influence
by Sara Shepard
After her family moves to Los Angeles, Delilah Rollins, already a minor Internet celebrity, plunges into the competitive and glamorous world of social media influencers, but can cosmetics and good lighting conceal cheating, manipulation, blackmail, and murder?
This is Why We Lie
by Gabriella Lepore
When a fellow student is murdered, Jenna Dallas and Adam Cole, who discovered the body, launch their own investigation and discover that everyone in the community of Gardiners Bay has something to hide.
Want more recommendations?
You can check out all of our online booklists (for kids and for adults), or reach out to us! Our staff is ready and willing to make reading, listening, or viewing recommendations to you! Email us at reference@benlib.org or contact us via our online form!