Five students enter detention under suspicious circumstances, but only four make it out alive. Soon they’re all being investigated for murder–and everyone is lying.

“One of Us is Lying” by Karen McManus debuted in 2017 from indie publisher, Delacorte Press. The sequel, “One of Us is Next,” came three years later, after the first novel spent 166 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list. The third installment of the trilogy is set to release on July 25, 2023.

McManus will read from the third and final book, “One of Us is Back,” in Tupper lake on Friday, July 28, so it’s the perfect time to catch up on what’s happened to the crew at Bayview High so far. The books are a spine chilling staple of the YA murder Mystery genre, and “One of Us is Lying” is a fantastic first glimpse down the Bayview rabbit hole.

“One of Us is Lying” takes a multiple-perspective approach to handling the four protagonists of the novel, Nate, Bronwyn, Addy and Cooper. Each of the students come from different walks of life: Brownyn, the Brainiac; Nate, the Dealer; Addy, the Pageant Queen; and Cooper, the Jock. These four students normally have no reason to associate with each other, until they’re suddenly being investigated for the “group murder” of the fifth member of that day’s detention, Simon, the gossip king and outcast of Bayview High.

It turns out each of the characters are hiding a motivation for wanting Simon dead. As the investigation becomes more confusing, they begin to befriend each other–even rekindling old romances–and it gets harder and harder for them to believe that one of them is the murderer. So, they begin investigating for themselves, keeping tabs on the Tumblr account which claims to have evidence of who killed Simon and exploring strange occurrences on the day of his death.

McManus’s four protagonists have fully fleshed-out backstories and unique personalities, often stepping outside their respective tropes. None of their behavior feels unnatural or unrealistic. For example, late in the book, Nate makes an observation about Addie’s growth and says, “You’ve gotten kind of feisty since you lost all the hair. And the boyfriend.” The character development interlocks perfectly with the situation at hand. The plot never seems to be halting, because whenever the mystery has them stumped, their own relationships are there to keep things moving along.

The follow-up novel, “One of Us is Next” (Delacorte Press, 2020) follows a similar formula, with even higher stakes. The sequel’s three main characters (all related to the “Bayview Four” in some way) investigate a Simon-like copycat, who is operating in the format of a truth-or-dare game, when someone ends up dead. It was with the publication of this second novel in the series that Hollywood caught wind of this relatable and tantalizing mystery, and it soon became a two-season series on Peacock.

Both novels deal with sensitive issues like alcoholism and addiction, depression, homophobia, grief, and abuse in several different forms. All of these topics are addressed with respect and nuance and make it clear how the characters are affected without the common mistake of making it the character’s entire personality. The LGBTQIA-plus representation is heartwarming, and doesn’t play into harmful stereotypes, giving queer murder mystery fans a character that they can root for. I cheered when the queer main character, supported by the people they love, confronts their homophobic parents. They continue on with their life despite the hardships they’ve faced, showing a positive and believable model for queer readers.

“One of Us is Lying” was how I first dipped my toes into the Murder-Mystery genre, and Karen McManus’s other works held my hand as I went deeper into the waters. Her novels are an excellent first taste or a memorable addition to any mystery library. The romantic and platonic relationships are memorable, and seeing the characters who were once disgusted by each other (or otherwise incapable of becoming friends for social and societal reasons) come together is very endearing and heartwarming. This theme is even more resonant as we follow the next generation of mystery-solvers into the fantastic second novel, in which the original “Bayview Four” have cameos so that the reader can see how their friendship has lasted. Yet who knows how they will be tested, especially when the mysterious person referred to in “One of Us is Back” arrives? Readers will have to wait until the book is released at the end of the month to find out!

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Elliot Carrick is a rising senior at Saranac Lake High School. Her writing has appeared in the 2023 “Wild Words Teen Writing Anthology” and in Poem Village. This review is part of a series of book reviews written by young writers from the Adirondack Center for Writing. Karen McManus is visiting Tupper Lake on Friday, July 28 to celebrate the release of the third and final book in the series, “One of Us is Back.” She’ll read, answer audience questions, and sign copies of her books at the Bandshell in Flanders Park behind the Tupper Lake Public Library. The event begins at 7 p.m. in the park, so bring a chair or blanket. In case of rain, the event will move inside the Tupper Lake Public Library.