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![Two Can Keep a Secret by [Karen M. McManus]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Oij7ChcGL._SY346_.jpg)
Two Can Keep a Secret Kindle Edition
Karen M. McManus (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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"When it comes to YA suspense, Karen M. McManus is in a league of her own..." --Entertainment Weekly
Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery's never been there, but she's heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.
The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone has declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.
Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she's in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous--and most people aren't good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it's safest to keep your secrets to yourself.
Fans of the hit thriller that started it all can watch the secrets of the Bayview Four be revealed in the One of Us is Lying TV series now streaming on NBC's Peacock!
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherDelacorte Press
- Publication dateJanuary 8, 2019
- Reading age14 years and up
- Grade level9 - 12
- File size4553 KB
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From the Publisher
About Two Can Keep a Secret
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One of Us Is Lying | One of Us Is Next | One of Us Is Lying TV Series Tie-In Edition | Karen M. McManus 2-Book Box Set | |
Read the fast-paced story of the Bayview Four! | Four teenager's lives unwind after being the only witnesses to their classmate's suspected murder. | The electrifying sequel to One of Us Is Lying. | A TV tie-in edition with a cover based on the Peacock series streaming now! | One of Us Is Lying & One of Us Is Next |
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The Cousins | You'll Be the Death of Me | |
Don’t miss Karen McManus’s other pulse-pounding thrillers! | A gripping family drama where a trio of cousins uncover a trail of lies and betrayals. | Three friends relive an epic ditch day, and it goes horribly—and fatally—wrong. |
Editorial Reviews
Review
A BuzzFeed Best YA Book of the Year
"It’s even better than what came before: more exciting, with richer characters and a stronger final-act twist. . . . This is a murder-mystery, and a damn good one, the town of Echo Ridge steeped in an irresistible menace, the questions at the heart of the novel turning darker and deeper with each new revelation. That’s what should rightly make this another smash best-seller." —EW
“You won't be able to put [it] down.”—Cosmopolitan.com
"A must-read YA thriller if you love Riverdale and Sharp Objects." —Bustle
★ "The mystery unfurls at a deliciously escalating pace, filled with believable red herrings and shocking twists. Readers will furiously turn pages until the satisfying end....with well-earned thrills and spooky atmosphere worth sinking into." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
★ "With complex characters and intricate plotting, McManus delivers a fast-paced, twisty whodunit." —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"Tightly knit and well-placed plot elements, along with the development of Ellery and Malcolm’s relationship, keep pages turning until the revelation of the murderer’s identity and motivations, as well as some other secrets that turn out satisfyingly well." —Bulletin
"McManus follows up her smash hit debut, One of Us Is Lying, with another twisted mystery...[that will have readers] speeding their way to the end." —Booklist
More Praise for Karen McManus's One of Us Is Lying:
A New York Public Library's Best Book for Teens Selection A CBC Teen Choice Book Award Nominee
A Bustle Best Young Adult Book of May 2017
A Goodreads Best Young Adult Book of the Year Nominee
A YALSA Top Ten Best Fiction Book Nominee
A YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
"You'll tear through this juicy, super-fun (if murder can ever be fun?) thriller." --Bustle
"Twisty plotting, breakneck pacing and intriguing characterisation add up to an exciting, single-sitting thrillerish treat." —The Guardian
"Readers will have a hard time putting this clever page-turner down." —BookPage.com
“An addictive, devour-in-one-sitting thriller with so many twists and turns you'll be wondering until the very end: Who really killed Simon?”—Kara Thomas, author of The Darkest Corners and Little Monsters
★ "[As] McManus's intense mystery unfolds...each character becomes more complex and nuanced, adding richness and depth to the suspense." —VOYA, Starred Review
"This fast-paced blend of Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, and classic John Hughes will leave readers racing to the finish as the try to unravel the mystery on their own." —Kirkus Reviews
"One of Us Is Lying is flat-out addictive...[McManus] weaves an authentic, suspenseful mystery that readers can imagine taking place at their very own high school.” —RT Book Reviews
"A smart, twisted, and unpredictable YA mystery that will have readers guessing until the very end." —SLJ
"An engaging, enticing look at the pressures of high school and the things that cause a person to lose control." —Booklist
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Friday, August 30
If I believed in omens, this would be a bad one.
There’s only one suitcase left on the baggage carousel. It’s bright pink, covered with Hello Kitty stickers, and definitely not mine.
My brother, Ezra, watches it pass us for the fourth time, leaning on the handle of his own oversized suitcase. The crowd around the carousel is nearly gone, except for a couple arguing about who was supposed to keep track of their rental car reservation. “Maybe you should take it,” Ezra suggests. “Seems like whoever owns it wasn’t on our flight, and I bet they have an interesting wardrobe. A lot of polka dots, probably. And glitter.” His phone chimes, and he pulls it out of his pocket. “Nana’s outside.”
“I can’t believe this,” I mutter, kicking the toe of my sneaker against the carousel’s metal side. “My entire life was in that suitcase.”
It’s a slight exaggeration. My actual entire life was in La Puente, California, until about eight hours ago. Other than a few boxes shipped to Vermont last week, the suitcase contains what’s left.
“I guess we should report it.” Ezra scans the baggage claim area, running a hand over his close-cropped hair. He used to have thick dark curls like mine, hanging in his eyes, and I still can’t get used to the cut he got over the summer. He tilts his suitcase and pivots toward the information desk. “Over here, probably.”
The skinny guy behind the desk looks like he could still be in high school, with a rash of red pimples dotting his cheeks and jawline. A gold name tag pinned crookedly to his blue vest reads “Andy.” Andy’s thin lips twist when I tell him about my suitcase, and he cranes his neck toward the Hello Kitty bag still making carousel laps. “Flight 5624 from Los Angeles? With a layover in Charlotte?” I nod. “You sure that’s not yours?”
“Positive.”
“Bummer. It’ll turn up, though. You just gotta fill this out.” He yanks open a drawer and pulls out a form, sliding it toward me. “There’s a pen around here somewhere,” he mutters, pawing half-heartedly through a stack of papers.
“I have one.” I unzip the front of my backpack, pulling out a book that I place on the counter while I feel around for a pen. Ezra raises his brows when he sees the battered hardcover.
“Really, Ellery?” he asks. “You brought In Cold Blood on the plane? Why didn’t you just ship it with the rest of your books?”
“It’s valuable,” I say defensively.
Ezra rolls his eyes. “You know that’s not Truman Capote’s actual signature. Sadie got fleeced.”
“Whatever. It’s the thought that counts,” I mutter. Our mother bought me the “signed” first edition off eBay after she landed a role as Dead Body #2 on Law & Order four years ago. She gave Ezra a Sex Pistols album cover with a Sid Vicious autograph that was probably just as forged. We should’ve gotten a car with reliable brakes instead, but Sadie’s never been great at long-term planning. “Anyway, you know what they say. When in Murderland . . .” I finally extract a pen and start scratching my name across the form.
“You headed for Echo Ridge, then?” Andy asks. I pause on the second c of my last name and he adds, “They don’t call it that anymore, you know. And you’re early. It doesn’t open for another week.”
“I know. I didn’t mean the theme park. I meant the . . .” I trail off before saying town and shove In Cold Blood into my bag. “Never mind,” I say, returning my attention to the form. “How long does it usually take to get your stuff back?”
“Shouldn’t be more than a day.” Andy’s eyes drift between Ezra and me. “You guys look a lot alike. You twins?”
I nod and keep writing. Ezra, ever polite, answers, “We are.”
“I was supposed to be a twin,” Andy says. “The other one got absorbed in the womb, though.” Ezra lets out a surprised little snort, and I bite back a laugh. This happens to my brother all the time; people overshare the strangest things with him. We might have almost the same face, but his is the one everyone trusts. “I always thought it would’ve been cool to have a twin. You could pretend to be one another and mess with people.” I look up, and Andy is squinting at us again. “Well. I guess you guys can’t do that. You aren’t the right kind of twins.”
“Definitely not,” Ezra says with a fixed smile.
I write faster and hand the completed form to Andy, who tears off the top sheets and gives me the yellow carbon. “So somebody will get in touch, right?” I ask.
“Yep,” Andy says. “You don’t hear from them tomorrow, call the number at the bottom. Have fun in Echo Ridge.”
Ezra exhales loudly as we head for the revolving door, and I grin at him over my shoulder. “You make the nicest friends.”
He shudders. “Now I can’t stop thinking about it. Absorbed. How does that even happen? Did he . . . No. I’m not going to speculate. I don’t want to know. What a weird thing to grow up with, though, huh? Knowing how easily you could’ve been the wrong twin.”
We push through the door into a blast of stifling, exhaust-filled air that takes me by surprise. Even on the last day of August, I’d expected Vermont to be a lot cooler than California. I pull my hair off my neck while Ezra scrolls through his phone. “Nana says she’s circling because she didn’t want to park in a lot,” he reports.
I raise my brows at him. “Nana’s texting and driving?”
“Apparently.”
I haven’t seen my grandmother since she visited us in California ten years ago, but from what I can remember, that seems out of character.
We wait a few minutes, wilting in the heat, until a forest-green Subaru station wagon pulls up beside us. The passenger-side window rolls down, and Nana sticks her head out. She doesn’t look much different than she does over Skype, although her thick gray bangs appear freshly cut. “Go on, get in,” she calls, side-eyeing the traffic cop a few feet from us. “They won’t let you idle for more than a minute.” She pulls her head back in as Ezra wheels his solitary suitcase toward the trunk.
When we slide into the backseat Nana turns to face us, and so does a younger woman behind the steering wheel. “Ellery, Ezra, this is Melanie Kilduff. Her family lives down the street from us. I have terrible night vision, so Melanie was kind enough to drive. She used to babysit your mother when she was young. You’ve probably heard the name.”
Ezra and I exchange wide-eyed glances. Yes. Yes, we have.
Sadie left Echo Ridge when she was eighteen, and she’s only been back twice. The first time was the year before we were born, when our grandfather died from a heart attack. And the second time was five years ago, for Melanie’s teenage daughter’s funeral.
Ezra and I watched the Dateline special--“Mystery at Murderland”--at home while our neighbor stayed with us. I was transfixed by the story of Lacey Kilduff, the beautiful blond homecoming queen from my mother’s hometown, found strangled in a Halloween theme park. Airport Andy was right; the park’s owner changed its name from Murderland to Fright Farm a few months later. I’m not sure the case would have gotten as much national attention if the park hadn’t had such an on-the-nose name.
Or if Lacey hadn’t been the second pretty teenager from Echo Ridge--and from the same exact street, even--to make tragic headlines.
Sadie wouldn’t answer any of our questions when she got back from Lacey’s funeral. “I just want to forget about it,” she said whenever we asked. Which is what she’s been saying about Echo Ridge our entire lives.
Ironic, I guess, that we ended up here anyway.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.From School Library Journal
Product details
- ASIN : B07DH9HCPT
- Publisher : Delacorte Press (January 8, 2019)
- Publication date : January 8, 2019
- Language : English
- File size : 4553 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Not Enabled
- Print length : 331 pages
- Lending : Not Enabled
- Best Sellers Rank: #98,024 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Karen M. McManus is a #1 New York Times and international bestselling author of young adult thrillers. Her books include the One of Us Is Lying series, which has been turned into a television show on Peacock and Netflix, as well as the standalone novels Two Can Keep a Secret, The Cousins, You’ll Be the Death of Me, and Nothing More to Tell. Karen's critically acclaimed, award-winning work has been translated into more than 40 languages. To learn more, visit www.karenmcmanus.com or @writerkmc on Twitter and Instagram.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2021
Top reviews from the United States
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Remember that crazy boat ride in Willy Wonka? Things were spinning and there were strange images popping up. As you looked at each one, you were wondering where were we going with it all and what a ride! That is this book. I loved it!
Ellery and Ezra arrive at a hometown that they have never known. Their actress mother grew up there. She was homecoming queen and in this town, that is not a good town. She is in a drug rehab and they are going to live with their grandmother. A murder of the homecoming queen years earlier seems to be repeating itself when weird images and things start popping up around town, warning that it could happen again. Ellery is somewhat of a murder nut and she starts to put clues together. This also includes clues about her own mother’s twin sister who disappeared years ago, the night of homecoming. After a weird exchange with a fellow student, Brooke, she goes missing. Cue the dah dah daaahhhhh music.
Ellery becomes friends with Malcolm. who’s brother was thought to be the killer of the dead homecoming queen and Mia, whose sister was best friends with said homecoming queen. Such a delicious tangled web!
I had no idea where this wonderful ride was going to end up. It could have been in the horribly named Murder Land. I mean, really, would you go to a theme park named Murder Land? They do rename it to Fright Farm but being the wuss I am, still a big no. Whodunit? Whydunit? You will not be disappointed and you will tear through the pages of this book.
If you have not yet read Karen’s book One of Us is Lying, pick it up, you slacker! You will not be disappointed in either of these books. In fact, you will thank me. You are welcome.
CW: grief, murder. Not gory. Mentions of substance abuse (off-page).
If you're new here then you probably don't know about this author's slightly controversial debut that is still reigning on the New York Times list, One of Us Is Lying. You may also not be aware that quite a few people are not going to read this entirely separate sophomore work of McManus' due to the critiques of her first release. I am here to tell you to disregard all previous knowledge you have of this author and her books. I personally loved One of Us is Lying, though I don't deny there were problematic elements. But if you're looking for a suspenseful, beautifully constructed and intense YA mystery thriller, then this is the book for you, debut controversy or not.
I think I found my new favorite YA thriller, which isn't too hard to do considering most of this genre is fairly mediocre. But this book does everything in the genre so well that I wanted to create a shrine to this work of art. I knew I would love this from literally the first page. Two Can Keep a Secret relies heavily one of my favorite things: the relationship between twin siblings. Ellery is a fraternal twin, with their mother also being a twin, although identical to her sister. A sister who also went missing years ago and was never found. The case was left colder than ice. And Ellery and Ezra are returning to the town where their mother and aunt grew up, small and gossipy Echo Ridge, just in time to discover themselves diving into a deeper mystery than they were prepared for. Things get tense real quick in this winding and intricate mystery set in the most creepy and atmospheric small town in woodsy Vermont. The kids of the town all work at the Halloween-themed amusement park and the whole book contains this autumn aesthetic that I would reread for that alone.
Ellery and Ezra have the best relationship. I have an Irish twin and we joke that we get all the perks of being a twin without having to share a womb. I love reading about biological twins in books and I love how this relationship was Ellery with her nose in a true crime book and Ezra reminding her to eat and not to scare off the people they're trying to befriend because she's suspicious of their sibling/parent/hamster. It's adorable. Ezra is adorable. I'm so bummed we didn't get more page time with him! Reason number one for a sequel. There are many reasons.
Besides Ellery's POV we also see from Malcolm, a boy in their grade who's older brother was the main suspect when his girlfriend was brutally murdered at an amusement park in their town. Their family name has been blacklisted ever since. And just when you think those two mysteries are an awful lot for a single town, the three homecoming queen nominees are threatened by a copycat killer. One of those queens-to-be is Malcolm's own stepsister. Malcolm is possibly my favorite character from the book besides Ezra. I want to buy him a puppy just to put a smile on his face, and yes, I definitely have a thing for soft misunderstood boys. But what I also loved!! SO much!! Neither character can be labeled as an unreliable narrator, which is one of the most common thriller tropes and one of the biggest cop-outs. I don't necessarily have complete trust in either, but I also don't feel like the author is manipulating me.
If you want to get into the thriller genre but are hesitant to read things that are bloody, scary, or nightmare-inducing, this is the perfect book to ease you into it. There is very, very minimal gore, the goosebumps aren't the haunting type (more the my-heart-is-going-to-beat-out-its-chest kind), and no explicit details on any of the murders are revealed in a way that is still satisfying to the reader. We see some classic thriller tropes in here (small towns, anyone?) but they felt so fresh and as if they were pre-existing in the story rather than being a plot device. The writing in general is one of the reasons why Karen McManus has been sitting pretty on that NYT list for over a year. She has a wonderful storytelling style that makes you lap every minute detail about these characters and the setting.
These!! Characters!! I want to give them all hugs and then become their best friends. Ellery is obsessed with true crime but honestly? Isn't all that good at it which I related to so hard (not that I've ever had to put my crime show bingeing knowledge to the test, but I'm sure it would be a train wreck). Even the more minor characters are ones I'd love to hang out with and rooted for throughout the story. We see rich kids beyond their stereotypes, and we see the catty mean girl trope humanized. I also LIVED for the extremely slow burn and subtly sweet romance. I didn't care as much for the romance from One of Us is Lying and was so pleased with any and all of it in Two Can Keep a Secret. All of the swoon.
Besides wanting more of Ezra, this book also contains a ton of characters and names to keep track of. We have three mysteries from three different decades/generations that overlap quite a bit. It's definitely an active reading experience and I probably wouldn't recommend an audiobook for that reason. Malcolm and Ellery have very distinct POVs despite being so closely tied in the story, but the transition between them is a bit abrupt. I would have liked to see some of the significant scenes from both of their perspectives, instead of the chapter ending and suddenly it's the next day in the other's head. It does make for faster pacing and increases suspense, but I still would have liked a bit more overlap. But that's really all I have as a critique! I would LOVE a sequel so much. That town has more to be explored and I miss those characters. I feel like a little piece of my heart was left in this book. It's going to be in my top 3 favorites of the year, if not taking the top spot. I have rarely read any book with some sort of mystery that I didn't see coming at least somewhat but I was shook as frick with this story. And then it just kept delivering. And THAT ENDING. I literally got chills and haven't gotten that final sentence out of my head since I finished.
We see some more diversity in this sophomore work too, including several queer characters, Ellery and Ezra are Latinx, and an Asian family. It's a predominantly white town and so the discussion of the expectations of a person of color are explored. And the emphasis on twins! Again, not over this book. Or the fact that this review has taken me an hour to write. Basically, read this. Love this. Please please please pick this up. You won't regret it.
And Ms. McManus? Please write a sequel to this
Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read and review Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus!
Twins, Ellery and Ezra, travel to their Nana’s home to stay while their mother is in rehab. They’ve known about their aunt Sarah’s mysterious disappearance for a long time and when they get to Echo Ridge, they get more than they bargained for. Another young woman went missing five years ago and now new threats are popping up right before a new teen comes up missing. The story is ominous and becomes suspenseful when danger becomes reality. Endearing characters and a creepy killer sum up this book, 5 stars!
*All opinions and thoughts are my own.
I lived it. I want more.
Excellent follow-up to One of Us is Lying.
McManus knows how to concoct a perfect murder mystery.
I thought I knew who the killer was, but man was I surprised when I read further.
A roller coaster of emotions from start to finish!
Top reviews from other countries

One of us is lying is by far one of the best books ever. BuT This is so boring I have had to force myself to get to the end. It is like one of those point horror books from the 80s
Sorry but after so much anticipation for the release of this book I am disappointed. It is just another teen horror with no real guidance or believable storyline. I am still trying to understand the twins life before they went to stay with the grandma they never knew. Too much giving snipbits but never expanding on them.
I haven't found hardly any twists either. Sorry but I wouldnt get to excited.

I loved Ellery - her relationship with Ezra (and how he supported her yay!), her obsession with true crime, and the way she isn’t sure who to trust. I also like that she isn’t outright distrustful, and that it comes across why she struggles to trust people. She wants to, she just struggles with it. I really liked that detail.
She’s also a great main character, and I really connected with her. Her need to know what happened and her belief that it will improve her life was infectious.
Malcolm was a little harder to connect to - you sort of see that with his brother too - he doesn’t connect easily to the other people in the book either. He’s also not a great main character in that he’s definitely not convinced that he wants to know. I get that without him, we would have some really useful information, but I didn’t feel he quite added enough to the story. But honestly? That’s my only niggle.
The mystery was great too - I only figured it out right before the characters did! And I loved the police involvement here too. I won’t say why cause it heads towards spoilers, but it’s great to see what we learn about them at the end. Plus Ellery’s interaction with one of them is really fun.
I also love that the town has a scary theme park! So creepy and random! 😂
This is definitely worth the 4.5 stars I’m giving it and is definitely waving the flag for YA mysteries and thrillers. More mysteries please!

I don’t usually read thrillers but wow this book was amazing! I read this book in a day and I just could not put it down! Like her first book it kept me guessing right until the end and the plot twists were so good and I did not see them coming.
I loved the complex web that she created making it difficult to trust any information we were given. This book felt darker than One of Us is Lying too. There was some truly eerie moments that gave it a spooky feel although it’s not quite horror.
There were quite a lot of characters in the book that made it a little confusing at first to keep track at first but as the story progressed it became clear who each person was. This book is just filled with characters who aren’t as they seem and I loved that no-one is above suspicion.
The story is told from two points of view, Ellery who is new to the town and Malcolm who has lived there his whole life. It was interesting seeing the story and other characters from both their perspectives and the contrast of Ellery who is seeing everything with fresh eyes and Malcolm who has history with these characters and is quite cynical because of the circumstances of how he has had to live growing up.
“I should probably preface this by saying...I think about crime a lot. Like, an abnormal amount. I get that. It's sort of a problem. So you have to take what I say with a grain of salt, because I'm just this...naturally suspicious person, I guess.”
Ellery is so curious about everything and constantly wants to dig deeper to find the truth and the secrets. So going to live with her grandma in a town full of secrets was like a dream come true for Ellery. She is fuelled by the fact that her aunt went missing there and it got her interested in true crime and the need to find the truth even if it puts her in danger. I loved that unlike a lot of protagonists, who go rushing in without thinking things through, Ellery does think about the information she is given and how trustworthy it is. I also loved her relationship with her brother and how they got on so well. It’s nice to see good sibling relationships in books.
Seeing how Malcolm had to live with all the controversy that surrounded him and his family it was so nice to see how kind he was and a total geek and I loved him! He had a wonderful friendship with Mia where they help and look out for each other and it was great to see how Ezra fit in so well with Mia and that helped Ellery become friends with them too. I loved how awkward he was around Ellery and that despite being called handsome by both Ellery and Brooke, he isn’t egotistical and big headed. He has trust issues and every reason to doubt people close to him but still sees the best in people and will try to make excuses for them, especially when it comes to murder.
This book is fast paced and has lots of tension which makes you want to read, just one more chapter, and even the side stories are wonderfully woven into the main story. I really loved this book and if you enjoyed One of Us is Lying or thrillers then I highly recommend this book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 14, 2019
I don’t usually read thrillers but wow this book was amazing! I read this book in a day and I just could not put it down! Like her first book it kept me guessing right until the end and the plot twists were so good and I did not see them coming.
I loved the complex web that she created making it difficult to trust any information we were given. This book felt darker than One of Us is Lying too. There was some truly eerie moments that gave it a spooky feel although it’s not quite horror.
There were quite a lot of characters in the book that made it a little confusing at first to keep track at first but as the story progressed it became clear who each person was. This book is just filled with characters who aren’t as they seem and I loved that no-one is above suspicion.
The story is told from two points of view, Ellery who is new to the town and Malcolm who has lived there his whole life. It was interesting seeing the story and other characters from both their perspectives and the contrast of Ellery who is seeing everything with fresh eyes and Malcolm who has history with these characters and is quite cynical because of the circumstances of how he has had to live growing up.
“I should probably preface this by saying...I think about crime a lot. Like, an abnormal amount. I get that. It's sort of a problem. So you have to take what I say with a grain of salt, because I'm just this...naturally suspicious person, I guess.”
Ellery is so curious about everything and constantly wants to dig deeper to find the truth and the secrets. So going to live with her grandma in a town full of secrets was like a dream come true for Ellery. She is fuelled by the fact that her aunt went missing there and it got her interested in true crime and the need to find the truth even if it puts her in danger. I loved that unlike a lot of protagonists, who go rushing in without thinking things through, Ellery does think about the information she is given and how trustworthy it is. I also loved her relationship with her brother and how they got on so well. It’s nice to see good sibling relationships in books.
Seeing how Malcolm had to live with all the controversy that surrounded him and his family it was so nice to see how kind he was and a total geek and I loved him! He had a wonderful friendship with Mia where they help and look out for each other and it was great to see how Ezra fit in so well with Mia and that helped Ellery become friends with them too. I loved how awkward he was around Ellery and that despite being called handsome by both Ellery and Brooke, he isn’t egotistical and big headed. He has trust issues and every reason to doubt people close to him but still sees the best in people and will try to make excuses for them, especially when it comes to murder.
This book is fast paced and has lots of tension which makes you want to read, just one more chapter, and even the side stories are wonderfully woven into the main story. I really loved this book and if you enjoyed One of Us is Lying or thrillers then I highly recommend this book!


Lacey is the next victim who is found dead by strangulation. Fast forward 5 years and Ellery is caught up in the re-emergence of chilling messages, another girl gone missing. The events that take place seem on the surface to be unrelated but are they?
I gave this book a solid 4 stars out of 5. I really enjoyed this book, when I really emersed myself in the story I couldn’t put it down. This was my first outing with this author and can categorically say that I will read others by her too. I enjoyed the two perspective takes in the chapters and it gave us a useful insight too the multicomplexity of the themes used throughout.
It was a suspenseful book and it had me gripped especially in the second half. The plot was well developed and the flow just worked beautifully in my opinion. I enjoyed the character arcs of all the intertwining personalities – it just WORKED. I had estimated a guess at who was responsible and I was completely wrong (and usually I’m not too far off). It was a shock!
If you enjoy Young Adult and thrillers then give this a go, you will not be disappointed.

This was twisty, sharp and clever. I thought there were little "tells" throughout the story to try and put us off, and I was right about who was behind the crimes, but it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book. I'm a sucker for a good YA thriller anyway, but throw in twins and a horror-themed theme park and I couldn't fault it really.
Deducting one star purely because I found it difficult to keep track of the timeline of Sarah's story and Lacey's story, and found it confusing to remember the three generations of townsfolk and who fit in where. I also didn't think Sadie was very deep as a character and some of the things she said didn't make sense to me. But apart from that, I really enjoyed this.