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7 Books Like One of Us Is Lying to Read Next

If you loved One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus, you may be looking for another YA mystery where everyone has something to hide and no one is easy to trust.

At Bayview High, five students enter detention, but only four come out alive. When Simon's death becomes a murder investigation, the surviving classmates find themselves under suspicion. Each has secrets that could damage their reputation, and each has a different story to tell.

The appeal goes beyond finding out who committed a crime. It's the shifting friendships, misleading appearances, competing perspectives, and growing realization that the truth could change everything.

The best books like One of Us Is Lying recreate different parts of that suspense. Some follow groups of teenagers suspected of murder. Others explore anonymous threats, school scandals, unlikely investigative partnerships, and secrets that turn friends against one another.

These seven YA mystery series offer distinct reasons to keep turning pages.

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

A quick place to start

Quick Picks: What to Read After One of Us Is Lying

Quick Picks: What to Read After One of Us Is Lying
If you loved...Try this seriesWhy it fits
Anonymous threats and friendship secretsPretty Little LiarsFour friends receive threatening messages from someone who knows their past
Multiple teenagers suspected of murderThe PerfectionistsFive girls become suspects when a classmate dies exactly as they imagined
Secret alliances and being framedDon't Get MadFour girls must protect their identities while investigating a murder
Investigating the truth behind a school crimeA Good Girl's Guide to MurderA student challenges the accepted explanation for a murder
Unlikely partners solving a suspicious deathThe AgathasTwo girls investigate when a former friend disappears
School tragedies and buried town secretsThe CheerleadersA teenager questions the deaths that devastated her town
Group investigations and personal secretsThe AmateursTrue-crime enthusiasts investigate a disappearance that becomes dangerous

1. Pretty Little Liars — Sara Shepard

Best for: Anonymous threats, dangerous secrets, and complicated friendships

Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer were once inseparable friends. Their lives changed when Alison DiLaurentis, the girl who held their group together, mysteriously disappeared.

Years later, the four have drifted apart, each keeping secrets of her own.

Then threatening messages begin arriving from someone calling themselves A. The sender knows intimate details about their lives, including things they thought no one else could possibly know.

As the messages become increasingly disturbing, the girls must question who is watching them, what happened to Alison, and whether they can trust one another.

Why it's similar

Both series explore how hidden information can destroy reputations and friendships. Anonymous threats, school gossip, deception, and shifting suspicions are central to their mysteries.

How it's different

Pretty Little Liars is a much longer series that combines ongoing anonymous harassment with complicated personal drama and mysteries spanning multiple installments. One of Us Is Lying begins with a more contained murder investigation and a smaller central suspect group.

2. The Perfectionists — Sara Shepard

Best for: Multiple murder suspects and secrets behind perfect lives

Ava, Caitlin, Mackenzie, Julie, and Parker seem to have bright futures in the wealthy community of Beacon Heights.

But each has a reason to despise Nolan Hotchkiss, a popular boy whose actions have hurt them.

One day, the girls imagine how they would kill him. They do not intend to carry out the plan.

Then Nolan is found dead in exactly the way they discussed.

Suddenly, five teenagers who thought they were speaking hypothetically become obvious suspects. They must work out who actually killed Nolan while confronting secrets that could make their situation even worse.

Why it's similar

This is one of the closest matches to the central setup of One of Us Is Lying. A group of teenagers is connected to a classmate's death, and their private actions make them look guilty.

How it's different

The Perfectionists begins with a shared imagined murder plan, making the girls' prior conversation the source of suspicion. Their relationships and motivations also create a different kind of group tension from the detention-room mystery at Bayview High.

Start with: The Perfectionists

Explore The Perfectionists reading order →

3. Don't Get Mad — Gretchen McNeil

Best for: Secret groups, revenge, and being framed for murder

Bree, Olivia, Kitty, and Margot attend the same elite private school, but few people realize that they belong to a secret group called Don't Get Mad, or DGM.

Together, they anonymously expose bullies and take revenge on people who mistreat other students.

Their activities have remained hidden, until one of their targets is murdered.

Evidence at the crime scene points toward DGM, threatening to reveal the girls' identities and implicate them in a killing they did not commit.

As they investigate, the group becomes increasingly divided by secrets, suspicion, and the possibility that someone knows exactly who they are.

Why it's similar

Both series center on teenagers drawn into a murder investigation by incriminating circumstances. In each, the characters' hidden behavior gives others reasons to suspect them, even as the real killer remains unidentified.

How it's different

The girls in Don't Get Mad already share a secret organization and a history of vigilante-style retaliation. Their investigation is closely tied to protecting that group, rather than four classmates who barely know one another being brought together by detention.

4. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder — Holly Jackson

Best for: Following clues and challenging a school's accepted story

Pip Fitz-Amobi chooses a notorious local murder case as the subject of her school project.

Everyone in her community believes that Sal Singh killed Andie Bell before taking his own life. Pip is not convinced.

As she interviews people connected to the case and examines evidence, she uncovers relationships and contradictions that challenge the accepted version of events.

What begins as research soon becomes dangerous, especially when people with something to hide realize that Pip is getting closer to the truth.

Why it's similar

Both stories examine how reputation, rumor, and incomplete information shape a community's response to crime. Their mysteries involve teenagers whose public images may be misleading.

How it's different

Pip is an investigator rather than a suspect. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder gives readers a more direct detective experience, following interviews, evidence, and theories instead of alternating among several people implicated in one death.

Start with: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

Explore the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder reading order →

5. The Agathas — Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

Best for: Unlikely investigative partners and suspicious school-community secrets

Alice Ogilvie has already become the subject of gossip in Castle Cove after disappearing and later returning without explaining what happened.

When her former best friend Brooke goes missing, Alice finds herself drawn into another mystery.

Alice teams up with Iris Adams, a classmate from a very different background. Together, they begin examining the circumstances of Brooke's disappearance and questioning the people around them.

As the investigation progresses, the girls encounter conflicting accounts, suspicious behavior, and reasons to doubt whether the adults understand what happened.

Why it's similar

Like One of Us Is Lying, The Agathas places teenage relationships, social standing, and hidden motives at the center of a serious crime. What other people believe about a character may be very different from the truth.

How it's different

Rather than following several suspects, The Agathas focuses on a two-person detective partnership. Its investigation also draws inspiration from classic whodunits, with more emphasis on actively searching for clues.

6. The Cheerleaders — Kara Thomas

Best for: Dark school mysteries and secrets surrounding past deaths

Five years ago, five cheerleaders died in the town of Sunnybrook.

Two were killed in a car accident, two were murdered, and the fifth was Monica's older sister, who died by suicide.

The school eventually disbanded its cheerleading program, but the losses continue to shape the community.

When Monica discovers troubling clues connected to the past, she begins questioning whether the deaths were as straightforward as everyone believed.

Her investigation brings her closer to secrets involving people she thought she understood.

Why it's similar

Both stories reveal how a high school and its surrounding community can conceal painful truths. Social connections, reputations, and the pressure to accept an official account influence what people are willing to reveal.

How it's different

The Cheerleaders is more focused on grief, family history, and the lingering effects of several deaths. Its atmosphere is darker and more personal than a mystery organized around four living murder suspects.

Start with: The Cheerleaders

Explore The Cheerleaders reading order →

7. The Amateurs — Sara Shepard

Best for: Teenage investigation teams, true crime, and dangerous secrets

Seneca Frazier is fascinated by unsolved crimes and spends time on a true-crime discussion website called Case Not Closed.

When she encounters renewed interest in Helena Kelly's disappearance, Seneca travels to Connecticut to investigate with people she has met through the site.

Their shared interest brings together teenagers who do not necessarily know or trust one another.

As they examine the circumstances surrounding Helena's disappearance, they discover that witnesses, friends, and even members of their own group may have important secrets.

The deeper they investigate, the greater the danger becomes.

Why it's similar

Both series create suspense through groups of teenagers with different personalities and incomplete knowledge of one another. Secrets within the group complicate their attempt to understand a serious crime.

How it's different

The Amateurs follows young true-crime enthusiasts investigating a cold case rather than classmates who have become prime murder suspects. The mystery develops through teamwork and amateur investigation.

Which Series Should You Read First?

If you want the closest match to the original detention-room murder setup, start with The Perfectionists.

Its five central girls become suspects under circumstances that make their innocence difficult to establish, and hidden information keeps the investigation complicated.

Choose Don't Get Mad if you particularly enjoyed secret alliances, suspicious evidence, and the fear that someone's private activities could be exposed.

For anonymous threats and characters whose reputations are constantly at risk, Pretty Little Liars offers a longer, more interconnected mystery. It is especially appealing if you want secrets to unfold across many books.

If you preferred trying to work out who committed the crime, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and The Agathas provide a more active detective experience.

Readers who want a darker story about a school community's troubled past may prefer The Cheerleaders.

If the different personalities and uneasy teamwork of the Bayview Four were your favorite part, The Amateurs offers another group of young people drawn together by a dangerous investigation.

The best choice depends on whether you most enjoyed the suspect dynamics, the school scandals, or the challenge of uncovering the truth.

More Books by Karen M. McManus

If you enjoy Karen M. McManus's storytelling, two standalone YA mysteries are particularly worth considering.

You'll Be the Death of Me

Ivy, Mateo, and Cal were once close friends, but their lives have taken different directions.

When an unexpected reunion leads them to skip school together, they stumble into a murder investigation. Worse, each has a connection to the victim and secrets that could make the situation dangerous.

Why read it next

It offers another McManus story involving a group of teenagers, different perspectives, hidden connections, and a murder that disrupts ordinary school life.

How it differs

This is a standalone novel with a central trio, not a continuation of the Bayview story.

You'll Be the Death of Me — Penguin Random House →

Nothing More to Tell

Four years after a teacher was found murdered near Saint Ambrose School, the case remains unsolved.

Brynn, a former student, returns and begins investigating while pursuing an opportunity connected to a true-crime program.

Her search brings her back into contact with Tripp, a former friend whose account helped shape the original investigation.

Why read it next

This novel features an unresolved school murder, secrets between former friends, and competing accounts of what happened.

How it differs

It follows a renewed investigation into an older crime rather than an active case involving four classmates newly accused of murder.

Nothing More to Tell — Penguin Random House →

Both novels stand alone and are not additional installments in the One of Us Is Lying series.

Have You Finished the One of Us Is Lying Trilogy?

Before looking for a new series, make sure you have read the complete Bayview trilogy.

  1. One of Us Is Lying
  2. One of Us Is Next
  3. One of Us Is Back

One of Us Is Next introduces a dangerous truth-or-dare game in Bayview after the events of the first novel, while One of Us Is Back returns to the community as earlier secrets and threats resurface.

If you enjoyed the original characters and want to see the wider consequences of Simon's death, the sequels are the natural place to continue.

For the full reading sequence and separate book descriptions, see our One of Us Is Lying books in order guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What books are most similar to One of Us Is Lying?

The Perfectionists and Don't Get Mad are particularly close in their focus on teenagers implicated in murder investigations. Pretty Little Liars is another strong choice for readers who enjoyed anonymous threats, dangerous secrets, and complicated friendships.

What should I read after One of Us Is Lying?

If you have finished the Bayview trilogy, try The Perfectionists for another group of murder suspects, Pretty Little Liars for longer-running secrets, or A Good Girl's Guide to Murder for a more detective-focused mystery.

Are there YA mysteries with multiple suspects?

Yes. The Perfectionists follows five girls linked to a murder, while Don't Get Mad involves a secret group that appears connected to a classmate's death. Both encourage readers to question the evidence against the central characters.

What Karen M. McManus book should I read next?

You'll Be the Death of Me is a strong choice if you enjoyed teenagers hiding secrets while caught up in a murder case. Nothing More to Tell is better if you prefer cold cases, conflicting testimony, and amateur investigation.

Is Pretty Little Liars similar to One of Us Is Lying?

Both series feature teenage secrets, deception, damaged friendships, and suspense shaped by social reputations. However, Pretty Little Liars unfolds across a much longer series with an ongoing anonymous antagonist, while One of Us Is Lying begins with a specific school murder and four central suspects.

Explore More YA Mystery & Thriller Series

Looking for another twist-filled mystery?

Browse our YA Mystery series for stories about murder investigations, suspicious disappearances, and hidden evidence.

You can also explore YA Thriller series for dangerous secrets, psychological tension, and characters facing increasingly serious threats.

Read Next for more recommendations or browse the complete YA Series Directory to compare reading orders and published book counts.

Sources & Further Reading