The author of the bestselling young adult mystery One of Us is Lying has come through with a new thriller that will not leave her fans disappointed.

Twins Ellery and Ezra have been sent to live with their grandmother in the small town of Echo Ridge. It’s a picturesque place where their mother grew up. It’s also the place where their aunt disappeared when she was seventeen. Greeted by a dead body on a rainy night, the twins find their first weeks in the new town are far from peaceful. There’s creepy, jarring vandalism, then a missing cheerleader. Keen on true crime, Ellery can’t help but start looking into these incidents. The book is also voiced by Malcolm; a kid whose older brother is a murder suspect.

With a small-town setting, a dead homecoming queen and a theme park formerly known as Murderland, this book has an American aesthetic that brings to mind R.L. Stine-style high-school horrors of the nineties. Rest assured though, Karen McManus delivers a quality book. She skilfully balances a page-turning plot with interesting characters not lacking in depth. This is really good, entertaining reading. There are twists galore and readers will be guessing ’til the very end. It’s everything you want from a teen mystery. For ages 13+.

Kim Gruschow is the children’s book buyer at Readings St Kilda.