Tik Tok’s five favorite young adult crime novels

Booktok has taken over the reading community worldwide and has helped many young people love reading even more. On booktok you can find book recommendations in every genre for example romance, crime, mystery and adventure. The rise of the Booktok community has also helped many authors gain popularity and help readers discover new authors and books to read. Book Tok has not only helped me personally to discover a new hobby of reading but also has helped me expand my reading genres. Here are my top 5 crime books that I found thanks to Book Tok.

A Good Girls Guide to Murder (Series)

A Good Girls Guide to Murder is a young adult crime thriller that was released in 2019 by British author Holly Jackson. The book follows Pip Fitz Amobi who is trying to solve a cold murder case for her final year school project in her little town of Kent. The murder ended the life of a 15-year-old Andie Bell but also resulted in the suicide of her boyfriend Sal Sing who was accused of the murder. Pip is convinced that the real killer is still haunting little Kilton, and she makes it her mission to find out what really happened. She befriends Sal’s little brother Ravi and the two become a perfect detective pair. However, the more she discovers about the murders, the more she finds herself in deep trouble, including ending up in hospital and finding out some ugly truths about the people she thought she knew.

This book is perfect for readers who must be hooked from the first page to be able to finish reading a book. A Good Girls Guide to murder has received a 4.5-star review on Goodreads and has gained popularity around the world. The book also includes “real life” interviews between Pip and her suspects for her true crime podcast. We get to follow Pip and Ravi solve other crimes in Little Kilton through a 3-book long series that keeps us hooked all the way to the end.

I give A Good Girls Guide to murder series 5 out of 5 stars.

One of us is Lying

One of us is Lying is a young adult mystery suspense novel released in 2017 by author Karen McManus. The book is about a group of students at Bayview High who enter detention as a group of five but only four leave alive. One of them, Simon who is the face behind the school’s gossip page “About That”, suffers an allergic reaction due to his peanut allergy and dies. The incident is believed to be accidental but soon after the gossip page receives a message from the dead Simon, and it says that the four remaining students killed him because he knew secrets about them, that could destroy their futures. The police get involved and an investigation is launched and the four are soon arrested and charged.

However, the four know that someone is trying to set them up and they do everything to find whoever is playing this sick game.

One of us is lying is perfect for those who like to play the detective and love a mystery that will keep them on the edge of their seat. The book has been on the New York Times Best Sellers list for five years and in 2020 a second book was released. The book has also been adapted into a series on Netflix.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

The Only One Left

The Only One Left is an adult Horror Thriller novel written in 2023 by author Riley Sager.

The book is set in 1983 in an old mansion called Hopes End on the edge of a cliff in Maine. The house belongs to 70-year-old Lenora Hope who is confined to a wheelchair and has lost all ability to talk. So, 30-year-old Kit McDeere, who has just lost her mother, is assigned as Lenora’s caregiver after her previous caregiver, Mary Milton, fled during the night. However, the house keeps an ugly secret that the people living there will do everything to keep hidden. At Hopes End, three murders occurred during a night in 1929 and the suspected culprit is Lenora Hope. She apparently killed her sister Virgina by hanging her from the chandelier and stabbed her mother and father. However, even though there was never enough evidence to charge her, the town knows she is guilty and a rhyme about her murders is made.

On the first night, Kit learns that Lenora was writing down her account of the events with the help of Milton. She tells Kit she will tell the world the truth about that night. However, things take a shocking turn when Kit finds Milton’s body on the bottom of the cliff. She soon learns that the murders at Hopes End are darker and more twisted than she would have ever thought.

The Only One Left is the perfect book that will keep you hooked for hours with its dark turns and gripping characters. The author Riley Sager has won several awards and I very much like his way of writing from different points of view.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

The Night She Disappeared

The Night She Disappeared is a Mystery crime novel written in 2021 by author Lisa Jewell. The book is set in 2017 in a small town outside of London. The story follows mom Kim whose daughter Tallulah leaves to go to a party with her rich friends and never comes back. The mother is desperate to find her, but years go by, and she continues her search because her daughter’s son is waiting for his mom. A few years later a sign is found by a crime novelist who has recently moved into town. The sign says, ‘DIG HERE’. The novelist decides that she is going to help the mom find her daughter, but the disappearance is soon considered a murder after a secret tunnel is found under Tallulah’s friend’s house. Inside the tunnel, Tallulah’s boyfriend’s body is found, and the novelist soon discovers that this case is starting to play out like her novels.

This novel is one of my favorite mysteries because I love how the book is written from a two-point perspective. The Night She Disappeared is full of mystery, blood and toxic love.

I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars.

The Paris Apartment

The Paris Apartment is a mystery suspense novel written by author Lucy Foley in 2022. The book is about a girl Jess who decides to leave her job and escape to Paris. She decides to crash at her half-brother’s fancy Paris apartment. However, when she arrives her half-brother Ben is nowhere to be found and she soon suspects that there is something going on in this tight knit community living in the apartment complex. Jess starts to investigate Ben’s disappearance and she soon finds that everyone in the building is hiding something. The mystery involves an alcoholic, an observant concierge, a secret lover, a wealthy housewife, a party girl, a businessman and an unwanted guest.

The Paris apartment is a perfect book for those who want a slow mystery with a lot of twists and turns and an ending that you would never expect. The book has been nominated for the best thriller and mystery novel on Goodreads.

I give The Paris Apartment 5 out of 5 stars.

Zoe ROSMARUS / S5ENB / EEB1