What books are similar to One of Us Is Lying?

The 10 closest matches to One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus on ReadingList include Good Girl's Guide to Murder, The Naturals, Plague Year, The Man in the Woods, and Truly Devious. Each is scored on shared themes (mystery and detective stories, murder, fiction, and schools, fiction), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 9–12), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like One of Us Is Lying reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 9–12), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.

How does ReadingList choose similar books?

Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Books like One of Us Is Lying

If you liked One of Us Is Lying, read Good Girl's Guide to Murder, The Naturals, or Plague Year — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Closest match: Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson — shares mystery and detective stories and murder, fiction

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Looking for books like One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus (Mystery · grades 9–12)? It’s most often read for its themes of mystery and detective stories, murder, fiction, and schools, fiction. The 10 titles below are the closest matches in the ReadingList database — each scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level, and each linked to the curricula, states, and grades where it’s assigned, with primary sources.

These are reading-level matches, not just topical ones — so the picks stay grade-appropriate for a grades 9–12 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Good Girl's Guide to Murdergrades 9–12: Shares themes of mystery and detective stories and murder, fiction, both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list, and same genre (Mystery). Amazon → books like this →
The Naturalsgrades 9–12: Shares themes of mystery and detective stories, both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list, and same genre (Mystery). Amazon → books like this →
Plague Yeargrades 9–12: Shares themes of mystery and detective stories, both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list, and same genre (Mystery). Amazon → books like this →
The Man in the Woodsgrades 9–12: Shares themes of mystery and detective stories, both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list, and same genre (Mystery). Amazon → books like this →
Truly Deviousgrades 9–12: Shares themes of mystery and detective stories, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
The Inheritance Gamesgrades 9–12: Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list (+1 more shared list), same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Fake IDgrades 9–12: Both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Eat Your Heart Outgrades 9–12: Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
Daughter of the Starsgrades 9–12: Both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →
How to Survive Your Murdergrades 9–12: Both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (9–12). Amazon → books like this →

Books like One of Us Is Lying for younger readers (K–2)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps K–2— same scoring, different audience.

Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of murder and same genre (Mystery).
Piggins by Jane Yolen · grades K–3 — Shares themes of mystery and detective stories and same genre (Mystery).
Rotten Teeth by Laura Simms · grades K–3 — Shares themes of schools, fiction and both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list.
In a Dark, Dark Room by Alvin Schwartz · grades K–3 — Both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list and same genre (Mystery).
Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick · grades K–3 — Same genre (Mystery) and the same era (2010s).

Books like One of Us Is Lying for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 3–5— same scoring, different audience.

The Name of the Game Was Murder by Joan Lowery Nixon · grades 3–8 — Shares themes of mystery and detective stories and murder, both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list, and same genre (Mystery).
Closed for the Season by Mary Downing Hahn · grades 3–8 — Shares themes of mystery and detective stories and murder and same genre (Mystery).
Tarot Says Beware by Betsy Cromer Byars · grades 3–8 — Shares themes of mystery and detective stories and murder and same genre (Mystery).
Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of murder and same genre (Mystery).
Ghosts Don't Get Goose Bumps by Elvira Woodruff · grades 3–5 — Shares themes of mystery and detective stories, both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list, and same genre (Mystery).

Books like One of Us Is Lying for middle school (grades 6–8)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 6–8— same scoring, different audience.

The Name of the Game Was Murder by Joan Lowery Nixon · grades 3–8 — Shares themes of mystery and detective stories and murder, both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list, and same genre (Mystery).
Closed for the Season by Mary Downing Hahn · grades 3–8 — Shares themes of mystery and detective stories and murder and same genre (Mystery).
Tarot Says Beware by Betsy Cromer Byars · grades 3–8 — Shares themes of mystery and detective stories and murder and same genre (Mystery).
The Stalker by Joan Lowery Nixon · grades 6–8 — Shares themes of mystery and detective stories and murder and same genre (Mystery).
Twisted Summer by Willo Davis Roberts · grades 6–8 — Shares themes of mystery and detective stories and murder and same genre (Mystery).

Books like One of Us Is Lying for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 9–12— same scoring, different audience.

That's Not My Name by Megan Lally · grades 9–12 — Both on the Virginia Readers' Choice list, same genre (Mystery), and overlapping grades (9–12).
Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay · grades 9–12 — Shares themes of murder, fiction and overlapping grades (9–12).
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green · 850L — Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (9–12), and the same era (2010s).
Middlemarch by George Eliot · grades 11–12 — Same genre (Mystery) and overlapping grades (11–12).
Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson · grades 7–12 — Same genre (Mystery) and overlapping grades (7–12).

Common questions

What books are similar to One of Us Is Lying?: The 10 closest matches to One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus on ReadingList include Good Girl's Guide to Murder, The Naturals, Plague Year, The Man in the Woods, and Truly Devious. Each is scored on shared themes (mystery and detective stories, murder, fiction, and schools, fiction), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 9–12), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like One of Us Is Lying reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 9–12), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.
How does ReadingList choose similar books?: Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Book data last updated 2026-09-05. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.

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