Books like The Hawthorne Legacy

The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes reads as suspenseful, fast-paced. These 12 books share its genome — matched by how they actually read, not just their shelf label.

What The Hawthorne Legacy is like to read

A fast-paced mystery-thriller following Avery Grambs as she unravels deadly puzzles within the Hawthorne inheritance while navigating complicated family dynamics and romantic tension. Blends suspenseful plotting with wry character voice and intimate stakes. Best for: readers of The Inheritance Games seeking continuation; YA mystery/thriller fans who enjoy puzzle-driven narratives with romantic subplots and family drama.

The Inheritance Games

Jennifer Lynn Barnes · 2020

A propulsive puzzle-box YA where every chapter drops a new riddle, secret passage, or Hawthorne-brother complication — Knives Out energy with a teen heroine and a swoony love triangle.

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One of Us Is Lying

Karen M. McManus · 2017

A Breakfast-Club-meets-whodunit told in rotating teen POVs with short, cliffhangery chapters that keep the pages flying.

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Truly Devious

Maureen Johnson · 2018

A boarding-school mystery braided with a cold-case kidnapping from the 1930s — puzzle-forward with academy atmosphere and a teen sleuth chasing a nearly century-old riddle.

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The Reappearance of Rachel Price

Holly Jackson · 2024

A twisty domestic mystery centered on a teenager whose mother's long-cold disappearance reopens when she reappears alive — built for reveals and creeping unease rather than action.

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Confessions of a murder suspect

James Patterson · 2012

A twisty YA whodunit narrated by a wealthy, emotionally-guarded teen suspect who invites the reader into her investigation of her own family — short chapters and quick cliffhangers keep it moving fast.

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THE ESCAPE GAME

Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss · 2025

A reality-TV escape-room competition curdles into a murder investigation as teen contestants race puzzles and a killer's trail at once.

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If You Could See the Sun

Ann Liang · 2022

A sharp, propulsive YA about an anxious overachiever whose literal invisibility becomes a moral trap — the class-anxiety and school-scandal beats hit harder than the magic itself.

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Genuine fraud

E. Lockhart · 2017

A backward-unfolding cat-and-mouse story of identity theft and betrayal between two young women, building dread as the reader learns the truth in reverse.

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