This book had so much potential. Really, I did enjoy most of it. For some reason I thought of Tara Grinstead bc she had been a teacher too, but this book is different. What fell short with this book is that too much was happening. The friends are trying to solve a murder and find another crime happening? And it’s just like this huge giant conspiracy that became a little melodramatic for me. If it had just been about the murder and not 35 other things connected to it or possible connected, I would have enjoyed the book more. This is a decent YA book, I just didn’t love the plethora of events happening.

This fast-paced YA mystery kicks off with a shocking twist: a high school student is accused of murdering a teacher—and ends up serving time for it. But just a few chapters in, he’s unexpectedly released, only to learn the nightmare isn’t over: he’s going to be retried for the same crime. Now, it’s a race against time as his brother, a loyal friend, and a key witness who thinks they saw him the night of the murder scramble to uncover the truth and clear his name.

With just the right amount of suspense, drama, and jaw-dropping twists, this story gives Pretty Little Liars energy with a splash of Gossip Girl attitude. A perfect quick-read mystery for YA fans who love a gripping "whodunit" with heart.

Grace, Henry, and Ally have been friends for a long time, growing up near each other. Then Henry's brother Jake was arrested for the murder of a teach at their school, and Claire's testimony helped clinch the conviction. Two years later, Jake's conviction has been vacated due to impropriety during the trial. Ally wants to help her best friend's brother by starting her own investigation, and even though Claire is beginning to question what she saw the night of the murder, Ally wants nothing to do with her traitorous ex-friend. 

I wanted to like this book, as much as anything because I wanted to be able to recommend it to my teenage daughter who loves YA mysteries and thrillers. But in the end, the characters kind of killed it for me. The plot was okay—nothing more or less than you'd really expect for this genre, but decent enough. The story is told in alternating POVs between the three once-friends, 1st person and present-tense in each. (Note on that: an author needs to be really good at writing different voices to pull off multiple 1st person POVs well, and this author probably should have made a different choice. The characters mostly all sounded the same.) Ally got on my nerves with her constant and never-ending, or even lessening, hatred and anger toward Claire. Claire starting to doubt what she thought she saw the night of the murder was an interesting angle that wasn't used well. Her POV was kind of bogged down by "domestic" minutiae. And Henry mostly just seemed sort of wishy-washy. I didn't connect with any of the characters, which made the book feel a bit like a slog.

In the end, I don't think there's anything wrong with the book, exactly (well, other than a larger-than-normal number of typos for a traditionally published book, but those might have been fixed before it was published), but I was probably the wrong audience for it. Even my daughter, who often enjoys books that I don't, is planning to pass on reading this after I told her about my issues with the characters. Still,  if you're a fan of young adult mysteries and thrillers, you might consider checking out other reviews at the link below to see what others who liked it more than I did thought.

Murder Between Friends is a thriller that will leave most readers guessing until the very end.

The story is told from the alternating viewpoints of Grace, Henry and Ally. Each has a unique voice and a different sort of “chip” on their shoulders. Of the three, Ally is the most intense. She’s loyal to a fault, and can be annoying at times. Henry feels a bit lost, And Grace is learning to stand up for herself. The interplay between the trio is strong, with each bringing something to the story.

The story itself is a bit wild, with lots of twists and bumps along the way. Author Liz Lawson is good at building suspense but does give away some pretty big clues along the way. Nonetheless, once Lawson hits her groove, the pacing pushes the story forward.

Murder Between Friends is a good “popcorn” book heading into the summer reading season.

This book was so hard to put down!!! It was full of suspense and drama (two of my favorite things in a book). The characters were perfectly written for a YA novel. Job well done!

Ooof. This book is full of drama: small town, high school, and an overturned conviction of someone in jail for unaliving a teacher. It honestly gave me A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder vibes minus the podcast. The awfulness of high schoolers and small town busybodies who think that they know everything and are completely right are prevalent in this. The twists and turns are crazy, and I wasn’t ready for the big reveal. This was a really good read!

There is mention of high schoolers being each other’s first, along with drugs and drug dealers so maybe don’t let your kid read this one if you think they don’t know what that is.

Henry’s brother was convicted of killing their teacher, but he knows that isn’t true. And his conviction was vacated due to a mistrial, so now he needs to prove it before they try to take him to trial again. His best friend Ally is always by his side and never believed Jake was guilty. Their other ex best friend, Grace, testified and help put him in jail. Only now she reached out to them unsure on if she really saw him that night. But how can they trust her when she clinched putting him away the first time?

I would recommend this if you're a fan of the ‘𝘈 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭'𝘴 𝘎𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘰 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳’ series by Holly Jackson! 🔍

The book is about a group of 3 friends—Grace, Henry and Ally—who have a fall out after Grace gets Henry's brother, Jake, arrested for the murder of their beloved English teacher, Ms. Miriam Appelbaum.

But when Grace starts questioning whether it was truly Jake that she saw the night of the murder she enlists the help of her old friends to uncover what really happened and who did it.

There were so many suspects, and I had thought “It had to have been ____” because surely they had a motive, right? But I was wrong and they were just involved in another horrible thing completely unrelated to the case lol

But then there were small clues leading to this one character and it started making sense. At first when they were confessing to the murder it was a bit underwhelming the way Ms. Appelbaum died. Believable, but anticlimactic.

But THEN!! Leading up to the end we find out there was another person involved! And how Ms. Appelbaum ACTUALLY died!

(Also, why are teenagers better at solving cases than the actual professionals? 🤔)

I absolutely enjoyed this book!
I loved how short the chapters are, made it easier to get through.

Rating: 4.75/5

In Murder Between Friends, Liz Lawson delivers a character-driven YA thriller that explores fractured friendships, buried secrets, and the high stakes of a murder retrial. Once inseparable, Grace, Henry, and Ally have been estranged since Grace’s testimony helped convict Henry’s brother, Jake, of murder. Now, with Jake suddenly released due to a mistrial, the three teens are pulled back into each other’s lives—and into a search for the truth.

The novel is told through multiple perspectives, allowing readers to get inside the minds of each character as they navigate guilt, loyalty, and suspicion. Lawson captures the complexity of teen relationships, particularly the tension between past closeness and present mistrust. The characters are flawed but relatable, and their emotional struggles are handled with nuance.

While the murder mystery drives the plot forward, the story’s real focus is on the dynamics between former friends forced to confront the past. The tension builds steadily, and although the twists are not overly shocking, the story remains compelling as the characters dig into what really happened the night of the murder.

Readers who enjoy slower-burn thrillers with an emphasis on character growth will likely appreciate this one. While it may not satisfy those looking for nonstop suspense or shocking reveals, Murder Between Friends succeeds in exploring how truth, memory, and friendship can blur under pressure.

This was a twisty and suspenseful thriller, I really enjoyed it! I felt some areas were a bit slow, which is more of a personal issue since I enjoy fast paced thrillers. Overall, really enjoyed it and loved the writing!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children’s for allowing me to ARC read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I applied for this one because I enjoyed the premise of the book. Older brother went to prison because he was convicted of murder. He was released and the person who was the sole reason for the conviction isn’t sure if she believes what she actually saw. Therefore, the 3 teenagers: Grace, Henry, and Ally go on a mission to find evidence that the police missed to attempt to prove Henry’s brother is innocent and was wrongfully convicted.

I enjoyed the book. However, there were a lot of errors and plot holes that made it hard to follow along with. There was an entire section where a character’s name was completely different than what it was at the beginning of the chapter. One of the FMC’s goes to visit JG (Jamel Gallant). He introduces himself as such and the first part of the chapter he is referred to as that. Then about a 1/3 of the way through the chapter he is then referred to as Fraser. It is that way until the very end of the chapter when it switches back to Jamel. I’m not sure if this was meant to be this way or if it was an oversight in the editing department.

I did like the dating of the chapters so I could keep the timeline straight. Without that, I would have been unsure as to how much time was taking place. I like the dynamic between the 3 main characters. The way they interacted with each other and how they didn’t give up on what they believed was right. I did enjoy the twist at the end. It threw me for a loop. I didn’t suspect the actual killer at all.

Overall, I thought this was a decent book. I don’t know that I would highly recommend it. It was a quick, YA read that had a good premise, but had a few holes that were hard to get past.

Review posted to GoodReads on 4/23/25
Review sent to Amazon for approval on 4/23/25 - went live on 4/26/25

This was a nice surprise. I’ve read the other series that she co-authored, but because it was paying homage to Agatha Christie I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to. And although this one has drug abuse, it isn’t shown in the text, so I was able to mostly ignore it. I’m not sure if I’ll continue reading her all the time. but for now, this one was pretty ok.

Ok so I really liked the mystery/thriller aspect of this. I couldn’t imagine being in this situation for real. With that being said, if I was just to leave it at that, you wouldn’t know who or what I was talking about. There was way too much going on in this book. Everybody had something happenging to them, so it was impossible to say what or who was doing what. Even if you think you have one thing figured out, you might, but that’s not the end of it. Also, the overall thing is so real you’ll never get it. It isn’t far-fetched at all lol So if you’re like me and have all these grand ideas on motive? Don’t. LOL

The characters were so annoying tho lol And if you read this you’ll know exactly who I’m talking about. Like what tf are you still mad at her for when he isn’t? It seemed like jealousy to me. I don’t want to say anything more to avoid any spoilers, but her going on and on and on made me dislike her from the beginning. There was no way she should have been still mad when it wasn’t actually towards her. The other characters were ok tho. I thought they were well written, like emotions wise everything seemed real, but they were repeatedly mad or arguing about the same thing. It was weird lol

This was good, but I’m still not sure if I’ll keep reading her. I can say I was surprised at this one. It kept my attention and did a good job in scratching the itch I had for a thriller. Hopefully more of this will come.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC of Murder Between Friends in exchange for an honest review.

Three once best friends (Ally, Grace, and Henry) are on a mission to clear Henry’s brother, Jake, of a wrongful murder conviction, which is curious because it’s Grace’s eye witness testimony that sealed Jake’s fate at his original murder trial. After serving two years in prison, Jake is released on a technicality, but will be retried. While the town has already convicted Jake in their own way, there’s something that just never made sense to both Ally and Henry surrounding the circumstances of the case. Upon Jake’s release, Grace begins to question if it’s really Jake she saw outside of the victim’s house that night or if he was framed. Since Jake’s sentencing, Grace has been cut off from Ally and Henry since she is the reason for Jake’s conviction. In a moment of bravery, Grace decides to voice her concerns to Ally and Henry and vows to make it right by taking matters into her own hands and helps Ally and Henry try to track down the real killer.

Although this book is written for the YA audience as a way to dip their toe into murder mystery novels, this book was exceptionally well done and incredibly interesting and well written. I loved that you get the story from all three viewpoints and that there really is no main character. All three characters are well established and you feel a connection with each for various reasons. The end of the book is really where the author shines in that the ending is truly chefs kiss. There are so many twists and turns and most of them you do not see coming. Hats off to Liz Lawson because this was a great YA thriller to be enjoyed by all ages. Available April 22nd, I highly encourage you to pick this one up!

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands 🕵️ 🕵️‍♀️🕵️‍♂️
I liked this one. It kind of reminded me of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.
Henry, Grace, Ally
His brother has been in prison for two years for a crime Henry is sure he didn’t commit, and he wants to prove his innocence while out on a technicality while awaiting retrial.
Ally is all for helping Henry, and uncovering the truth.
Grace is regretting her part in the first trial and wants to do whatever she can to make it right and make it up to Henry.
But will the three of them make it out alive, or turn into the next headline?
Have you read this one yet? What did you think?

I read a lot of thriller and mystery books and I really enjoy finding more in the YA genre. I can't remember if I've ever read a Liz Lawson book before, so I will count this as my first one. Unfortunately, for me, this was just average. It was super predictable and typically, which is fine, but my big issues was that I couldn't connect with any of the characters. I think I would've liked if there were only two POVs, because having three made me not care about any. I know the POVs were used for the information, but in my mind there were just better ways to get there. I'm really glad I had a chance to read this through, and I will check out other books by the author!

This book reminded me of a good girls guide to murder, which was a pretty good book. I did enjoy the twists that came toward the end, but there were some unnecessary red herrings that didn't go anywhere.

This is a quick read, and there are enough twists to keep readers engaged. I enjoyed the small-town vibes, and there was an unexpected twist at the end. Overall, I enjoyed the story, though I did find Ally a bit annoying. And at times, it was a hard to keep her and Grace separate. Their voices were too similar. The pacing was a bit uneven near the beginning, but that balanced out as the story unfolded.

Murder Between Friends is about Henry's brother, Jake, who is in jail for murder because his best friend Grace testified that she saw him walk into their teacher's yard the night she was murdered. Henry and their friend Ally haven't spoken to Grace since she testified but when Jake is released Grace is forced to question what she thought she saw. The three friends start to investigate because they know Jake is innocent and don't want to see him return to jail--but what will it cost them to investigate when someone clearly wants them to stay quiet? If you like murder mystery this one is a must! I really enjoyed Lawson's other series, The Agathas, and was eager to pick this one up. I enjoyed the mystery though I found some parts predictable and ultimately I found the characters a bit under developed and lacking in nuance. For example, Ally was always described as annoying in her pursuit of the truth and even Henry was annoyed in her one track mind, which I never understood as someone who felt guilty that his brother went to jail an innocent man. These aspects weren't enough to keep me from really enjoying the book and mystery though and I'd definitely recommend it if you like the mystery/suspense genre! Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

It started a bit slow, but boy, oh boy, did it pick up!! I've been in such a funk with reading this year, but this was the perfect book to get me out of that. It was fast-paced, kept me on my toes, and with the different POVS, it kept my attention the entire time. Reminded me a lot of the Good Girls Guide to Murder series.

Grace, Henry, and Ally all used to be great friends. They all lived within walking distance of each other. Their friendship ended whenever Grace went on trial to help arrest Henry's brother, Jake, for the murder of their high-school's beloved English teacher. Now, two years later, Jake is temporarily released from prison due to a mistrial. Grace, Henry, and Ally all attempt to prove Jake's innocence.

Murder Between Friends is a fast-paced thriller with a great plot and character development. The characters were all also complex with well developed backstories. I also didn't find any of the POV's to be boring or less interesting than the others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley, Liz Lawson, and Random House for the eARC! This was such a fantastic psychological thriller from start to finish. Fast-paced and perfectly plotted, with a major twist at the end that completely blew me away! An absolutely great read!