Two Can Keep A Secret author Karen M. McManus on the rise of female thriller writers

In 2017, Karen M. McManus has readers instantly hooked with her page-turning, bestselling thriller, One of Us Is Lying. 

Basically the Breakfast Club with a dark twist, it was one - and we were particularly excited when her follow-up novel, Two Can Keep A Secret, hit shelves last month. The perfect novel for fans of Riverdale, Pretty Little Liars and Sharp Objects - or, just avid thriller readers, really - the book followers Ellery and her twin, Ezra, who move to the seemingly picture-perfect town of Echo Ridge. As they try to get to the bottom of the heartbreaking mystery haunting the town, the siblings soon find that everyone has a secret to hide - and that things may not be as picturesque as they had thought. The author spoke to Her about what inspired her to become a writer, the big-screen inspiration for Two Can Keep A Secret, and the rise of female thriller writers across all age ranges. She said:

"I wanted to be a writer since I was around eight years old. "I started writing books, loved it, told everyone I was going to be an author - but when I got into high school, it got harder: to finish stories, to come up with ideas... "I gave it up. I thought I didn’t have what it takes. "It was about 2014, when I read the Hugner Games, I was inspired by the young adult world and that tone of voice - so I tried again."

McManus admits she feels as if the thriller genre "chose" her, after growing up reading Agatha Christie and Stephen King. Speaking about the rise of female thriller writers across all age ranges, she continued:

"I think as women we understand very well that bad things can and do happen to people, to people we’ve known or ourselves. "I think the appeal of the thriller genre is that you explore that sense of fear, of dread - it can be quite cathartic. "Especially in Young Adult books, where there's so much room for [character] growth."

McManus' One of Us Is Lying was inspired partially by The Breakfast Club, and has been hailed as a mix between the iconic film and Pretty Little Liars.  Five strangers walk into a classroom for detention, but only four of them walk out alive - and suddenly, everyone is a suspect. The page-turning thriller is filled with plenty of plot twists and turns - although, according to McManus, it originally started out differently. She said:

"[In One of Us Is Lying] I was interested in what’d happen to the lives of four characters after they experienced this traumatic event, and mid-way it kind of hit me I was writing a thriller."

She also drew inspiration from the big (and small) screen for her follow-up novel, Two Can Keep A Secret - but in an entirely different way. She added:

"With [Two Can Keep a Secret], I started with the setting: I wanted to write a picture-perfect town, with dark secrets. I was partially inspired by Twin Peaks and Scream. "I wanted to capture a similar feeling; where everything is so beautiful and everyone in town seems so nice - but there's dark secrets lurking."

The opening pages of Two Can Keep A Secret introduce brother and sister Ezra and Ellery, and their heartbreaking family secret: their aunt, Sarah, went missing at the age of 17. Five years later, the homecoming queen was brutally murdered. And soon after the siblings' arrival, another girl goes missing. Ellery becomes determined to find out the truth about what happened - although she ends up unraveling more of the town's past, and the secrets the residents have been hiding, than she expected. The author explained:

"A big theme of the book is secrets, and the power of secrets. "Ellery is one of the characters who believes that secrets should be out, and there should be answers - but she suddenly gets confronted with the truth, which would destroy people she loves. "Her whole life outlook has changed.

McManus added that the story of Echo Ridge "feels done", although she wouldn't entirely rule out revisiting one of the characters down the line. She said:

"It felt done - and it still feels done. "But a lot of people have said that they love the character of Ezra, and that they want to see more of him. I don't think I'd revist Malcom or Ellery. Once I conclude a character's arc, I want to get out of their heads. "But if I found the right story for [Ezra], then maybe - I wouldn't say never."

Two Can Keep A Secret is available in bookstores now. 

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A good book can do just about anything; from taking you on a wild and fantastical adventure to making you feel like an all-knowing super sleuth (if you figure out the killer twist). Every week at #Bookmarked, we will be taking you through some of our all-time favourite books - as well as the newest novels hitting shelves in Ireland.