Only She Came Back

by Margot Harrison

Overview

A chilling thriller about an unlikely friendship between a true-crime fan and a former high school classmate suspected of murdering her influencer boyfriend, perfect for fans of Holly Jackson and Courtney Summers.

On July 28 at 6:30 p.m., Kiri Dunsmore walks out of the desert wearing her boyfriend’s sweatshirt, covered in his blood. Dazed and on the verge of unconsciousness, she tells a cashier that he’s still out there and most likely dead. The disappearance of Callum Massey, a “survival guru” with hundreds of thousands of YouTube followers, rocks the nation. And Kiri is a prime suspect.
 
Back in Kiri's hometown, true-crime fanatic Sam is completely hooked on the case—especially now that she recognizes the suspect as shy Katie from high school. Although they didn’t know each other well, that doesn’t stop Sam from reaching out to befriend her old classmate.
 
But when Kiri starts to confide in her, Sam realizes there’s more to the story than she had imagined. Can she keep Kiri’s secrets even though revealing them could put her where she's always longed to be—at the center of the story?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316536295
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	11/14/2023
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	126,579
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Margot Harrison is the author of the YA thrillers We Made It All Up, The Glare, and The Killer in Me, and a two-time finalist for the Vermont Book Award. She writes for the newspaper Seven Days and posts vintage YA book reviews and skits about her weird childhood on TikTok @MargotFHarrison.

Editorial Reviews

"Intense, thrilling, and addictive—you won't be able to put this book down until all the parts slide beautifully into place. A masterful blend of character study, social critique, and mystery, this is Margot Harrison's best book yet."—Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces

"A clever, twisted tale of taking lies (and influencer likes) way too far, this book has enough paranoia and red herrings to satisfy the most suspicious murderino."—Ellie Marney, author of None Shall Sleep

“Readers will devour this tale of twisted obsessions and blurred lines. Who is a survivor and who is a suspect—and can you be both?”—April Henry, New York Times bestselling author of Girl, Stolen and Girl Forgotten

“An addictive, spine-tingling mystery with an of-the-moment plot, this is a book to hand to fans of Tess Sharpe or Holly Jackson.”—School Library Journal

“Tackles consent, grooming, emotional abuse, mental illness, survivalist culture, eating disorders, and social media…A twisty thriller exploring important social topics.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Fans of Courtney Summers' Sadie (2018)—and there are many—will find a kindred read in this sharply incisive thriller that absolves no one but gives voice to all.”

—Booklist

“Margot Harrison smartly addresses important social topics including mental health, survivalist culture, and parasocial relationships while delivering a gripping, addictive narrative full of unexpected twists and turns…this twisted thriller is both compelling and insightful.”—Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher

01/01/2024

Gr 9 Up—Callum Massey, a 24-year-old YouTuber and survival guru, disappears in New Mexico, and his girlfriend, 18-year-old Kiri Dunsmore, walks out of the desert covered in his blood. The internet goes wild analyzing the couple's videos and the content she posted after his disappearance, with the court of public opinion convinced that Kiri is a cold-blooded killer. Less convinced is aspiring true-crime podcaster Samara, who is obsessed with cases involving female killers and went to high school with Kiri in Vermont. Now working at a movie theater in Burlington, VT, and grappling with the aftermath of a breakup, Sam struggles to reconcile the glossy, erratic girl in the videos with the sweet, shy person she used to know. Determined to be the one to tell Kiri's story, Sam insinuates herself into Kiri's life—but as Kiri starts asking Sam for favors, Sam's journalistic objectivity, and increasingly her safety, is compromised. Loosely modeled after the Gabby Petito case, this is a gripping, twisty mystery with strong thematic appeal for readers, exploring the pressures of social media fame, the ethics of true-crime reporting, topics of grooming and abusive relationships, and post-climate collapse survivalism. Transcripts of YouTube videos and entries from Kiri's diary are interspersed with Sam's first-person narration. All characters are cued white; Sam is ace/demi and romantically interested in women. VERDICT An addictive, spine-tingling mystery with an of-the-moment plot, this is a book to hand to fans of Tess Sharpe or Holly Jackson.—Elizabeth Giles

School Library Journal

2023-09-09
A true-crime fan on the hunt for a story connects with a former classmate who may be a killer.

When 18-year-old Kiri Dunsmore becomes a suspect in her survivalist influencer boyfriend Callum Massey’s murder after turning up in his bloody sweatshirt, Samara recognizes her as shy Katie Dunsmore from junior year English class. A self-professed obsessive true-crime fan, Sam is always on the lookout for a story, and realizing that Kiri could be her big break, she seizes the opportunity to strike up a friendship. Though Kiri isn’t willing to talk about what happened to Callum, the diary she lets Sam read spells out how she fell prey to his manipulation and control. As rumors swirl, Sam’s developing feelings for Kiri threaten to override her better judgment, even though Kiri still hasn’t been cleared of the murder. Although Sam feels more like a plot device than a fully rounded character, the combination of formats—video and podcast transcripts, diary entries—plus plenty of red herrings add intrigue as the story tackles consent, grooming, emotional abuse, mental illness, survivalist culture, eating disorders, and social media. Undeniable parallels to the tragic, widely covered 2021 murder of Gabby Petito underscore the slippery nature of abusive behaviors and illuminate warning signs for readers learning to navigate romantic relationships of their own. Kiri is white; other characters are minimally described and racially ambiguous.

A twisty thriller exploring important social topics. (Thriller. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews