The One of Us is Lying television series trailer, an adaptation of Karen M. McManus’ most critically acclaimed novel of the same name dropped a few days ago and that, coupled with the news that a third book in the One of Us is Lying book series, One of Us is Back is coming out in the summer of 2023 is exciting all mystery and thriller fans.
As a major fan of the books and someone who has met Karen M. McManus last summer virtually via a Facebook Watch series called Letters To…, I am extremely excited for the television series! That being said, the trailer promises to have some differences from the book and that is always something to be cautious of as a book fan. The One of Us Is Lying series appears to follow in the lines of murder mystery shows like Riverdale (without the paranormal activity) and Pretty Little Liars with its whodunnit murder mystery set in a high school.
The television series will air on Peacock some time in late 2021 and having only seen the trailer, it is beyond exciting that the casting directors and crew stuck to the novel’s depictions of the four main characters – Addy, Nate, Bronwyn and Cooper – instead of white-washing or aging up said characters (ahem, the two Percy Jackson movies where the twelve-year-olds became sixteen-year-olds and the blonde-haired, grey-eyed Annabeth became a brunette with blue eyes). Don’t worry, because there is a new upcoming Percy Jackson Disney Plus series that promises to be much more accurate to the book series….
Regarding ethnically diverse characters, such as Bronwyn Rojas whose father is Colombian, up until recently, the main cast would have been depicted as white. Additionally, both Nate and Cooper are white in the novel, yet Hollywood chose to be more racially diverse and cast Chibuikem Uche as Cooper Clay, who was described as having “neatly cropped sandy” hair and “all-American charm”. This diversity in casting and actors has been increasing, even before the rise of Black Lives Matter last summer. The fine line between adhering to accuracy to the novels to please the book fans and the diversity in casting to appease a political agenda is always difficult, but as a major fan of the novels, I am extremely excited to watch the television series, regardless of the plot discrepancies that were already obvious in the trailer. Mark the date as soon as it comes out, everyone!
McManus’ fifth book, You’ll Be the Death of Me is being released on November 30, 2021 and depicts a mystery regarding three new characters: Ivy, Mateo and Cal, who walk straight into a murder scene, after following a classmate Brian “Boney” Mahoney into an empty building. Given the exciting mysteries in all of McManus’ previous books – One of Us is Lying, One of Us is Next, Two Can Keep a Secret and The Cousins – the anticipation for her fifth book is through the roof, especially for fans of Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious series and Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series.
YA murder mysteries are definitely up-and-coming, as shown by popular television series such as Riverdale, Sherlock and Nancy Drew. While murder mystery television series have been popular for decades – Law and Order, CSI, Bones, Castle – to say the least, YA television series have been booming. Society’s fascination with death and the mystery surrounding unknown causes of death has been prevalent for centuries and McManus is the latest to jump into the world of fictional crime, with an amazing record of unpredictable whodunnits! Whether you are already a fan or you have yet to delve into her world of mysteries, make a date with McManus’ One of Us is Lying television series as soon as it comes out and don’t forget to pick up a copy of her fifth novel as well!
Featured Images Via Publishers Weekly and Hollywood Reporter