A murder mystery game to solve? Criminology students competing against each other? The game becomes real? Consider us obsessed with Lauren Muñoz’s new novel Very Dangerous Things! A high stakes game that suddenly has a body count! Read more about this 2025 novel and scroll down to see the gorgeous cover.

A murder mystery game turns deadly in this YA whodunit by the author of Suddenly a Murder.

For fans of Karen M. McManus, Maureen Johnson, and Holly Jackson.

Everyone in town knows about the game. For decades, J. Everett High has staged an annual murder mystery to put its criminology students to the test. And this year, crime junkie Dulce Castillo is dead set on winning. Soon, the game kicks off, and the student playing the victim, Xavier Torres, is found poisoned in the school’s greenhouse . . . except his death is not pretend.

It’s murder.

When the authorities open an investigation, all the evidence points to Sierra Fox, Xavier’s ex-girlfriend and Dulce’s ex-best friend. Claiming innocence and desperate to clear her name, Sierra begsDulce to look past their bad blood and find the culprit.

After all, Dulce knows this school better than any investigator ever could, but she must use caution to solve this mystery. Because these historic halls are full of suspects with no shortage of motives. And in this game of cat and mouse, the other player kills.

Preorder a copy now, and add to your TBR shelf.