Everyone in the Group Chat Dies

This is one of those binary books. As darkly funny as it’s poignant and moving. Light and cozy, except when it’s suspenseful and horrifying. In short, there’s a whole lot going on, yet Chilton, author of the delightful Swiped, succeeds in keeping it all afloat. Kirby Cornell, a failed Nepo Baby, lives in the bleak town of Crowhust in an even bleaker apartment with a gaggle of roommates. It takes a desperate message to their old group chat to get Kirby and her chums to put down the beer. But the message isn’t what’s so scary. It’s that the message comes from Esme, an ex-roommate who died a year ago. Creepy, no? The novel moves between a year ago and the present day, with plenty of Crowhurst, including the local “fayre,” in between. Because it turns out that Crowhurst was the killing ground of a terrifying serial killer who was active in the 1980s, may have never been fully identified, and who provides Kirby and chums with plenty of speculation. A fast-moving, clever thriller that uses social media to keep the narrative thriving. Teens and twenty-somethings should love this.