“People Like Us” is a murder mystery by Dana Meale. This book is told from the point of view of Kay Donavan, a girl at a boarding school with a dark past. Her group of friends are the elite group at the school they attend. When the group discovers a body in the lake during their yearly plunge after the Halloween dance, they are questioned for murder. To make matters more complicated, Kay receives an email made to look like it was sent by the girl they found in the lake with timed clues and instructions. She is forced to expose her friends for their faults or have her dark past exposed to her parents, police and friends. Enlisting Nora, a tech genius, to help her as Kay follows the instructions of the murderer’s emails, Kay watches the new life she’s built fall apart.

This book is an interesting look at the social dynamic at an all-girls school. Kay and her group of friends are exclusive and malicious to students they see as strange. This dynamic leads the murderer to target their group as an act of revenge. This story is an interesting take on the elite culture within boarding schools and how it can be fatally toxic. In an environment where highly competitive students have minimal guidance from adults, the social hierarchy runs wild and is the perfect set up for a murder mystery.

“People Like Us” has a very interesting take on revenge. The murderer’s revenge appears to be in the form of killing people, but the murderer’s goal is really to destroy Kay and her friends’ relationships. By forcing Kay to reveal the secrets of her friends, the murderer estranges them from each other and breaks apart the elite group. The story is a  psychological thriller, even though there are physical murders and attacks. Kay is put under immense stress and guilt by destroying her relationships and her friends’ futures.  

I think having the main character try to solve the mystery while it is ongoing is the right choice for this book, as it builds the tension and creates a more interesting character. Kay is not just following the murderer’s so she isn’t exposed, she is trying to stop it. If she was not the one to solve them, Kay would be a one-dimensional character who only cares about not having her own secrets exposed. However, she is more complex in the book because she is being selfish in a way, yet also trying to get justice for the murderers and stop exposing her friends. The choice to have her solve the mystery adds dimension to Kay.

“People Like Us” is a compelling story. It is a psychological thriller that connects the reader to the detailed, interesting characters, and it explores the extremes of social dynamics in a boarding school setting. Readers will be drawn into the world of these girls, a world that has a realistic feel. This book is an amazing mystery with intense twists and turns, and I would wholly recommend it for lovers of mystery and drama.