For readers of Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious, Angeline Boulley’s Firekeeper’s Daughter, and Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.

MISCHIEF GIRLS
by Aashna Avachat
Delacorte BYR, September 2026
(via KT Literary)

College freshman Raina keeps her personal demons quiet by volunteering for Night Walk, Ellison College’s service to get students home safely. So when a classmate Raina escorted home disappears, she quickly jumps into action to find Anika.

Teaming up with Anika’s stepbrother to trace Anika‘s last steps, the pair discovers Anika had been researching Ellison College’s infamous murders, when three students went into the woods surrounding campus and only one returned. From professor’s offices to the state penitentiary, they soon realize they need to look unsettlingly closer to home.

Then, when another freshman is found dead on campus on the anniversary of the Mischief Night murders, rumors swirl about the killer’s return. The one thing Raina knows for certain is the countdown to find Anika, alive, is on.

Aashna Avachat is the author of Love Craves Cardamom (Penguin Random House/Joy Revolution, Spring 2025) and the editor of the anthology Study Break (Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, 2023). She is currently a student at Harvard Law and lives in Boston.