What Have They Done to Liza McLean?

By Amy Doak

Reviewed by Alison McCaffrey

Quiet, studious Meg has just started at uber-elite boarding school Douglas College, with her younger sister – fun-loving, party-girl Liza. But when Liza suddenly seems to embody all the serious, school-focused, hard-working ideals Meg has long wished her to be, it doesn’t fit quite as nicely as Meg hoped.

On the back of her award-winning Eleanor Jones crime series, Amy Doak’s What Have They Done to Liza McLean has cemented her as a backbone in Australia’s YA writing community. Pairing mystery with action, and crime with adventure, she brings to life students and a school that evoke a range of intense emotions.

When scholarship-student Meg is given directions to find Benedict Hargreaves (the fourth, it’s important to note) for help accessing the school’s computers, she’s intimidated by his family’s extreme wealth, his unapproachable manner and his incredible good looks. But if he’s the one who can get her the information she needs to follow a hunch about why her sister is suddenly acting so strange, she’ll pull up her big-girl pants and find a way to make it work. With the oddly-important Open Gardens weekend fast approaching, and a secret in Meg’s past she’s keen to protect at all costs, can a rogue band of misfits led by Meg and Benny (yeah, it’s really his nickname) find out what, exactly, is going on at their prestigious school?

A fabulous blend of cosy crime and dark academia infused with the lightest touch of potential teenage romance, What Have They Done to Liza McLean hits all the marks. Although a rash of bodies begin to appear, there is no excessive gore or detail – only what’s needed to show how all the pieces might begin to fit together. Or not. With relatable discomfort, interesting and comfortable characters, and enough tension to keep readers turning the page, this is the perfect read for any teens who’ve ever felt out of place, wondered what is wrong with everyone else, or though maybe, just maybe, the adults have all lost the plot.

Penguin 2025

Amy Doak