Kelley Armstrong talks with SLJ about danger, mystery, and romance in her upcoming book A Deadly Inheritance. Following the Q&A is an exclusive first look at the cover.

SLJ: Where did you come up with the idea for A Deadly Inheritance?

Kelley Armstrong: Sometimes my ideas are very concrete, but other times, I have a collection of things I’d love to put together into a novel and I build a plot around that. In this case, the collection of concepts swirling around in my mind was, “Cinderella story at a private boarding school with secret societies and murder.”

SLJ: You write books for readers of all ages. What is it that attracts you to YA?

KA: I love YA because it deals with firsts; with characters who are newly out in the world and discovering so much for the first time. They’re moving out of the family-and-home bubble and exploring the start of their independent lives, and it’s all very new and very raw and often overwhelming.

SLJ: Tell us a bit more about Lili, the main character. What personality traits equip her to face the challenges that Westwood Academy presents?

KA: Liliana has grown up at the core of a very tight-knit family. It’s been just her and her parents, moving around a lot without much money. Now her parents are gone, and after months of avoiding foster care, she discovers her mother comes from money, which catapults her into a very different lifestyle. She brings along a resilience and wariness that’ll serve her well, but she’s also deeply aware that her grief makes her vulnerable to kindness from adults and classmates, who may have their own agendas now that she’s an heiress.

SLJ: Why do you think teen readers are attracted to thrillers?

KA: When I was that age, I adored Lois Duncan’s thrillers. I’d read some adult mysteries, like Agatha Christie, but Duncan’s stories were about kids my age solving mysteries. Also, the teens were in serious danger, and I loved the excitement and tension of true stakes. I think teen readers find the same things in modern YA thrillers. We get a core group of teens and we explore their evolving relationships along with the mystery, while knowing any of that group could die…or turn out to be the killer.

SLJ: What do you hope readers take away from this story?

KA: On the surface, A Deadly Inheritance is about a girl who’s suddenly fabulously rich, whisked off to an amazing boarding school, with potential friends and potential boyfriends and potential death. 

But at its core, it’s about a group of teens dealing with grief, whether it’s the grief of actual loss or the grief of realizing that you can no longer rely on those who once kept you safe. It’s about kids who are all broken in their own ways, learning to lean on one another, trust one another, and accept one another for who they are.  

And now, here is the cover for A Deadly Inheritance, which publishes March 24, 2026, from Tundra Books.