Sara Shepard is no stranger to the teen mystery world. Author of "Pretty Little Liars," the best-selling author has created a range of series based on a group of girls with secrets of their own. The latest series to watch out for is "The Amateurs." While initially it may sound very similar to her high school mystery, this series has a more mature feeling to it. This isn't about lurking in the shadows in a black hoodie. It's about a group of friends solving crimes together.

A focus on searching for the truth

While "Pretty Little Liars" was about discovering the truth, the Liars weren't that well connected to begin with to know where to start.

They regularly kept secrets from each other while they had a masked villain in the shadows ready to share the truth when necessary. This isn't the case with "The Amateurs." The friends in this series are working together purposely to uncover the truth about particular investigations.

The group of friends in the latest series are stronger characters. This could actually be partially to do with the author's growth as a writer. She's had the chance to develop her writing skills and work on character growth and descriptions.

There are males as main characters

One thing that Shepard usually does is create female main characters. While there are some male characters introduced, they don't become main focuses and there is never a story from their point of view.

This has been one of Shepard's weaknesses, but she's stepped out of her comfort zone for "The Amateurs." Two of her main characters are males, given her the chance to tell a romance story from the other side.

Why suddenly add male characters when so many other of her novels are focus on the women? Shepard realized that she wasn't representing some of her audience.

She decided it was time to change that.

'The Amateurs' has already been optioned for TV

Shepard has only written one novel in the series so far, but it has already been optioned for TV. There is no news on which network has picked it up or who the showrunner will be. Is it possible that this is actually the "Pretty Little Liars" spin-off that fans want to see?

So far, most fans are turning to "The Perfectionists" for the spin-off.

There are two more novels in "The Amateur" series so far. Shepard is currently writing the second novel, and has the third one planned out. It's unclear whether there will be any more after this. Never say never, right?
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