Here's Your Guide To All The Suspects In 'Nancy Drew's Murder Mystery

Archie Andrews is not the only children's book character doing a dark and broody turn on The CW anymore. Following Riverdale's Season 4 premiere on Wednesday, Oct. 9, the network debuted its latest teen mystery series Nancy Drew, and as you must have expected, the new show wasted no time in bringing fans into a totally perplexing murder mystery. If you watched the series premiere, then the question that is most likely stuck in your head right now is: Who killed Tiffany Hudson on Nancy Drew? At first, it did not really seem like any of the characters had a real reason to want Tiffany dead, but the totally shocking final moments of the episode made everyone a suspect.

Spoiler alert: This post contains spoilers from the series premiere of Nancy Drew, "Pilot." Everyone who grew up with a passion for a good mystery is familiar with the Nancy Drew books, but the new CW adaptation put a much darker and even supernatural twist on the beloved characters. The series kicked off with the ghost story of Dead Lucy, the Horseshoe Bay Sea Queen who died after her coronation in 2000 and is believed to haunt the town. After being introduced to the potential supernatural element of the show, the pilot hit viewers with the series' first major murder mystery: the death of wealthy socialite Tiffany Hudson.

Nancy found Tiffany dead outside of the seafood restaurant she waitresses at, The Claw, and the police immediately came and brought in all of the people at The Claw at that time as suspects. At first, it really did not seem like any of the people the police brought in actually murdered Tiffany, but then the end of the episode revealed a slew of surprising twists that gave each character a motive for the murder. To keep it all straight, let's go over all the suspects and their motives:

1. Ned "Nick" Nickerson

It turns out, Nancy Drew's sweet-seeming boyfriend was hiding some pretty big secrets from her. Since Nancy's father was Nick's lawyer, she was able to sneak a peek at his records and learn that Nick was convicted of manslaughter after Tiffany Hudson took the stand as a witness in his trial. It totally makes sense that Nick may want to get revenge on Tiffany for getting him convicted, and on top of all that, a final shot from the premiere episode revealed Nick was hiding an ominous package in his car. Ugh, and he seemed like such a great guy at first!

2. George Fayne

The no-nonsense George clearly has a troubled past and home life, but certainly does not come off as the type to murder someone... that is, until the end of the episode revealed her making out with Tiffany's husband Ryan Hudson. The familiarity in their brief interaction heavily implied that this affair between George and Ryan had been going on for quite some time. Could George have finally had enough of being Ryan secret mistress and murdered her lover's wife?

3. Bess Marvin

Nancy Drew introduces Bess Marvin as a rich girl who just summers in Horseshoe Bay at her family's mansion, but the final moments of the first episode reveal a different story. Bess has actually been living in a van, and even more shockingly, she is in possession of Tiffany's wedding ring, which was missing when Nancy discovered her body. Bess clearly no longer has the riches that everyone thinks she does — could she have killed Tiffany to steal her super-expensive ring and make back the fortune she's lost?

4. Ryan Hudson

Ryan Hudson seemed like the clearest prime suspect from the start. I mean, he's the resident rich jerk, plus the husband should also be the first person you suspect. The only real revelation we get about Ryan is that he was carrying on an affair with George. Perhaps he wanted to be with George as much as she wanted to be with him, and they worked together to kill his wife. Only time will tell.

5. Ace

Ace may seem like the lovable, goofy cook at The Claw, but the final moments of the episode reveal that he is actually working with the police to investigate Tiffany's murder. So, wait — is he an undercover cop? And if so, then why was he working at The Claw before the murder even happened? Do the cops have something on him and are forcing him to investigate for them? There are just too many questions about Ace right now to really pin down what he's up to, but he definitely has some major secrets.

6. Carson Drew and Karen Hart

Nancy Drew's relationship with her dad is... not great. They grew world's apart after Nancy's mom died and her dad dove into his work. He also has some shocking secrets, including a romance with his dead wife's best friend Karen Hart and the bloody dress Nancy finds hiding in his attic. Earlier in the episode, Nancy remembered seeing her parents bury a large duffel bag in the yard, and with the dress reveal, it definitely seems like her parents were the ones to kill Lucy Sable back in 2000. Could her dad have killed again? And could he be in cahoots with Karen if so? Having a police officer as a murder accomplice would definitely have its perks, after all.

7. Dead Lucy

And finally, we can't rule out the chance that Nancy Drew will go full supernatural and confirm that a ghost really did kill Tiffany Hudson. Nancy did see a ghostlike figure approach Tiffany on her phone right before her death, followed by the video reducing to static. That's some total paranormal vibes... and Nancy has been seeing flashes of Dead Lucy all over town as well. So, ummm, is there actually a killer ghost on the loose!?

Of course, there is still so much we do not know about these new characters and about the murder of Tiffany Hudson, so be sure to look for any possible clues every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. on the CW to see if you can figure out the killer.