One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus

To be published on May 30, 2017 by Delacorte

Source: e-ARC for review from the publisher

Plot Summary for One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention. 

Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. 

Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. 

Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing. 

Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher. 

And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app. Only Simon never makes it out of that classroom. 

Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose? Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them. 

Review of One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus

I love mysteries, and thought One of Us Is Lying presented a fun locked room inspired puzzle. 

Five high school students are tricked into thinking they have afterschool detention. All five show up at the assigned detention room, full of questions. 

Before long, one of the five is dead. As questions swirl, they start banding together to try to figure out what happened and who was responsible for the murder. 

As the victim was a dirt-digging student blogger who knew secrets about each one of them, they all theoretically had a motive.

I had two theories about the killer, and one of them was correct. 

It was an ending I'd seen before,  but I still found this an enjoyable and suspenseful read. 

I also liked the fact that none of the characters was quite what he or she seemed to be at the outset. As each character confronts the secret that the murder victim knew, he or she has to do some serious soul-searching about what will happen when the secret comes out.

This is a fun summer read, perfect for your beach or pool or airplane tote!

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