This was a lot better than I expected. I thought it would be a grim book (how do I get these ideas) but I actually really enjoyed it. It’s set in a U.S. high school. Five students enter detention. One of them dies. The remaining four students are under suspicion for his murder.

It’s really a modern version of a fairly classic murder mystery scenario, similar to an Agatha Christie country house murder. A deeply unpopular character dies: Simon, a student who runs a hurtful but accurate school gossip app. A number of people have motives: the four other students in the room, who stand to lose things they value thanks to an upcoming gossip post. The suspect list is limited: the people in the detention room. The suspects have to remain around each other: students at the same school.

Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of the four student suspects. They start off with very defined, stereotypical high school identities: as the cover blurb says, “A Geek. A Jock. A Criminal. A Princess.” But as the novel progresses, these rigid identities shift, change, and dissolve.

This is a very accessible book, very easy to read. It’s simply written, but it’s competent and very involving. Once again, I became completely invested in the fates of the characters. It has moments that are funny and romantic and triumphant and sad. And now, perhaps I’m getting a little too lyrical about a page-turning YA thriller, but there you are. It’s easy and it’s good. Not mutually exclusive things.

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Title: One of Us Is Lying

Author: Karen M. McManus

Cover design: ?

First published: Delacorte Press (Penguin Random House), 2017

Genre: mystery, suspense, YA

Representation: LGBTQIA+ (main & supporting characters), BIPOC (supporting character)

Suitability: years 8-12

Fyi: death, sexual references, anaphylaxis attack, coercive control, drug references, references to suicide attempts and suicide, depression, outing, homophobic incidents, bullying, alcoholism, mental illness

Themes: regret, secrets, potential, friendship, identity, relationships, resilience, found family, gossip, bullying, social media

Literary features: polyvocal narrative, plot twists, clues, red herrings

NSW syllabus: genre study (mystery); wide reading

If you like this, try: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie or A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Image: One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus, Delacorte Press (Penguin Random House), 2017. All rights reserved. Cover design by ? Photograph of book taken by me. Image used on this blog under the “Fair dealing for criticism or review” provision of the Commonwealth Copyright Act, 1968.