One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Author: Karen M. McManus
Publisher: Delacourte Press
Date of publication: May 2017

Pay close attention and you might solve this.

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.

This is one of the first YA books that I have really enjoyed in a long time.  I read it in one sitting because I was sucked right in from the first chapter.  The premise of One of Us is Lying is that five students get detention and only four leave the room alive.  Sound mysterious?  It really was. The story is told through the eyes of the four students who left the room.  At first I wasn't sure if that was going to work for me, but I ended up liking the format.  It was helpful to get all four perspectives on the situation.  

I thought this was a very solid mystery.  I was kept guessing throughout the entire book. I honestly could not guess what really happened on that day, so I was genuinely floored at the reveal.  There were a lot of surprises and everyone had secrets.  What I liked the most was I actually liked all four of the main characters.  I genuinely cared about them and didn't want any of them to be guilty. I definitely recommend this one.  This is a debut book and I look forward to seeing more from this author in the future.