One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

“I guess we’re almost friends now, or as friendly as you can get when you’re

not one hundred percent sure the other person isn’t framing you for murder.”

One of Us is Lying is a Mystery- Thriller which has gained a lot of hype and

popularity for its amazing writing, grounded and relatable characters, and off-the-

edge plot.

Five students of Bayview High end up with detention one afternoon. There's

Cooper, the golden boy and star baseball player trying to decide between college

and the major leagues; Bronwyn, the class valedictorian who plans to follow her

family legacy and go to Yale; Addy, one-half of the picture-perfect couple and a

homecoming princess; Nate, the bad boy, on probation for dealing drugs; and Simon,

the despised creator of About That, Bayview Highs gossip blog. They all in

detention for something none of them did, and they can't understand why the

the teacher doesn't believe them.

Before the detention ends, Simon is dead, and all of the people that he went into

detention with had motives to kill him. The police on investigation find out

scandalous details about each of them that Simon was about to post on the very

next day. Suddenly four people who weren't really friends are brought together.

Each claims their innocence—but is one of them lying, or did someone else get

involved?

Suddenly four people who weren't really friends are brought together. Each claim

their innocence—but is one of them lying, or did someone else get involved?

It turns out that Bronwyn, Cooper, Addy, and Nate all have secrets they'd prefer

to have kept hidden. Therefore, four of them come together and try to solve the

mystery of Simons's death. Their hunt reveals their secrets and true selves and

also their feeling which has been buried deep inside.

As the story proceeds, we get to see the budding friendship among the four of

them, and gradually their bond becomes a solid one, each standing for the other -

Nate answers the canteen crowd when they bully Cooper, Bronwyn contacts Eli

Kleinfelter when Nate is arrested and Cooper comes to Addy’s rescue in the end. A

sweet relationship builds between Addy and her sister Ashton. Bronwyn and Cooper

lose their parent’s trust and then regain it. Nate finds his family. Nate and

Bronwyn falls for each other.

The four together come to be known as the murder club and suffer a lot of

humiliation. And then, with the help of Kris, they are finally able to solve the case.

The story ends on a lighter note - everybody has returned to their older lives with

newer selves and new and better friends.

The characters are probably the most exciting part of the book. Once a strong

plot has been cast, it falls on the shoulders of the characters of the story to take

it forward. And, in the case of One of Us is Lying, they totally live up to the

expectations.

Karen McManus did a great job with this book. It's amazing—she basically took

most of the typical American high school stereotypes, yet gave her characters a

little more depth than you expect. It's interesting the way McManus pulls

everything together. I couldn't get enough of this book, and even though the story

wrapped up, I wouldn't have minded if it ran longer.

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