One of Us is Lying

McManus, Karen. One of Us is Lying. 2017. 360p. ISBN 978-1-52471468-0. Available at FIC MCM on the library shelves.

When five seniors show up to My. Avery’s detention room at Bayview High School on a Monday afternoon, they have almost nothing in common. All of them are here because they were found in possession of a cellphone, a clear violation of Mr. Avery’s rules. Even though they all protest that these are not their phones, Mr. Avery is inflexible, and so they must spend their afternoon together writing an essay.

Bronwyn is the soon-to-be class valedictorian, and she is working hard for early admission to Yale, her parents’ alma mater. Addy is the beautiful and popular one, with the perfect boyfriend and a great circle of friends. Cooper is the school’s premier athlete, with a real shot at a Major League Baseball pitching position right out of high school. Simon is the creator of an app where all of Bayview’s juicy (and true) gossip is posted. Nate is the school’s drug dealer who’s currently on probation for a previous offence.

After drinking water from a cup, Simon goes into shock and is taken by ambulance. Someone has stolen his Epipen, and all of the Epipens in the nurse’s office. Simon dies that night of an allergic reaction to peanut oil, which was smeared all over his glass, and now the four students in the classroom are the prime suspects in Simon’s murder. As police investigate, the lives of these four students take a turn for the worse, and secrets they hoped to keep are suddenly in the open. Simon planned to release true gossip spilling the beans on each of them Tuesday. Would that be motive enough to kill Simon?

With lives spiralling out of control and secrets to protect, to what extent will the Bayview Four be ready to go to save themselves