This Lie Will Kill You

This Lie Will Kill You
Chelsea Pitcher
Margaret K. McElderry/Simon & Schuster
December,2018
Grades 8-Up
Mystery/Suspense

Multiple points of view and unreliable narrators relate a murder mystery event gone wrong. One year ago Shane, a teenage boy, tragically died in a car fire. Was it an accident or did someone make it look that way out of jealousy and a thirst for vengeance? Now on the anniversary of the death, five teenagers (or is it six?) are gathered together for a murder mystery competition, rewarding the winner with a college scholarship. Only, there is no scholarship. The "Ringmaster" of this circus is determined to uncover Shane's killer and get he or she to confess. All of the young people have secrets to hide and complicated feelings for and relationships with each other. The evening grows from slightly creepy to down-right dangerous as the truth about the past is slowly revealed and we get closer to discovering the actual events of the night in question. All of the loose ends and motivations are tied up in a satisfying conclusion, but not without injury--and even deaths.

Part I Know What You Did Last Summer and part One of Us is Lying, this thriller will have teens on the edges of their seats frantically turning pages. The action happens entirely over the course of an evening, yet through the night flashbacks slowly reveal the backstory of the characters, their relationships with each other, and the actually events of the night Shane died. The characters are straight out of The Breakfast Club, providing different personalities representing different walks of high school society. Hard to put down, readers will gobble this book up, possibly reading in one sitting. Twist and turns make the plot interesting and readers will suspect all of the young people of committing murder at one time or another. Squeamish readers may have trouble with some of the suspense and violence, yet it doesn't get too gory. Teens will find comfort in that the murderer is revealed, the Ringmaster is identified and justice is served. Perfect for all genders of readers, this is a quick and fast read that will appeal to a wide audience.