Karen M. McManus “One of Us Is Lying“

A sex tape. A pregnancy scare. Two cheating scandals. And that’s just this week’s update. If all you knew of Bayview High was Simon Kelleher’s gossip app, you’d wonder how anyone found time to go to class. (p.3)

The opening lines of “One of Us Is Lying “(2017), a mystery novel for young adults, already insinuate how important the app “About That” is considered among the students of Bayview High, particularly as the content posted is typically true. Homecoming princess Addy, geek Bronwyn, former drug dealer Nate, baseball pitcher Cooper and outcast Simon seem like the stereotypical high school students of teen movies.

When the five of them are in detention, Simon takes a sip of water and suffers from an anaphylactic shock. Everybody in the room has been aware of his allergy against peanuts but how could peanut oil possibly have got into one of the seemingly empty cups in the room? Since all the EpiPens at the nurse’s office are gone, Simon faces death. Who has hidden them and why? The police start their investigation right away and focus on the four remaining teenagers. Their lives are no longer what they used to be. They turn nightmarish for each of them at times.

Prior to Simon’s death, however, there might have been quite a few people who wished him dead for having revealed their secrets online, so it seems likely that it has just been an unfortunate coincidence that Addy, Bronwyn, Nate and Cooper were with Simon when he was murdered. Still, they have one thing in common: They all have a secret they are trying to hide. After Simon’s death, the police find an unpublished About That page that makes them think that the four classmates under investigation might have killed Simon to prevent him from revealing their secrets. The entries cast the four students in a negative light. It is claimed that Bronwyn has cheated in chemistry. Cooper has allegedly used illegal performance-enhancing drugs. According to the app Addy has cheated on her beloved boyfriend of three years and Nate is accused of having violated his probation by dealing with drugs. Have the four of them planned to kill Simon as a group murder? Or is it more likely that Nate - as a former criminal and as the obvious outlier – has killed him on his own? And what about Mr. Avery, the teacher who gave them detention?

As the story unfolds and entries on the app are published beyond Simon’s death, we witness the development of the main characters. The four classmates no longer remain shallow teenagers but overcome their fears and struggles. They take on responsibility for their actions. The clear message of the book is: Never judge a book by its cover. Take this advice literally and read the novel! You’ll be surprised by the outcome of events!

P.S. You might also enjoy watching the same-titled series based on the novel One of Us Is Lying on Peacock or Netflix.

Prof. Ungerboeck