Author: Karen McManus
Reviewed by Chloe Fuksa, Putnam Six Bookstore
Author Karen McManus broke onto the scene in 2017 with One of Us Is Lying (later adapted into a hit show), and she has fairly consistently hit that same high mark with the five books that have followed. Nothing More to Tell is her newest release, a young adult novel published in late August 2022 that, like some of the others, focuses on a small group of high school students as they deal with a murder on their school campus. If you’re in the frightening mood for Halloween – or perhaps missing Only Murders in the Building – then this thriller would be a great choice to pick up.
The story alternates perspectives between Brynn and Tripp, students at a private school in Massachusetts. Four years ago, everyone’s favorite teacher, Mr. Larkin, was found murdered behind the school, and Tripp was one of three students who found the body. Now, Brynn is an intern for a true-crime podcast and questioning everything anew. As the two start following leads, they realize that maybe Mr. Larkin wasn’t the fun, adored person they thought he was. And why was it that no family or friends of his were there at the funeral? This story has everything you want in a whodunit – changed identities and stolen cash and ultraviolet powder and spur-of-the-moment fact-finding road trips.
Having the dual points of view doesn’t seem to add much to the reading experience; if anything, it makes things confusing at times. But overall, the book is a good, suspenseful page-turner. You can easily read fifty pages without even realizing it. As well, there are seemingly many loose threads that the author could pick up and run with for a future book. As the days get shorter this fall and the season gets spookier, Nothing More to Tell will definitely have you checking over your shoulder more often!
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