Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson #bookreview.

Hello everyone! Maureen Johnson, my all-time favorite author released her new book, Nine Liars! Thank you to Harper Collins for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review of the book. Let’s get into the review!

Book: Nine Liars
Author: Maureen Johnson
Genre: Fiction, Murder Mystery
Age Limit: 16+
Trigger Warnings: Death, Panic Attacks/ Disorders, Murder

Goodreads Summary:

Senior year at Ellingham Academy for Stevie Bell isn’t going well. Her boyfriend, David, is studying in London. Her friends are obsessed with college applications. With the cold case of the century solved, Stevie is adrift. There is nothing to distract her from the questions pinging around her brain—questions about college, love, and life in general.

Relief comes when David invites Stevie and her friends to join him for study abroad, and his new friend Izzy introduces her to a double-murder cold case. In 1995, nine friends from Cambridge University went to a country house and played a drunken game of hide-and-seek. Two were found in the woodshed the next day, murdered with an ax.

The case was assumed to be a burglary gone wrong, but one of the remaining seven saw something she can’t explain. This was no break-in. Someone’s lying about what happened in the woodshed.

Seven suspects. Two murders. One killer still playing a deadly game.

My Review:

This book is a companion in the Truly Devious series. You don’t have to read the other four books, but I suggest reading them as they are classic cozy murder mysteries! This book is set in London and the story starts in 1995 where The Nine are going to the manor’s house for a party. At first, I felt that introducing so many characters in the story at once could confuse the reader. But, that was not the case. The author did a great job of establishing the characters and giving their personalities an identity.

In the book, there are statements from the six characters that were very interesting to read and a great addition to the story. There are character developments of Stieve and her friends. At some point, I observed that the author diverted a lot from the main murder and shifted the focus to Stieve’s love life. So, that did not blend well. Stevie and her friends visit London as David invites them. The author shares the history of London which blends with the main murder. I really like the way she linked real history and murder.

Maureen’s world-building in this book was immaculate. It gave off dark and gruesome vibes while reading the book. I really enjoyed it and could not stop thinking about the story. I guessed the killer when there were 150 pages left. It is a very quick-paced read as I finished reading this in 3 days and didn’t even realize that it was a 450-page book! Sometimes a book can be unnecessarily long and it can bore in between, but this was not the case here. One thing after the other the story unravels smoothly. Lastly, I would like to say that, I would like to kill David soon. Read the book and you will know what I mean.

What I Liked:

• The whole story is set in London.
• The blending of the history of London with the murder.
• Character build-up was so good, did not confuse me while I was reading.
• Dark and gruesome vibes in the story.
• Quick-paced read and the story unraveled smoothly.

What I Did Not Like:

• The story kept diverting from the main murder and focused on the main character’s love life.
• I guessed the killer when there were 150 pages left, which is fine but then it kind of ruined the surprise element.

Other Books In This Series:

The first three books are a series, and The Box In The Woods and Nine Liars are companions. You can check out my review for The Truly Devious Series and The Box In The Woods.

My Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This was my highly anticipated book of 2022 and I am so happy that I read this book. I must say that this was a bit different and not my favorite from other books in the series, but yes this book is worth reading! Let me know in the comments if you have read this book.
Happy Reading!
Rabhya.

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