Such Charming Liars

This is probably my favorite Karen McManus thriller yet.

This clever, funny heist novel takes readers deep into a privileged world of wealth as a private 80th birthday party attracts scammers of all types.

Kat and Liam met years ago, when their parents' ill-fated Vegas union ended after only a weekend when one parent's carelessness resulted in both children wandering lost for hours. Now, they're both at the same party, each for unsavory reasons. Liam's attending as his dad, Luke, is dating Annaliese, a wealthy member of the Sutherland family. She's the latest target in his series of romance scams. Kat's there because her mother, Jamie, is doing one last job for a jewel thief they've been working for, posing as wait staff.

But things show more start to go awry right away, when Jamie gets sick, the fake jewels Jamie brought get stolen, and a Sutherland unexpectedly ends up murdered. Kat's not sure what really happened, but the murderer seems to be targeting her next. She, Liam and young, handsome Augustus Sutherland end up on a team trying to unravel the layers of deception surrounding this party.

This well-plotted novel kept me turning the pages as the whip smart twists kept coming. There's schemes within schemes, and the final answer to how everything is connected is brilliant. What a fun romp through a glitzy world!

Thank you to TBR & Beyond Tours and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

4.75 stars

A twisty heist-gone-wrong murder mystery to remember!

Kat's mom is pressured into pulling off one more job swiping a necklace for a jewel thief before getting their lives back on track. En route to the Sutherland estate, they run into Liam and his dad, who happens to have been wedded to Kat's mom for 48 hours several years back. When a member of the Sutherland family ends up murdered, Kat and Liam find themselves in the middle of the mystery.

I've loved every single McManus book I've read, and this is no exception. There are so many layers to this story. Kat and Liam each have their own traumas going on while exploring a sibling relationship that apparently never truly went away. The pacing was a little slow at the beginning, show more but it quickly ramps up and takes a whole lot of twists to get to the end. There's a little bit of queer romance (M/M) which I was happy with. I wish there had been an epilogue to explain what eventually happened to everyone, but maybe there's another book coming with the same characters?

Overall, I loved the book and would highly recommend to readers who enjoy YA thrillers, especially involving heists.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review. show less

This twisty YA thriller is told in alternate viewpoints from Kat and Liam. She's sixteen; he's seventeen. They were stepbrother and stepsister for forty-eight hours when his scammer father married her mother. They separated when the two children got lost in Las Vegas when they were supposed to be under Liam's father's care. They haven't seen each other for the twelve years that passed since those events in Las Vegas.

Now, they are meeting again as Kat's mother Jamie is doing one last heist for her employer Gem before she retires to a legitimate life. Liam's father Luke has scammed his way into a relationship with Annalise Sutherland, youngest daughter of a billionaire. Jamie is at the estate to steal a priceless necklace as her ticket show more out of her life of crime.

Liam has only lived with his scamming father for some months, since his mother died in a car accident. He's determined to ruin any scam his father has in the works, but he isn't sure what to do about Annalise. He's even less sure when he reencounters Jamie and Kat because his actions could cause problems for the girl he thought of as his sister for a short time.

The story is full of twists including the death of one of the other Sutherland children. He's shot to death and found with a copy of the necklace Jamie was supposed to switch for a flawless duplicate. Kat witnesses the shooting but can't identify the shooter. But he's seen her and makes two attempts on her mother's life since he believes she was the witness.

Liam, Kat and Liam's new boyfriend Augustus Sutherland are all working to figure out what is going on. There seem to be too many necklaces and too many villains and nothing is clear about who killed Parker Sutherland.

I enjoyed this story and really liked the young characters. show less

Kat and her Mum work for a mysterious woman called Gem, a surrogate grandmother who runs a jewel thief business - she copies high end pieces and steals them and replaces the fakes, selling the real ones for big bucks. Kat's Mum wants out so agrees to one last job as a caterer for a high end party. Kat comes along and lucky she does as he Mum gets terribly ill, so Kat decides to do the job instead but it all goes horribly wrong with a murder and Kat's discovery of her long lost brother Liam.
McManus writes a twisty plot once again that YAs will love.

/* Starred Review */ Gr 9 Up—Kat and Liam haven't seen each other for 12 years, not since their parents' disastrous 48-hour marriage in Las Vegas. Since then, 16-year-old Kat's life has been anything but normal. After Vegas, Kat's mom, Jamie, started working for a criminal mastermind named Gem. When Gem takes Kat along on a heist without permission, Jamie knows it's time to get out. They just have to do one more job—steal a ruby-laden necklace at a billionaire's birthday party. Liam, on the other hand, has lived a relatively normal life after the "Vegas incident." But six months before the story begins, his mom dies and he is stuck with his con-man father, Luke. Looking to score big, Luke starts wooing an heiress, who also happens show more to be the owner of the ruby necklace. When the four characters cross paths on the side of the road heading toward the birthday party, things get a lot more complicated—and deadly. Told through Kat and Liam's dual perspectives, this novel's twists take readers on a wild ride until the very last page. While the mystery is thrilling, McManus also deftly explores themes of family, loyalty, love, and class. All characters default to white. VERDICT This might be McManus's best yet. Recommended for all collections.—Katie Patterson (Reviewed 07/01/2024) (School Library Journal,

I've only read one other Karen McManus book, which I liked. This one is even better. show less

There were a lot of intersecting stories in this book and it created quite the mystery. I was not able to guess the full ending and this was a fun read.