Liar's Beach

April 1, 2023
A summertime stay on Martha's Vineyard confirms everything Linden thinks about rich people. Best known for emotional YA romances, Cotugno tries her hand at an emotional whodunit--and readers who can roll with the weird attraction her protagonist seems to exert on the two main young women here may find themselves caught up in an engrossing whirl of, as the title promises, lies, secrets, and louche living. Hardly has he arrived for a two-week stay at palatial August House than Michael Linden and his host and boarding school roommate Jasper's twin sister, Eliza, are bedroom-bound; his ghosted former platonic friend Holiday turns up; and Greg, despised boyfriend of another houseguest, winds up in a coma after an apparent accident. Dragged along by Holiday, who, along with inexplicably letting bygones be bygones, turns out to be an enthusiastic amateur sleuth, scholarship student Linden finds plenty of fuel for his (supposedly) secret resentment of the privileged classes and the way they can get away with anything. Though not, as it turns out after a comfortably conventional denouement complete with surprise confession, murder. Also, as a tease at the end suggests, for all that he comes clean about several secrets of his own, Linden leads the pack in the "things to hide" department. Aside from one prominent supporting character--a brown-skinned lacrosse champion--the central cast reads White. This scorching glimpse of life (and death) among the moneyed classes hits its marks, if a bit mechanically. (Mystery. 14-18)

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April 10, 2023
None of Michael Linden’s affluent prep school classmates know that he wouldn’t be able to afford his tuition without his lacrosse scholarship, or that his mother cleans houses to make ends meet. Linden isn’t the only one who’s been putting up a front, though; his roommate Jasper’s family has been embroiled in recent legal trouble. But hidden truths won’t ruin the two-week trip Jasper has planned for himself, Linden, and a group of fellow students at Jasper’s family vineyard house. Linden is hoping for a relaxing summer, but that seems unlikely after he bumps into Holiday, a childhood friend who ghosted him. Hookups and fun in the sun are had, until someone is found unconscious in the pool. Holiday, who loves a mystery, insists they investigate, but as the teens get closer to the truth, their secrets begin to unravel. An uneven tone oscillates between high-society angst and camp sleuthing, sapping momentum from this pulse-pounding departure by Cotugno (You Say It First), which borrows elements from Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Even so, Linden’s potent romance with Jasper’s twin sister, Holiday’s resolute detective skills, and conversations surrounding classism ably propel the narrative. All characters are white. Ages 12–up.

June 1, 2023

Gr 9 Up-After working nonstop all summer, Linden is ready for a break. While he resents his classmates' wealth-he attends his elite boarding school on a secret scholarship-he can't pass up the opportunity to spend the last few weeks of summer at the Martha's Vineyard vacation home of his classmate, Jasper. But try as he might, he just can't relax. Desperate to keep his own secrets, he can't shake the feeling that everyone else also has something to hide. When he unexpectedly runs into Holiday, a friend from his past and the Poirot of this story, things start to spiral. In the predawn hours following a raucous party, Greg, Jasper's former best friend and newly sworn enemy, is found unconscious and bleeding from a head wound on the pool stairs. Linden knows someone is hiding the truth about what happened, and Holiday joins him on his quest to find answers. Things get messier and messier until the teens crash headfirst into the truth. The characters are somehow likable and insufferable, which makes the story as easily devoured as a reality show. While the ending echoes that of Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles, it feels somewhat less satisfying here. Many loose ends remain unresolved, which might hint at a sequel but makes it hard for this book to stand on its own. Still, this will have no trouble finding an audience. All characters default to white except for secondary character Doc. VERDICT Recommended for larger collections with devoted mystery readers.-Katie Patterson

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 1, 2023
Grades 8-11 *Starred Review* No one really knows Michael Linden. The son of a Boston housekeeper, he hides his working-class background to fit in with the wealthy students at his New England boarding school, which he attends on a lacrosse scholarship--one that's threatened by an ankle injury, sustained under circumstances he won't say much about. But that's a problem for the upcoming school year. In these final weeks of summer, Michael--called Linden--is taking it easy at his roommate Jasper Kendrick's sprawling family estate on Martha's Vineyard, lounging poolside and flirting with Jasper's alluringly mysterious twin sister, Eliza. When Linden runs into his childhood friend Holiday Proctor, he's less than thrilled--she could easily call him out. But Jasper's family has deeply rooted secrets of its own, and when a body turns up in the Kendricks' pool, it's sharp-eyed, quick-witted Holiday that Linden turns to as he struggles to solve the mystery and figure out which Kendrick he can trust. Cotugno (You Say It First, 2020), known first for teen romances, breaks new ground with this gender-swapped modernization of Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Linden, who cuts a distinctly Gatsby-esque figure, is both a detached and evasive narrator; Cotugno deftly depicts a mystery warped by his biases, and the truth that lingers behind it. Compelling equally as a detective story, a character study, and a potential series launch. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Cotugno's previous YA books have hit best-seller lists, and while this latest may be a departure in tone, it has the razor-sharp feminist perspective that her fans know and love.

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