Book Review | Nothing More To Tell

Karen M. McManus is quickly becoming one of my auto-buy authors.

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Nothing More To Tell
Karen M. McManus

True crime can leave a false trail.

Four years ago, Brynn left Saint Ambrose School following the shocking murder of her favourite teacher. The case was never solved, but she’s sure that the three kids who found Mr. Larkin’s body know more than they’re telling, especially her ex-best friend Tripp Talbot. He’s definitely hiding something.

When Brynn gets an internship working on a popular true-crime show, she decides to investigate what really happened that day in the woods. But the further she dives into the past, the more secrets she finds.

Four years ago someone got away with murder. Now it’s time to uncover the truth . . .

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I’m not going to lie the true crime aspect of this book is what made me eager to pick it up, I’ve read a few of this author’s books so I knew there was a good chance I would enjoy it, but I was really interested to see how the true crime would be worked into the story and what impact it would have on the characters. Interestingly the fact that Brynn ends up investigating on her own rather than as part of the true crime show in the story worked out so much better than I anticipated it would because it added so much tension.

This book definitely gave me the gripping one-more-chapter feeling especially as the story gets into the final stages, there was a high-stakes feeling to the book as Brynn delves deeper into what happened to Mr Larkin and uncovers more suspects from a group of people that she knows. I think this was because, at the same time, Brynn had a kind of outsider quality that made her the perfect person to be chasing the story, but also had too much to lose as she slowly reintegrates into the school and has to try and not cause too much upset through the investigation. There was a good amount of confrontation in the book too, in the sense that instead of hiding away from the difficult conversations and having the characters make conclusions, they were usually able to talk about their thoughts or suspicions, it was quite refreshing.

I think this is the first book by this author that only uses two POVs and I think that worked well, I really liked both Brynn and Tripp, she was determined, brave, and at times unexpectedly sassy and he was the kind of character that you know has the weight of the world on his shoulders but will keep pushing on. They were both the kind of characters that you are constantly rooting for and hoping that they get the resolution they need at the end. I also really enjoyed Brynn’s sister Ellie as a character she was a constant support to Brynn but also had a bit of a daring nature about her.

There were a few times in the story that I was fairly sure I had the mystery figured out but then something else would happen and I realised that I was falling for every trap that the author set to lead me down the garden path, but I loved every moment of it. It was great to get to the end and be genuinely surprised at the outcome, I also quite enjoyed that the ending wasn’t fully resolved because it really made me wonder what would happen next for the characters…or what will happen next if there is maybe a follow-up story in the works.

Another thoroughly enjoyable book from Karen M. McManus and I am looking forward to what will come next.

Reviews of other books by Karen M. McManus
One Of Us Is Lying | The Cousins | You’ll Be The Death Of Me