⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars
You’ll Be the Death of Me is the newest mystery book by Karen M. McManus. It follows three high school students who used to be friend. When they decide to skip the school day together, they witness the murder of their classmate and they are all somehow connected to him.

I’ve been a fan of Karen M. McManus ever since I got a copy of her first book as a Christmas present in 2020. Since reading that book, I bought all her other books and really looked forward to this new release, as she writes really good murder mysteries in my opinion.

The book starts off, really, with the individual introductions of all three characters. it seemed a bit of a slow start, but it did help with getting a feel for the characters, who are very different from each other.

I liked how this story was written and the timeline used. Often, I read murder stories with investigations that take place over several days or sometimes even weeks. Much like One of Us is Lying, so finding that the whole book takes place in the span of hours made for an interesting look on what happened and how the aftermath of finding a body played out. It didn’t have a drawn out feeling because of this and you really seemed to discover everything in time with the characters.

The “big reveal” somehow seemed a bit anti-climactic. It wasn’t as “grand” as it has been in her other books, which I did compare it to a bit. The culprit seemed a bit more obvious to me this time, and one of the things I enjoyed so much in her other books was the reveal and the sudden twist when finding out who did it.

I also feel like the reveal wasn’t really explained as much as it could’ve been done. The culprit did explain everything, but I feel like it wasn’t explained fully, which was a bit of a shame.

I have double feelings about the ending. I liked the time frame used in the book a lot, but at the end suddenly all these big time skips were used and they didn’t feel as one with the book, almost like it was somehow rushed. I did like the twist and the end and the implication that there could be a sequel coming!

The characters were interesting. They were very different from each other, so they were easily distinguishable. They did all have a bit of an annoying trade, but it didn’t bother me as much haha. The bit of romance was a nice touch, especially since it wasn’t really over the top or laid on very thick.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story written. The reveal could be a bit more grand and the ending wasn’t my favourite, but I enjoyed the overall plot and the potential it has.