The cousins by Karen M. McManus

The authors first novel, one of us is lying is something that I’ve had my eye on to read for a while, however the opportunity to read the cousins arose and I thought why not read this one first instead. This is not the way I like to introduce myself to new authors, (I’m very much a person who likes to start with their first works) but I heard such good things about the debut that I threw caution to the wind and abandoned my reading methods.

The cousins is a novel that is very much aimed at a YA audience but that doesn’t mean that others can’t enjoy the story that surrounds the mystery of why Mildred Story disinherited her children.
Cousins Aubrey, Milly and Jonah are sent an invitation to spend the summer working at their grandmothers resort. Mildred Story is the grandmother who has been absent all their lives but their curiosity is piqued because they wonder why their parents were disinherited so soon after the death of Mildred’s husband. The four children of Mildred were banished from their East Coast island home with a single note stating, ‘you know what did’.

The wealth of the Story family is legendary and as the cousins work in the resort they uncover family secrets that shatter lives and reveal truths. The plot is intricately woven around the narrative of Aubrey, Milly and Jonah revealing little pieces at a time. The writing is solid and paced brilliantly giving you enough but still wanting more. There were a couple of revelations towards the end that were surprising but not shocking. Overall this is a solid novel, written well and will steer me towards reading more from Karen M. McManus.