After reading Karen McManus’ prior novels, One of Us is Lying, Two Can Keep a Secret, and One of Us is Next, it seemed like a no-brainer that I’d be getting my hands on her latest release, The Cousins. Actually, my sister got her hands on it as soon as it released because McManus’ books are some of the few she’s devoured this year. And for good reason! They have all been twisty and irresistible to put down.
This book is a standalone and follows three estranged cousins as they reunite on their equally estranged grandmother’s island resort to work for the summer. Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah Story bond fairly quickly with the shared belief that something is truly amiss with this invitation, but decided to appease their parents who were disinherited 24 years ago but still trying desperately to get back into her good graces. Some of their doubts are soon founded when it’s quite clear that Mildred Story had no clue her grandchildren had been invited.
Even though the cousins want to please their parents and satisfy some deep curiosity about the grandmother they never knew, it is clear they’ve all got their own problems more than likely stemming from the disinheritance. Milly’s mother Allison has always been distant and somewhat cold. Aubrey’s father Adam hasn’t amounted to much and recently told her and her mother that he’s expecting a baby with Aubrey’s swim coach. Ew! And finally, Jonah’s is a little bit more complicated because he’s not actually Jonah Story at all. He agreed to take the place of the real Jonah (aka JT) who wanted to go to a summer camp instead, but Jonah’s real motivation was to get back at Anders Story who had bankrupted his parents.
Even with this new revelation, the trio decide to keep working together to figure out the mysteries surrounding their family and the resort. Milly is the super-sleuth of the three of them and is able to connect a lot of dots (she’s the one who found Jonah out). She also helps them eventually meet their other uncle, Archer, who’s been living incognito on the island for a bit of time. He’s not out for the money, he just wants to mend the relationship they all have with Mildred. Her prickly nature seems odd, and it’s not long before the trio start poking holes into the stories and lives of Mildred’s longtime employees.
Just when I thought I was starting to put pieces of the mystery together, McManus went ahead and threw more twists in! I love that about her novels because it always keeps me on my toes and it’s what makes them real page-turners. With the alternating perspectives between the cousins and throwback chapters to Allison’s youth, McManus tries to lead you to the center of the conflict without making it glaringly obvious. I love this methodology that McManus uses in all of her novels, and I can’t recommend her books enough!