Liar's Beach by Katie Cotugno (4/5)

This book combines mystery & romance in a slightly cliche, but still entertaining novel about sleuthful teenagers. Michael Linden, called Linden by those at his fancy boarding school and during his stay at Martha's Vineyard, is the poor son of a housekeeper. Linden got into Bartley on a sports scholarship & is determined to keep this a secret from the island’s rich inhabitants, as well as the people he meets at Martha’s Vineyard. His plan is working fine, until his childhood best friend, a rich girl named Holiday, who his mother worked as a housekeeper for shows up. She is the only person on the island who knows his secret, but this issue is later proved insignificant when a larger problem occurs. The ex-friend & enemy of the people whose house Linden is staying in is found almost dead in the pool, and Holiday & Linden are pointing fingers at anyone and everything until they find who did it. I really like the way she writes, because she has multiple storylines going on, that don’t necessarily tie into each other until the big reveals (which are sprinkled throughout the book). I also enjoy reading about the original ideas she has, like a game of “Lies,” instead of the typical “2 truths & a lie.” She adds so many seemingly insignificant details that end up being majorly foreshadowing later on in the book. This book has it all; love triangles, mystery, relationship drama, family drama, & relaxing beach fun. The multiple storylines -there are atleast 7- are truly interesting. Just a few, off the top of my head include Lindens sports injury, his financial status, & of course, the attempted murder. In conclusion, you should definitely read this book because it is easy to understand, and entertaining, & although the occurrences are severe, there is a sort of chillness to Martha’s Vineyard & the storyline as a whole.