Very Bad People

There are a number of bad people in this pacey, dark thriller set in the world of academia. The fun is undoubtedly figuring out who the bad people are in the cast of potential suspects.

Calliope is escaping from the suffocating, small-town life she has lived with her younger sisters and father for the last six years since their mother died in a car crash. The three girls were in the car when their mother crashed into a lake, but have no recollection of how it happened – an accident, on purpose, or was it murder?

When she becomes a student at Tipton, the elite boarding school her mother attended, Calliope is focused on learning more about her mother and working out what happened the day her car crashed. At Tipton she is invited to a secret society, which performs pranks highlighting social justice on campus, and of which her mother was also a member. There she learns about Tipton history but must also do morally dubious things. When Calliope thinks she sees a man she recognises in the nearby village, she starts swapping notes with him on a public noticeboard in town in an attempt to get closer to the truth. But this novel has more twists and turns than a rollercoaster, with plenty of red herrings to distract and confuse the reader.

Utterly compelling and highly readable, this is a brilliant, twisty thriller that will be devoured by those who love the works of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson. A well- written, high-stakes thrill ride for ages 14+.