Common Sense Media Review
By Lucinda Dyer
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Murder, secrets, and a jewel heist in thrilling mystery.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
SUCH CHARMING LIARS begins in Boston, where Kat's mother, Jamie, works as a bookkeeper for a cleaning business that's actually a front for a ring of thieves. Jamie wants to go straight but Gem, the firm's owner, demands she do one more job before she'll let her go: switching out a fabulously expensive ruby necklace for a fake during the 80th birthday party of "half billionaire" Ross Sutherland. Believing she has little choice, Jamie agrees and sets off for the Sutherland estate in Maine, not knowing that Kat is sneaking along. To their great surprise, they meet Luke and Liam Rooney in Maine. Twelve years ago, Jamie and Luke were married for 48 hours, during which time Luke left Kat and Liam alone, allowing them to roam around Las Vegas for six traumatizing hours. Like Jamie, Luke is in Maine for a less-than-honest purpose. He's a con man who's been romancing Annalise Sutherland ... the woman whose necklace Jamie is trying to steal. As Kat and Liam get to know each other again, they make an unexpected new friend in Sutherland's grandson, Augustus. Things get dangerously complicated when Jamie becomes ill, Kat goes rogue with the heist, and there's a murder. When Liam, Kat, and Augustus walk in on someone trying to murder Jamie, all of them have to go on the run from the unknown killer.
Is It Any Good?
McManus delivers another of her trademark fast-paced mysteries with multiple plotlines and suspects, dark family secrets, and a "never saw it coming" ending. Kat, Liam, and Augustus' characters in Such Charming Liars, like so many teens in McManus' novels, are dealing with issues that will be familiar to many readers: divorce, a family member with addiction problems, having to start a new life in a new place, and beginning a possible new relationship. Placing these familiar concerns in a thrilling heist story keeps the pages turning and readers invested till the very end.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the choices Kat and Liam make in Such Charming Liars. How can the choices family members make impact the decisions teens have to make?
Kat, Liam, and Augustus have to overcome trust issues to be able to work together. How important is trust in building a good team?
Do you think Liam did the right thing by going into his father's dating app and trying to warn women what Luke was up to?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Mystery
- Topics : Friendship
- Character Strengths : Teamwork
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Delacorte Press
- Publication date : July 30, 2024
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 14 - 17
- Number of pages : 386
- Available on : Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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