I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Four years ago, Brynn left Saint Ambrose School following the shocking murder of her favorite teacher—a story that made headlines after the teacher’s body was found by three Saint Ambrose students in the woods behind their school. The case was never solved. Now that Brynn is moving home and starting her dream internship at a true-crime show, she’s determined to find out what really happened.

The kids who found Mr. Larkin are her way in, and her ex–best friend, Tripp Talbot, was one of them. Without his account of events, the other two kids might have gone down for Mr. Larkin’s murder—but instead, thanks to Tripp, they're now at the top of the Saint Ambrose social pyramid. Tripp’s friends have never forgotten what Tripp did for them that day, and neither has he. Just like he hasn’t forgotten that everything he told the police was a lie.

Digging into the past is bound to shake up the present, and when Brynn begins to investigate what happened in the woods that day, she uncovers secrets that might change everything—about Saint Ambrose, about Mr. Larkin, and about her ex-best friend, Tripp Talbot.

Four years ago someone got away with murder. More terrifying is that they might be closer than anyone thinks.

Short and Sweet Review

Brynn used to go to Saint Ambrose and now after four years away she’s back home and going back to the school where her favorite teacher was murdered. Brynn loves journalism so when she gets an internship at a true crime show she knows the perfect story to investigate, the death of Mr. Larkin. Brynn wants to talk to the three kids who found him, Tripp and his two friends who know more than they’re saying.

The book follows Brynn and Tripp and alternates between their POVs. Brynn wants to find out what happened to Mr. Larkin and she gets the perfect opportunity when she’s paired up with Tripp to make a memorial for Mr. Larkin. Tripp really wants to forget about that day in the woods but Brynn is determined to find out what happened but trying to do it inconspicuously because she hasn’t told any of her classmates about her internship. Brynn is good at following leads and putting things together. I will say that Brynn was more interesting than Tripp, she was following the leads and he was with her just following her around and trying to avoid anything that had to do with Mr. Larkin.

I usually love Karen M. McManus books but this one was bland, it was forgettable. The mystery was interesting but I feel like Brynn and Tripp were boring and didn’t pull it off. Some of the things felt predictable, but the ending was interesting and I liked seeing how that all came together. I also liked seeing the other books mentioned. Overall this was an okay book an interesting mystery, a little predictable but definitely not one of my favorites.