Karen M. McManus (born 1969) is an American author of

young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

. She is most known for her first novel, ''

One of Us Is Lying 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

'', which spent more than five years on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list, as well as its sequels '' One of Us Is Next'' and '' One of Us Is Back'', and the stand-alone novel '' Two Can Keep a Secret''.

Early life and education

McManus discovered an interest for writing when she was eight years old and was assigned to write a story in school. She attended the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...

, earning a bachelor’s degree in English literature, then attended

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

, where she received a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(M.A.) in journalism.

''One of Us is Lying'' trilogy (2017–2023)

The ''One of Us is Lying'' series consists of three novels: ''

One of Us is Lying 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

'' (2017), '' One of Us Is Next'' (2020), and ''One of Us Is Back'' (2023). ''One of Us Is Lying'' was optioned as a pilot by NBC, and the television adaption premiered on

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

in October 2021.

Standalone novels

''Two Can Keep a Secret'' (2019)

''Two Can Keep a Secret'' was McManus’ first standalone novel outside of the ''One of Us Is Lying'' trilogy. ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' gave it a

starred review A starred review is a book review marked with a star to denote a book of distinction or particularly high quality. A starred review can help to increase media coverage, bookstore placement and sales of a book. Outlets that published starred review ...

and named it one of the best books of 2019.

''The Cousins'' (2020)

''The Cousins'', McManus's second standalone novel and fourth novel overall, was a #1 ''New York Times'' bestseller and an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

nominee. Other standalone novels include You'll Be the Death of Me (2021), Nothing More to Tell (2022), and Such Charming Liars (2024)

Personal life

McManus lives in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. She rereads ''The Secret History'' by

Donna Tartt Donna Louise Tartt (born December 23, 1963) is an American novelist. She wrote the novels '' The Secret History'' (1992), '' The Little Friend'' (2002), and ''The Goldfinch'' (2013), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was adapted into ...

every year.

Works

''One of Us Is Lying'' trilogy

# ''

'' (Delacorte Press, 2017) # '' One of Us Is Next'' (Delacorte Press, 2020) #''One of Us Is Back'' (Delacorte Press, 2023)

Standalone novels

* ''Two Can Keep a Secret'' (Delacorte Press, 2019) * ''The Cousins'' (Delacorte Press, 2020) * ''You'll Be the Death of Me'' (November 2021) * '' Nothing More To Tell'' (

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

, 30 August 2022) * ''Such Charming Liars'' (Random House, 30 July 2024) * ''Marple: Twelve New Stories'' (contributor to

continuation In computer science, a continuation is an abstract representation of the control state of a computer program. A continuation implements ( reifies) the program control state, i.e. the continuation is a data structure that represents the computat ...

collection authorised for

Miss Marple Miss Jane Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Miss Marple lives in the village of St Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterised as an elderly spinster, she is one ...

(2022))

References

External links

*
2019 interview
with ''Publishers Weekly''

in ''Publishers Weekly''
2019 interview
with ''Entertainment Weekly''

with ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:McManus, Karen M. 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American writers of young adult literature American women novelists College of the Holy Cross alumni Living people Northeastern University alumni One of Us Is Lying Writers from Cambridge, Massachusetts 1969 births American women writers of young adult literature