The Cousins by Karen M. McManus. Unabridged e-audiobook. ~ 9 hours. Read by Sarah Skaer, Kate Reinders, David Garelik and Julia Whelan. Listening Library, November, 2020. 9781984842152. (Review of downloadable e-audio borrowed from the public library.)
Teen Tuesday features The Cousins by Karen M. McManus. Milly, Aubrey and Jonah are the Story cousins and hardly know each other. Their parents are not close and they have never met their grandmother, though Milly is named for her. Twenty-five years earlier, their parents were disinherited abruptly, receiving notes saying, "You know what you did." They didn't, but they went on with their lives always wondering.
Now Mildred Story has had an apparent change of heart. Each cousin receives a type-written note, signed by their grandmother, inviting them to spend the summer working at her resort on an island she basically owns. None of the cousins want to go, but their parents make clear that they are going.
Once they finally meet the famed Mildred Story, the cousins get the distinct impression that she has no interest in a reconciliation. So why are they there?
My students who love the mystery/ thriller genre love Karen M. McManus' books, One of Us is Lying and Two Can Keep a Secret are rarely on the shelf. (One of Us is Next came out last spring while we were in quarantine.) The Cousins is paced differently. The menace isn't quite as immediate, but mystery and secrets abound. The cousins have their secrets, as do their parents, but their grandmother might have the biggest one yet.
The POV switches between the cousins. There are also flashbacks to the summer before their parents were disinherited, which shows they were rather spoiled super-rich kids. We learn through their rather damaged children that none matured much. All the narrators bring the unique personalities alive making this an entertaining mystery to read with my ears. I'm eager to share this with my students and learn what they think!
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