One of Us Is Dead

How it reads

One of Us Is Dead is mystery (ensemble psychological mystery, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in a big city setting, in the present day, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are secrets, class and society and power and politics. In weight it's light and escapist — easy to fall into.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is dark — no rescue, no neat bow. At 312 pages it's a quick read. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.