Deadly Secrets

Murderside High #1

by Julie M. Scott

Two teenagers were keeping a secret. Now, one of them is dead.

It was supposed to be a typical high school party in Riverside. A bunch of kids looking to party and a remote campground with a dark past. The woods provide the perfect cover for underage drinking and bad decisions. They also provide the perfect backdrop for murder.

After Ella Montgomery's body is found in one of the abandoned cabins, no one is prepared for the series of events that will follow. Secrets will be revealed and everyone is a suspect.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Mystery Thriller

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 13, 2023

Reviews

[Mikayla Harris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disjointed POV with more grammatical errors than a middle school assignment.
Refreshing to find a 1 star read though, everything was 4-5 stars lately that I began to worry.

[Jean]

Sexual mentions on nearly every page!
I almost didn't finish it, but the mystery was very intriguing.

I don't recommend this book to anybody, ever. Very very very bad.
Contains: cussing, premarital kissing, lots of mentions of previous premarital sex, queer relationships, underage drinking and drug use, teenage drug dealer, murder.

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was the characters (renamed) from One Of Us Is Lying and plot from that and Pretty Little Liars, with grammar errors sprinkled throughout. The plot twist was also ripped from PLL. There was also a part in the climax where someone was explaining something to the murderer, except they were explaining it like the person had never heard it, and the murderer reacted as if it were their first time hearing it, even though they literally had told them the thing just a few hours earlier, and the murderer admitted they knew the thing months earlier. I kept waiting for something original to happen but it never did. Also, if you’re going to do multiple POV, don’t switch between 5 people at the start, then decide to only switch back and forth between 2 with a sprinkling of a third POV here and there. Commit to your rotation.

[T.A. Beasley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a young adult mystery about a typical high school party at an abandoned campground that goes wrong when they find a body in one of the cabins. It was a good mystery with a lot of twists and turns. It had a lot of characters to keep up with, but the book flowed.

I enjoyed Brooklyn and Grayson’s investigative strategies and them working together to put the clues together. It was cool they had chemistry, but the back and forth like they may get together they may not was getting on my nerves. I also liked the red herrings in the book, the author sets it up to point the finger at Luke, Grayson and Bradley. I didn’t believe any of them killed Ella.

This book gives a clear picture of high school foolishness and how students are looked at like in a hierarchy. I believe it is well-written and I connected to all of the characters, which is unusual for me. It's worth reading.

*featured on A Reader's Book Corner podcast on Spotify

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a word? Obsessed. I love a good mystery/suspense and this one was so good. I don't necessarily gravitate towards young adult, but this one didn't feel immature at all - it was the same kind of plot that I like, just with high schools students. The high school drama actually added a bit of a fun element. We get the point of view of a few different characters, which I really enjoyed. The mystery definitely kept me guessing, and I was surprised by how things turned out. I also really adored the romance between Brooklyn and Grayson and am looking forward to hopefully seeing how that continues in future books.

Overall, this was a high enjoyable start to a new series, and I can't wait for book 2!

[Ashley Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Interesting enough to read the second book to figure out more details behind the characters. Not my first book to recommend to others but it is an easy read between series. I didn’t notice the grammatical errors (maybe one in the whole book) that others commented on. Maybe have updated some of that on kindle vs print. Hard to start with multiple POV when trying to figure out the characters. Wish there was a little more depth to one character and the relationships between before switching POV.

[Mark Van · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entertaining mystery though the romance seemed strained with neither party showing the charm they professed to see in each other. Did not believe 2 teens attracted to each other would wait so long to get together. There was a lot of teen partying and sex that seemed excessive but may be true in some populations. One mystery was not resolved at the conclusion, and the main girl's way of making money at the conclusion seemed totally unrealistic and spoiled the story for me.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be very Pretty Little Liars esque. I figured most of it out right away, but it was a mystery all the way up to the end. I enjoyed the side story of Grayson and Brooklyn. Definitely rooting for them.

Seems this is apart of a connected series. While this one can be read as a standalone, the characters and story seems to follow into the next books.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 star read full of mystery I guessed part of the ending but didn't know how it would fit and it did and was more to it than I thought. Read if you want a book full of mystery and plot turns and a bit of romance. I'm gonna read the rest of this series. Also a must if you love fear street by r.l.stine.

[Emmy McCabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely a book of deadly secrets. When Ella Montgomery is found murdered, there were so many suspects that her classmates had to investigate for themselves in order to find the real killer. There were so many twists and turns and the book is action packed right to the end.

[─ Ans · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 || felt like a cw mystery and I dig that. The romance was so cw and I love that, the drama was great. The characters weren't anything special but I LOVE Brooklyn & Grayson. They're so cute. Overall, found this really fun. Just not a big favorite of mine

[Jennifer Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw someone post about this book and it intrigued me so I looked it up and decided yes I need to read this. So I did and it very much gave me a good girls guide to murder vibes and it did not disappoint. Of course since I started this one, I had to read the whole series!

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book had the potential to be a good thing. However, each chapter switched back and forth from one character to the next. That kind got me confused at times. Overall, it was worth reading. Now, I'll need to read the second book.

[Dixie Hendren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good murder mystery.

This book was full of twists and turns. It always kept me guessing. It was very entertaining and I recommend it to anyone that enjoys murder mysteries.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book, some good twists and turns. I would give it 3.5 stars. I'm not sure if the second book will continue off this one but I'm hopeful to figure out what happens.

[Nikki McDorman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wouldn’t call it a murder mystery so much as a very flat puppy love story with a murder in the background.

[Adyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 almost a 4

[Emily_Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Micky Parise · Rating 4 out of 5]

First time reading Julie M. Scotta and was rather impressed. Story line and characters were top notch and book flowed nicely. Recommend.

[Vickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good plot twist. Seemed a bit mature to be high school age characters. Would be more believable if college age.

[Jennifer Pool Hopkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. This was like a bad middle schooler’s diary. Grammatical errors and all. Lots of different POV’s and a bit confusing at times. Should have been a DNF but I stuck it out. Not sure why.

[Sofia R · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Marinel DeBerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am definitely invested and wanting to continue this series although I kind of figured out what was going on.

[Rachael Gathercole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this as one of my students recommended it. Would have probably loved it as a teen!

[DaeDae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book was so convulated. Somewhat predictable too. Epilogue pissed me off. Don’t plan to read any more of them.