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Winners & Liars: A Young Adult Mystery of Inheritance, Secrets, and Bloody History
Not yet published
Expected 30 Jun 26Knives Out meets Death at Morning House in this thrilling standalone mystery layered with family secrets, the whitewashing of history, and a high-stakes literary competition for the keys to a Victorian-era English estate—from Aleema Omotoni, the NAACP Image Award-winning author of Everyone’s Thinking It.
Derin’s acceptance into Cambridge University is the end of an era—just not the one she expected.
When she and her ultra-competitive Uni prep group, the Kenfield Set, were first invited to Professor Darnley’s summer ball, they planned on celebrating the group’s success, surrounded by the riches of his historical Kenfield estate—not kicking off the festivities with the professor’s will reading.
But when the Darnleys’ aristocratic children are disinherited, the students are offered the opportunity of a compete in a Victorian, literary-inspired inheritance competition to be named the new heir—winner takes all!
For Derin, it’s a chance to help her working-class family. But the remaining Darnleys won’t take losing their stately home and its multimillion-pound inheritance lying down. And added to the mix, a mysterious note is slipped under Derin’s door alluding to a dark family secret lying in wait.
Now Derin must balance the cutthroat games; scheming relatives; and a cute Kenfield intern amid her dawning realization that the history of this inheritance might be soaked in lies . . . and blood.
Derin’s acceptance into Cambridge University is the end of an era—just not the one she expected.
When she and her ultra-competitive Uni prep group, the Kenfield Set, were first invited to Professor Darnley’s summer ball, they planned on celebrating the group’s success, surrounded by the riches of his historical Kenfield estate—not kicking off the festivities with the professor’s will reading.
But when the Darnleys’ aristocratic children are disinherited, the students are offered the opportunity of a compete in a Victorian, literary-inspired inheritance competition to be named the new heir—winner takes all!
For Derin, it’s a chance to help her working-class family. But the remaining Darnleys won’t take losing their stately home and its multimillion-pound inheritance lying down. And added to the mix, a mysterious note is slipped under Derin’s door alluding to a dark family secret lying in wait.
Now Derin must balance the cutthroat games; scheming relatives; and a cute Kenfield intern amid her dawning realization that the history of this inheritance might be soaked in lies . . . and blood.
- GenresYoung AdultMystery
332 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication May 12, 2026
1768 people want to read
About the author
Aleema Omotoni
2 books117 followersAleema Omotoni is an award-winning British-Nigerian author. She writes novels that centre Black teens coming of age, falling in love, and navigating all kinds of contemporary and fantasy worlds. She loves knitting, podcasts about her special interests and colourful Autumn walks in her favourite London parks.
Her debut novel, EVERYONE’S THINKING IT, won the 2024 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Youth/Teens.
Her debut novel, EVERYONE’S THINKING IT, won the 2024 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Youth/Teens.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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October 10, 2025"Knives Out for YA readers, this is a twisty, high stakes game for a life-changing inheritance brimming with chilling family secrets"
preordered just like that
preordered just like that
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I would like to thank NetGalley, author Aleema Omotoni, and HarperCollins Children’s Books for the ARC version of this book in return for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
Derin spent the last few years preparing her self to apply to her dream school, Cambridge, part of it spent with a group of five other students all with the same singular focus. Just as they are preparing for their interview results, they are also recovering from the sudden loss of their beloved mentor who coached them all the way through the application process. And just because Professor Darnley could do anything as expected, he posthumously threw his will reading into a tail spin by disinheriting his family and setting up his mentees with the opportunity to compete in a series of games to inherit it all.
What no one expected from this already unexpected situation was for it to also uncover a murder plot, a generations long family secret cover up and not one, but two family members that no one knew about. Even the professor and his deceased wife couldn’t have cooked up a plot this delicious.
What a fantastic plot for a book! I love a good game especially a battle for an inheritance. It adds such a fun high stakes situation to a book plot. I love the way Omotoni wrote it to be based off a book written by one of the characters and the immersive environment of Kenfield Estate. I wanted to immediately book a trip there.
The absolutely necessary conversation of history and how it is white washed and as so beautifully wrapped into the story and plot that made it important to where you couldn’t ignore it, but not in a preachy way that would turn someone away from the story. And was very well done age appropriate wise.
I love that every character, even Derin, has character flaws that made them relatable but they also, eventually, all Acknowledged them or were held accountable for them. Every character each also had a unique grieving story and we got to see multiple ways that trauma situation can/will be handled.
I was utterly obsessed with the subtle way that Teddy and Derin’s flirtship grew into a relationship. It felt very natural and didn’t overtake the plot point, but still let us as the readers along for the journey.
I felt a little thrown into the world and confused at first, but by the time the games got there, I pretty much had a handle on everything. I also would have liked some excerpts or more explanation about the plot and story of BTSE as it is a huge plot point of the book but never fully explained or described. Some parts of the book felt lacking to me but not enough to overshadow a phenomenally written book.
Derin spent the last few years preparing her self to apply to her dream school, Cambridge, part of it spent with a group of five other students all with the same singular focus. Just as they are preparing for their interview results, they are also recovering from the sudden loss of their beloved mentor who coached them all the way through the application process. And just because Professor Darnley could do anything as expected, he posthumously threw his will reading into a tail spin by disinheriting his family and setting up his mentees with the opportunity to compete in a series of games to inherit it all.
What no one expected from this already unexpected situation was for it to also uncover a murder plot, a generations long family secret cover up and not one, but two family members that no one knew about. Even the professor and his deceased wife couldn’t have cooked up a plot this delicious.
What a fantastic plot for a book! I love a good game especially a battle for an inheritance. It adds such a fun high stakes situation to a book plot. I love the way Omotoni wrote it to be based off a book written by one of the characters and the immersive environment of Kenfield Estate. I wanted to immediately book a trip there.
The absolutely necessary conversation of history and how it is white washed and as so beautifully wrapped into the story and plot that made it important to where you couldn’t ignore it, but not in a preachy way that would turn someone away from the story. And was very well done age appropriate wise.
I love that every character, even Derin, has character flaws that made them relatable but they also, eventually, all Acknowledged them or were held accountable for them. Every character each also had a unique grieving story and we got to see multiple ways that trauma situation can/will be handled.
I was utterly obsessed with the subtle way that Teddy and Derin’s flirtship grew into a relationship. It felt very natural and didn’t overtake the plot point, but still let us as the readers along for the journey.
I felt a little thrown into the world and confused at first, but by the time the games got there, I pretty much had a handle on everything. I also would have liked some excerpts or more explanation about the plot and story of BTSE as it is a huge plot point of the book but never fully explained or described. Some parts of the book felt lacking to me but not enough to overshadow a phenomenally written book.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for sending me this eARC! I love all kinds of high-stakes competitions, so "Winners & Liars" was a good fit for me. It started off a little slow, because there was quite a bit of background establishment, but by game time, I was hooked. The games were exhilarating, and the overarching mystery led to some shocking revelations and an explosive finale. When the plot twists came to light, I was left downright speechless; I completely missed the subtle foreshadowing!
Cornelia's historical research was fascinating, and it was fitting that it played such a major role in the story since the games were inspired by her novel. She was a catalyst by which Omotoni effectively shed a light on the domino effect that tainted history can have.
Cornelia's historical research was fascinating, and it was fitting that it played such a major role in the story since the games were inspired by her novel. She was a catalyst by which Omotoni effectively shed a light on the domino effect that tainted history can have.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
To be honest I didn't really care that much about who did it I just enjoyed learning about Derin and her family history. The friendship was also nice to see, especially because they are going after the same thing for most of the book.
I received an arc through netgalley.
I received an arc through netgalley.
October 22, 2025
SO excited for you all to read it!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
thank you NetGalley for the arc.
this was a solid read for me. i really enjoyed the mystery aspect with us following derin along as she's trying to figure out what happened to her professor while also competing in these competitions to be the heir to the kenfield estate. just a fun, quick read.
this was a solid read for me. i really enjoyed the mystery aspect with us following derin along as she's trying to figure out what happened to her professor while also competing in these competitions to be the heir to the kenfield estate. just a fun, quick read.
March 4, 2026
Absolutely devoured this!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A big yes!
Will be back with full review 🙌🏾
But Yes!!!!!
Will be back with full review 🙌🏾
But Yes!!!!!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews