Winners and Liars by Aleema Omotoni

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Winners & Liars

by Aleema Omotoni

Published by HarperCollins on June 30, 2026
Setting: London, England
Genres: Young Adult Romantic Mystery
Pages: 304
Format: Audible Audiobook, Audio CD, Kindle, Paperback
Source: NetGalley
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon

Knives 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 lifetime: 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.

Winners and Liars by Aleema Omotoni is a brilliant story of a young woman trying to win a series of games to help out her family.

Can Derin win the games set out by her teacher and his wife?

Derin

Derin is one of five students mentored by Professor Alexander Darnley at Kenfield Grammar School. She has always been driven by the need to learn about anything that she wanted to. The other things are the need to help her family do better than what life has dealt them. Derin is a great character that I love reading about. She is flawed like anyone is, but hers are more linked not only to her past but also to what the money from the Darnley estate can do for her family.

I like how Derin considers everything they have learned over time with the professor and his wife, along with what she learned before being placed in this group. If I were to see Derin on the street, I would like to get to know her and be her friend.

The Games and Mystery

Derin and the rest of the Kenfield Set, along with two other groups, are named in the will to compete in a competition based on a book inspired by the Victorian era. The games are so hilarious, and I loved trying to solve them with Derin when I possibly could. I loved how Ms. Omotoni created each of these games while crafting a mystery around them. Ms. Omotoni had me guessing. I definitely didn’t catch the killer until it was being revealed. Ms. Omotoni did an excellent job of distracting me.

Five Stars

My rating for Winners and Liars by Aleema Omotoni is five stars. I do recommend this book. Ms. Omotoni evoked the feelings I have whenever I watch a movie from the Knives Out franchise, while also making me feel like I am part of the Victorian era, playing the games. I love how each part of the book could work separately on its own, but it works really well together. Ms. Omotoni definitely transported me to England to help Derin and the other Kenfield Set in this inheritance game.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Winners and Liars by Aleema Omotoni.

Until the next time,

Happy Reading!

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 2026 Cloak and Dagger
• 2026 Goodreads RC
• 2026 Medical Examiner Mystery RC
• 2026 Romance Book Reading Challenge
• 2026 Traveling the World
• 2026 Young Adult Book RC

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