Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

Truly Devious (Truly Devious, #1)

by Maureen Johnson

From New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson comes the start of a new series about a sharp and funny young detective named Stevie Bell who begins school at an elite, yet peculiar, boarding school and finds herself entangled in a murder mystery; perfect for fans of 13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES.

New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson weaves a delicate tale of murder and mystery in the first book of a striking new series, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and E. Lockhart.

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.”

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder.

The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three.

Reviewed by Renee on

2 of 5 stars

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This was an okay read. I had expected a bit more after the hyped reviews I had listened to. I really enjoyed the school setting of this book and Stevie’s interest in true crime, but I got annoyed by her way of obstructing the validity of the crime scene. It did not fit her all knowing true crime character.

As often in YA books, the characters were again extremely flat. They used one or two characteristics and those were all there was to them. Even the murder mystery did not show another side of the characters, but more a stronger representation of their one characteristic with some additional information that the reader cannot possibly know. Also, I doubt if it is a smart move to make this a trilogy, I had expected some answers after the first book, I was hardly satisfied.

Note, this book has a sudden romance that is just there because hormonal teenagers! I have no idea how that romance happened or why it even was a thing, or how people knew about it, because I as reader wasn’t even aware of it. Did people actually like that part?

A lot of information in the beginning of the book is just thrown to the reader without ever addressing it again. Such as Stevie’s access to the attic, which classes some characters have, and a lot of confusing names that I don’t think ever appear again.

The rest of the book was really enjoyable. The fragments of the past are interesting, the writing style was fine, and the plot seemed to move just fast enough. Except for the pretty rushed ending, because what?

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 2 June, 2019: Finished reading
  • 2 June, 2019: Reviewed