Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

Pages: 416

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Crime/Mystery

Notes for Parents: Contains some coarse language, mild violence, under-age drinking, and other mature scenes.

The Inside Cover

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont. 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.”

In 1936, shortly after the school opened, Ellingham’s wife and daughter, Iris and Alice, 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 crimes of American history. Something like that could never happen again, of course…

Years later, 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.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the first book in a series.

What’s good?

Stevie Bell is observant, brave, a little compulsive, and very persistent. She is determined to solve a mystery that has plagued her new school since 1936. However, a present-day death at the school presents her with a new opportunity to put her sleuthing skills to use. Both crimes are intriguing and there’s plenty of suspense and foreshadowing. Mysteries abound and the plot is strong, but the story focuses also on the relationships that develop between Stevie and her new housemates. There’s a hint of romance but nothing distracting. The story ends with a cliffhanger.

Best Part: Stevie.

What isn’t good?

It started slow and it only picked up a moderate amount. There wasn’t much action, and for a place that was supposed to be “a wonderful place full of riddles,” I was disappointed that there were only three. There was no resolution to the first murder (yet), and the second murder’s solution was vague and unsatisfying. It was a bit predictable and the cliffhanger at the end had nothing to do with either murder!

Worst part: the lack of resolution.

Recommendation ☺☺☺☻ ☻ (3/5)

It ended on a cliffhanger. I’ll read dozens of books between now and the next book in this series, so I likely won’t read it knowing that I won’t remember the details of the 1930s murder enough to pick up where it left off. Having said that, it was still a fun read. I really liked Stevie and I found both murder mysteries intriguing.

Johnson, Maureen. Truly Devious. New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2018. (Hardcover)