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The Velvet Knife

Name: The Velvet Knife
Rating: 3.269 (13 reviews)
ISBN: 9780063256033

By Maureen Johnson

Publisher Description

Return to the world of Truly Devious as Stevie Bell and her friends travel to New York to solve a murder in the next standalone mystery from New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson.

Stevie might be the greatest teenage detective Ellingham Academy and the world has ever seen, but even she can’t figure out what happened with her boyfriend, David. What she needs is a distraction: a good old-fashioned murder. Stevie is much happier dealing with dead people. They’re a lot less confusing—they don’t send cryptic texts and make out with other girls in British pubs.

But then Stevie gets exactly what she wanted when a dead body turns up in the middle of a Manhattan apartment complex, and this one is . . . complicated. Caught in a web of messy alive-people feelings, Stevie finds herself questioning all human connection. Is magnetism only manipulation? Can you trust anyone? Does anyone realize that they’re joining a cult—before it’s too late? And are things with David really over?

Read all the Stevie Bell Books:

Truly Devious
The Vanishing Stair
The Hand on the Wall
The Box in the Woods (standalone)
Nine Liars (standalone)

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The Velvet Knife Reviews

3.0

oceanwriter

Created 1 day ago

“As usual when reading the Truly Devious series, after reading book five, I needed to know how the cliffhanger ends up being resolved. I was fortunate to have read it earlier this year, so it was still fairly fresh in my mind. Stevie turns eighteen and is excited to no longer have to live under her parents' rules. She's free to delve into her mysteries and detective work. But it doesn't feel the same with so many unresolved feelings surrounding David and with her friends all deep into college prep. At least there is still one mystery to solve, this one connecting back to a 1970s cult. I'm not entirely surprised by my not liking this book given I didn't enjoy the previous two books, but I had still been hopeful. The historical mystery was okay, but it also felt like it included a lot of info-dumping about Watergate, which was barely necessary for the plot for the extent to which it was discussed. I'm assuming this is the conclusion to the series, which makes the ending of this book even more disappointing. While Stevie growing away from her teenage self is natural, she chooses the wrong things to hang on to. Thanks to HarperCollins Children's Books and NetGalley for providing a free digital ARC of the book.”

Death Murder Violence

Hope Solomon

Created 6 days ago

“I have spent multiple days mulling over this book to figure out how a feel about it. The book jumps back and forth between a 1976 cold case and present day Stevie spending her winter break in NYC. It picks up where the last book left off, with Stevie and David freshly broken up after a messy London trip and trying to figure out a new academic year. The basic takeaway is that it was good. I read it in one sitting and I love how Maureen Johnson writes mysteries. It is clear that she and I watch a lot of the same TV shows (the same ones Stevie watches, and usually set in small British towns with a lot of dead bodies). She probably also watches Only Murders in the Building, which makes sense because this book has many similarities with the show. While I loved the mystery and plot of the book, it did nothing to move the base storyline of Stevie and co forward, and if anything moved them slightly backward - what happen to Janelle having a personality outside of rescuing Stevie, Nate has becoming a boring cranky blob, and David doesn’t currently seem to have anything going for him. The end was especially a let down in this regard, with Stevie basically promising to change herself for a relationship - nope! The series has become rather drawn out, which makes it hard to remember previous books and minor characters, but this did not have a huge impact on the reading experience. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!”

Hilary

Created 13 days ago

“Thank you NetGalley for my early copy! Honestly I hate being so hard on this book. I was a big fan of the Truly Devious books and especially the later ones. But honestly, this one was just got great. I didn’t like the lack of connection with Nate and Stevie. Even the friendship with Janelle and Stevie was fairly strained for most of the book. I felt like there were a lot of questions left over. Like would Dean get arrested? Did Stevie tell the police about Sophie and Imogen? I felt like the parts of the story were so disjointed. Nate and his book were such a big part of the story then when never even find out if they like the book?? Seriously? Now I was never a complete David hater like many…but I was in this book. I truly expected his cheating and terrible break up to be part of some bigger mystery that was tied into this book. I expected he was under duress or had an actual reason other than the lame excuse he gave. The cliff hanger was for not. And it made me so annoyed. His reasons were dumb and he just expected her to forgive him and move on? I think there should have been a bigger explanation. And I was so glad at the end that I thought she was moving on. And then the ending comes and I was so disappointed. There was one part of Melissa’s death that surprised me. But other than that I just kept reading so I could get through it sadly.”

Layla

Created 14 days ago

“Stevie is back solving yet another murder in the thrilling sixth book of the "Truly Devious" series. Overall I think I would give this book 3.5 stars. The setting and characters in these books are always amazing, with this next story taking place in New York City. One thing that never fails is the flashbacks to the time of the murder that Stevie is solving, in this case being in the 1970s and following a cult. The cult which introduced us to new characters, Blue, Sky, Dean, and many more, was very interesting to read about and what I think was the best part of this book. I think the tone of this book is very different from the others as well, with Stevie dealing more with her personal issues alongside the murder. Some things I think could be improved upon is was the ending, because I feel like it was very rushed and Stevie actually solving the case was overshadowed by some of the other plot points in the story. Similarly, I feel like the relationship between Stevie and David wasn't really developing even though that seemed to be the main focus of the book. In the end of the previous book we are left with this big mystery as to why their relationship suddenly ended, and that's never really answered. Instead, it seems like the characters just glossed over that ending and fell back into a semi-regular routine. In the end, I still think this book was highly entertaining and I always love to read one of Stevie's adventures. Thank you NetGalley, Maureen Johnson, and HarperCollins for the ARC!”

eleanor “nora” kelly

Created 16 days ago

About Maureen Johnson

Maureen Johnson is the bestselling author of several novels, including 13 Little Blue Envelopes, the Truly Devious series, the Suite Scarlett series, and the Shades of London series. She has also written collaborative works such as Let It Snow with John Green and Lauren Myracle and the Bane Chronicles with Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan. Maureen lives in New York and online on Twitter @maureenjohnson or at maureenjohnsonbooks.com.

Other books by Maureen Johnson

The Box in the Woods. Schau nicht hinein

Maureen Johnson & Maureen Johnson &

$20.99

Suite Scarlett