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3.5 

Truly Devious

By Maureen Johnson
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

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.

Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2018 * Junior Library Guild Selection * 2019 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Nomination * 2019 ALA's Best Fiction for Young Adults Nomination * Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books 2018 * Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction 2018 * 2018 Nerdy Book Club Young Adult Winner * Seventeen Best YA Book of 2018 * Lincoln Award Nominee * 2020-2021 South Carolina Book Awards Nominee * 2020 Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award Winner

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22579 Reviews

3.5
“My struggle with this book is that I absolutely enjoyed the main mystery of the story and felt that the author through random things in that weren’t talked about and only used them for plot development. I wish there was a better structure and flow to the overall plot they ended with but overall the mystery aspect of this book and setting had me hooked and I will read the next one. I really want to know what the heck is going on at this school rather than be thrown with a different mystery I didn’t care much about!”
“Was really hoping for more with this one. Seemed like a lot of pages for really nothing to happen. Reviews and summaries made it sound like Stevie is some wonder child detective and to me, she really didn't figure anything out except for some scratches on a laptop and that was pretty much the end of the book 😅 since it finishes on a cliff hanger, I will read book 2 (since nothing from the OG case was solved) and hope it gets better.”

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