Truly Devious: A Mystery

"Truly Devious: A Mystery" by Maureen Johnson is by far one of the best and most memorable books that I have read in the past several years. I had read quite a few book reviews before I began reading and went into the book expecting a cozy mystery at a boarding school, but "Truly Devious" had a whole lot more up its sleeve. The mystery takes place at Ellingham Academy, a boarding school in the mountains of Vermont. Ellingham Academy is a unique kind of school, to say the least. Its founder, Albert Ellingham, an extremely wealthy and influential business mogul and lover of all things games and riddles, established the school in the 1930s as a non-conformist place of learning; a place where students were given greater freedom and privileges and encouraged to take initiative of their learning and individual interests. It is highly selective of its applicants; only a small number of the brightest students are admitted each year. Shortly after Ellingham Academy opened, Albert's wife, Iris, and young daughter, Alice, were kidnapped. The only evidence of wrong-doing was a letter that Ellingham received; a threatening riddle that was signed by "Truly, Devious." The crime was never entirely solved; a man admitted to the crime and was discovered to be in possession of the ransom money, but the evidence simply did not appear to support that this man was the real culprit. One of the reasons why this book was so effective and enjoyable for me to read was because of the main character (as well as the entire cast of characters). Stephanie "Stevie" Bell is intensely interested in true crime. She has the keen eye of a detective. Stevie often says what she is thinking and has some trouble relating to people. She battles anxiety by reading Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie mysteries and by listening to true crime podcasts. As a true crime aficionado, Stevie is very familiar with the Ellingham case. She gets accepted into Ellingham Academy with the intention of cracking open the mystery of the Ellingham affair and revealing the identity of "Truly Devious." Along the way Stevie finds herself unexpectedly finding comfort and refuge in the school and with her housemates and friends. Author Maureen Johnson did an incredible job with Stevie's character development. By the end of the book I was fully invested in Stevie Bell and felt like she was someone that I really knew and not just another character in a novel. Another selling point for me was the dual timelines. The book expertly interweaves between 1930s Ellingham Academy during the time of the kidnapping and present day Ellingham Academy with Stevie attempting to solve the case. Sometimes when I read books that have multiple timelines or perspectives it can seem a little tedious keeping the facts straight, but this was not the case for me in this book. It should be made known that this book is marketed as the first of three books in the "Truly Devious" series. I sincerely hope that the next two books get written quickly because I'm really interested in finding out what will happen next. The characters and their development, plot, style and quality of writing all made this a very enjoyable read and I anticipate that before the next novel in the series is released I will read this book again (something that I seldom do). I read this on my Kindle, along with listening to the Audible version, and the narrator, Kate Rudd, is exceptional. Her ability to create and maintain the different voices of the characters and the emotions in their voices was nothing short of amazing and helped me to better form and connect with the characters in my mind. If you are interested in a clever mystery this winter with a remarkable protagonist, an equally remarkable cast of characters, great plot, style and quality of writing, I would definitely recommend "Truly Devious: A Mystery" which is why I'm giving it a 5 star rating for both the book and the Audible version of the book.

*ARC provided by Epic Reads Insiders in exchange for an honest review* "For anyone who has ever dreamed of finding a body in the library." If that isn't the best dedication you've ever read, I don't know what it. This is the second book I have read by Maureen but I honestly don't remember anything about the first one. As soon as I saw this book in my inbox and read the premise, I couldn't start reading it fast enough. I literally stopped everything I was doing (and reading) and proceeded to ignore the entire world in order to devour it. I have always been fascinated with true crime shows so the fact that this book fell onto my lap recently, felt like THE book I've been waiting for all my life. "Stevie Bell had a simple desire: She wanted to be standing over a dead body." This book follows Stevie, who is as obsessed with true crime as I am, if not more. Definitely more. I don't aspire to stand over a dead body. Maybe a skeleton in a cemetery/crypt, but not a fresh corpse. Anyway, before I go off track, this book takes place at a fascinating private school, Ellingham Academy, where learning is a game. I've never read, seen, or heard of anything like it so I have to give huge props to Maureen for coming up with something so fresh and unique. Anybody who attends this academy gets to explore it as a form of learning so of course, I was jealous of the fact that I couldn't jump into the pages and attend this school myself. But anyway, while Stevie attends school there, she takes it upon herself to solve one of the most infamous murder cases in American history that took place there. I really liked that Stevie had a way of giving voice to a lot of my thoughts and desires. I had many problems with some of her characteristics. Even though Stevie and I shared such a fascination over crime, I found it difficult to really care for her as a MC. It did put a damper on my mood but what drove me was the crime itself. The reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because I had a huge problem attaching myself to almost all of the characters. Don't get me wrong, I really liked them but I'm just not crazy about them yet. I'm really hoping book two changes that for me. I found that my heart pretty much only ached for the founder of the Academy and everything that he went through. I wouldn't wish any of it upon my worst enemy and it really drove me off the wall that I couldn't just give him a happy ending. This book is told alternately during the present and flashbacks to 1936. I enjoyed both time lines to no end and it was very surprising since I usually prefer one time line over another, but that wasn't the case here. Since the present is a few decades after the events that transpired in 1936, the reader knows how it all ends but we are still forced to live through its every agonizing moment. I felt like I was on board a doomed roller coaster that I couldn't get off of while knowing that it was about end in the most brutal way. Yeah, it was intense. Another reason why I only gave this 4 stars was because the ending wasn't much of a shock for me. I was feeling kind of 'meh' about the reveal of Truly Devious' identity. I don't know, I saw it coming and I really, REALLY wanted to be proven wrong. I just hope that we are being thrown in a loop and it actually ends up being a more 'interesting' killer, if that makes sense? It basically wasn't a worthy ending for me, but my mind is still going crazy right now with anticipation for the sequel. So as you can see, I am still deeply invested in this story. I honestly don't think I can wait until next year but it looks like I have no choice in the matter, sadly. I will definitely be stalking Maureen Johnson from now on! "Schools may be famous for many things... They are not supposed to be famous for murders."

well written

The story is good

I am not usually one for thrillers/crime novels because honestly, I'm just not tough enough for the suspense. This book however was amazing. It took a while for me to like the main charcter, because I feel like she is a very specific kind of girl that I wouldn't get along with in real life so she annoyed and frustrated me a bit. However, all charaters are really well developed and the story is captivating. Would recommend to everybody!

Muy lindo

Buen libro