truly devious by Maureen Johnson

Forty-second book of 2020

Reading period: May 23rd 2020 – May 25th 2020

Summary

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.

Rating

Review

This book hooked me right away!

I love the dual timeline aspect. The additions of these flashbacks help a lot to learn what happened in the past to understand the present. It makes this unresolved kidnapping more real.
Moreover, as Stevie dive into this mystery, you also have some excerpts of document of the investigation of 1936, and I like it as it adds tempo to the story.

I was not too fond of this cliffhanger, and I generally hate them. As you push through the story, you have more questions than answer. When I finished this book, I needed to put all my thoughts on paper as I had a lot. I cannot wait to have the next book to continue my investigation.

I didn’t have any liking to the characters. Nevertheless, I am not put out by that as I am more interest in the mystery.

The only problem I had was the lengthy start. Even if I understand why it occurred, I was disturbed as the current mystery only happened in the second half of the book.

Liz.