the hand on the wall (truly devious #3) by Maureen Johnson

Fifty-forth book of 2020

Reading period: July 6th 2020 – July 10th 2020

Summary

Ellingham Academy must be cursed. Three people are now dead. One, a victim of either a prank gone wrong or a murder. Another, dead by misadventure. And now, an accident in Burlington has claimed another life. All three in the wrong place at the wrong time. All at the exact moment of Stevie’s greatest triumph . . .

She knows who Truly Devious is. She’s solved it. The greatest case of the century.

At least, she thinks she has. With this latest tragedy, it’s hard to concentrate on the past. Not only has someone died in town, but David disappeared of his own free will and is up to something. Stevie is sure that somehow—somehow—all these things connect. The three deaths in the present. The deaths in the past. The missing Alice Ellingham and the missing David Eastman. Somewhere in this place of riddles and puzzles, there must be answers.

Then another accident occurs as a massive storm heads toward Vermont. This is too much for the parents and administrators. Ellingham Academy is evacuated. Obviously, it’s time for Stevie to do something stupid. It’s time to stay on the mountain and face the storm—and a murderer.

Rating

Review

It’s a first for me, but I didn’t guess the murderer. I didn’t even have the slightest idea. But, I was happy to see some detective books code.

In this book, you have a lot of answers as well as explanations (facts that you couldn’t have guessed.) As for the previous ones, there is still a lot of suspects (everyone is one, for me) and a snowstorm comes to the party which doesn’t help anything. Also, I still don’t like David.

I love how the aftermath of the investigations is done. You have enough information, but it doesn’t weight down the story. I didn’t want to put the book down and wanted another mystery (which I need to wait next year to have it.)

I started to read this trilogy as it was a booktuber recommendation but also as I only hear great critics about it. After reading the three books, I am happy to went on a journey with Stevie and her acolytes.

Review for Truly Devious (#1) here

Review for The Vanishing Stair (#2) here

Liz.