Truly Devious

Author:   Maureen Johnson            Genre: YA Mystery and Thriller

Summary (www.goodreads.com):

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.

Review:

One thing I really liked about Truly Devious was the diversity of characters. They were all diverse and unique and I felt connected to them and wanted to know more about them. I think that at times they didn't feel as if they were supposed to be 16 to 18 but more like 13 years old by the way they behaved sometimes. The author did a great job representing different aspects of teenage life, for example our main character, Stevie, had panic attacks sometimes which isn't shown often in the books I've read. There were also two different timelines. One played in the past, where the original crime happened at Ellingham Academy. Even though there were completely different characters in that timeline I understood it and it was easy to get immersed in that timeline as well. One aspect that I enjoy in mystery books are actual reports or transcripts of interviews in the book which truly devious had as well. I think that the chapters were distributed evenly and smartly as well and it didn't feel like the different timelines were disturbing each other. The different plotlines and mysteries were also very gripping and engaging. I also liked the dark academy vibe and the way Ellingham was described. The pacing was a bit slow at the beginning with the mystery taking a long time to start. I also felt like the ending of the book wasn't satisfying and it felt like these many plot lines that were started in this book weren't concluded and we were just staying in one place. Because of that I didn't feel satisfied when I finished the book. But since I know that there are more books after truly devious, the ending could be written this way on purpose by the author so I do understand. The other point that took away from the book was probably the writing. Even though it was more on the simpler side it felt way too descriptive at some points and it felt boring because of that. 

Buchbuzz Rating:

4/5 ⭐️- Has so much potential with a gripping mystery and unique characters. Even though the pacing and ending wasn't the best its still a great read.