Truly Devious

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 Review: Absolutely bewildering! - As I start to write this, in my head I am falling short of words. My mind is blown away and my heart is trembling with excitement, anxiety and curiosity. The plot of Truly Devious is spread between two timeliness, one is the present where a bunch of students come to this elite-free-of-cost school, and the other is past when a crime had actually happened that leads to our present. Meticulously written and strung together Truly Devious is a rollercoaster ride! nothing short of amusement. You straight up get invested in the characters and you care about them. The unraveling of events is the best part. Piece by piece author Maureen Joshson let's you into this world of her, her Ellingham Academy. The time period when the first crime has actually happened was the best part, until this book's and the present time period's climax. Things pace up and you are left with questions and a hunger to know more. I could not keep this book down, I was trying to read the end slowly because I don't have the second part yet and God, oh God! I am hooked. I want to stay in this world, with these characters and witness how the mystery unfolds. Review: A delightful page-turner! - Agatha Christie is my all-time favourite author. The only problem with Agatha Christie is that once you read dozen or so murder mysteries revolving around iconic Hercule Poirot character you seem to get disappointed by other authors writing a murder mystery. However, Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious the first novel in a murder-mystery trilogy was an exception to that theory. The story runs parallel in two eras, the 1930’s and present era at the Ellingham Academy founded by an ultra-rich businessman – Albert Ellingham for the special and most talented students. He has a unique affinity towards riddle and games, so much so that he has made it compulsory for all students to participate in games such as Monopoly. Since he is one of the most well-known tycoons of the country he is accustomed to regular life threats. In the month of April 1936, one peculiar threat comes along in the form of mocking riddle listing down methods of murder, signed with a pseudonym – Truly Devious. A week later, Albert’s wife Iris & daughter Alice gets kidnapped. Despite paying demanded ransom, kidnappers do not release his family. Their disappearance becomes one of the greatest unsolved crime. Many years later, Sherlock fan & crime aficionado Stevie Bell gets admission at the Ellingham Academy. She has already researched the case and she is determined to solve this mystery. At the academy, she meets five friends with a unique background such as a YouTube star, a novelist, an artist etc. During her first year at the academy she makes an attempt to solve the murder, however, the past crawls out and results into the death of one of her housemate. Was it an accident? Was it a murder? Does eighty-year-old past of Ellingham academy come back to haunt current students? Does Stevie get close to solving the case? These answers and much more is revealed by Maureen in her wonderfully crafted novel Truly Devious. What I admire about Maureen’s writing style is her impeccable ability to parallelly run stories in both eras, as an author it is easy to lose track of one of the plot while shifting focus, but Maureen makes sure that a reader remains glued to her story. There are patches in the book, where because of a number of the side-characters the story loses its pace. However, her character development of the central character – Stevie brings stability to the plot. The author has effortlessly set up Vermont of the early twentieth century. Truly Devious is a delightful page-turner for all murder mystery lovers. Maureen has ended her first novel of the trilogy on a cliffhanger leaving (or rather forcing) readers to go on her second one without a shadow of a doubt. Let’s see what is in store with The Vanishing Stairs the second part of the trilogy.