Title: Truly Devious
Author(s) Name(s): Maureen Johnson
Published in: January, 2018
Why You Might Like This Book: Read this book if you enjoy
- strong female characters,
- young detective characters,
- cold cases, and
- young adult thrillers.
Who Should Avoid This Book: Avoid this book if you are triggered by or dislike
- anxiety, or
- murder, or
- dark academia.
Truly Devious is the first book in the young adult thriller series of the same name, the first of three written by Maureen Johnson. This international bestseller fiction novel tells us the story about an event in the past – a few murders at an unconventional school called the Ellingham Academy and whether there is any connection to the present, the lives of the current day students at the same school. The story begins casually but gets exciting quickly, with some chapters narrating events in the past and some others narrating events in the present.
One among the present-day batches of students is the young Stevie Bell, the main character in the story. Like one of the murder victims at the same school, a young student named Dolores Epstein, Stevie also has a strong interest in solving crime. The other victims in the past, the intended ones of the murders that made it to the news across the country were Iris Ellingham and Alice Ellingham, the wife and daughter of Mr Albert Ellingham, one of the richest men in the USA at that time, who also happened to be a philanthropist.
The first half of the plot itself is quite interesting. Mr Albert is a kind man who also enjoys riddles and socializes a lot. He often gets threats, which are mostly handled by his personal secretary, Robert. One day, when his wife and daughter are not at home, they receive a threat letter. Unlike others, this one is unique: it has a long, interesting poem-like riddle, revealing an intention to kill. And it is also not handwritten or typed, but the letters are cut from different pages of published pieces and pasted. Albert Ellingham gets a call from strangers, demanding a ransom, claiming that they have kidnapped his wife and daughter. And the two end up dead. How did Dolores Epstein aka Dottie get caught in this? The case was investigated by the best officers in that period in the USA, yet nobody could solve the murder case or find out who “Truly Devious” is/are.
That is now an old case. But somehow, the Ellingham Academy still manages to run. Of course, there are different staff members and teachers, new students, and the school remains unconventional, like it was in the past. Each student seems to be a rare pick, excelling in some unique skillset. Among these students is Stevie Bell, who has studied everything she could about this case, the investigation, the details available, and the people involved. She is determined to solve the cold case, as she joins the school, against her parents’ wishes.
Several characters, including many different teachers and students, seniors and batchmates, are introduced. Each of them have a unique personality, and that only makes the story more interesting. Stevie’s days go by as she connects with her fellow students and starts getting used to her life at the school, far away from home. Many events across the chapters add to the drama, there is some romance, there are friendships, there are exes, and there are some twists and turns.
Something really strange happens one day, as Stevie, who already has anxiety, wakes up in the middle of the night to find a threat poem displayed on her room’s wall. In many ways, it is similar to that threat riddle that Mr Albert received before the murders happened. Stevie reads it line by line and is shocked. Before she could grasp what had happened really, she is fully anxious, the display is gone, and her best friend convinces her that it must have been just a bad dream. But was it really a bad dream? Or is Truly Devious back? Soon after this, an unexpected death happens, and Stevie being Stevie couldn’t not get involved in the crime investigation.
What happens after this? Will Stevie be able to solve the murders from the past, something that even the best detectives couldn’t solve for decades? Who is the criminal? Are the past and present events connected? If yes, how? If not, what then? This book gives way to many such interesting questions in the reader’s mind because the plot is quite creative and the storytelling is simple yet engaging.
To summarize, Truly Devious is a clever and suspenseful YA mystery set in a prestigious academy, blending past and present crimes. It definitely is worth reading once or even twice. With that unforeseen twist and the cliffhanger ending, Maureen Johnson has done a good job, compelling the user to go for the next book in the same series. Honestly, this book deserves at least a 4-star rating, better than most other books in this genre!
If you like young adult crime novels you can check out a similar and quite popular book called “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder”.
And if dark academia interests you, consider checking out Vicious, another really popular dark academia book, but this one is a fantasy read.
Pingback: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (Part 1) by Holly Jackson - Ink and Inference
Pingback: The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious Part-2) by Maureen Johnson – Is The Mystery Finally Solved? - Ink and Inference
Pingback: Vicious by V. E. Schwab – A Dark Fantasy Story of Ambition and Jealousy - Ink and Inference