Truly Devious: A Mystery: 1 (Truly Devious, 1)

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She is introduced to us a someone really good at this , like she could solve the mystery FBI couldn’t solve for past 80 years! That sounds like a great premise and it is but nothing really happens. We meet what felt like every student at the school(its a lot of people) and we get glimpses of the investigation into the mystery that surrounds the school and we get a brand new mystery that Stevie also investigates. It felt like both mysteries were B-Plots though. Truly Devious spends way more time on teen angst then on the murder mysteries that the book is allegedly about. The implied dot dot dot was “student dies in a terrible accident or maybe murder and another one goes missing.” but overall this is a fun and exciting book. definitely not as good as the first one (based on how i remember it), but still very much worth my time. im looking forward to seeing how things get wrapped up in the concluding instalment! The Agatha Christie-like ecosystem pairs with lacerating contemporary wit, and alternating past and present scenes makes for a multilayered, modern detective story.” — New York Times Book Review

And David, he is number one asshole, who treated her like trash and we learned that he is manipulating liar! Now this is the point I wanna mention Steive hates Edward king to the point she wishes him to be dead but it was never mentioned why like the readers are forced to hate him because steive wants us to hate him!! I definitely enjoyed this second novel in the Truly Devious series more than the first. It still carried all the luscious descriptions of crisp Autumn mornings that I so loved in Truly Devious; I'll never tire of reading about fall in New England. Honestly, I would be such a bad detective.😅 I see Stevie saying that she's figured it all out and I'm just like.......wait who is it????This will be essential reading for the many fans of the first two books. This trilogy ender is fun, satisfying, and a genuine treat for teens and adult mystery fans." — School Library Journal I absolutely loved the characters, my most favourite being Nate! Ah, he's so damn precious. I would love to steal all his T-shirts someday and we know why. Years later, under the influence of pain relievers following a hospital stay, Izzy's Aunt Angela says some things to her that raise Izzy's suspicions. Does her Aunt know what happened to her two murdered friends? I loved the Elligham mystery so much like i wish it would have been a standalone book exploring only Elligham mystery , with its characters like I loved Dottie, Albert, Francis i felt connected to them who were the side characters like they had that depth that something we need to love a character !

My feelings toward the characters did not change, I am not a big fan of any of them but I stand corrected on one point; I mentioned on my review of book 1 that the characters should be better given that it is a school for the best of the best. I don’t know how it escaped my attention but really, most of the students in the school were there as friends of the owner or they are connected to him in that way whether in the past or present! I'm planning to reread The Vanishing Stair very soon as well and then FINALLY continue on with the rest. I'm not just saying that... Soon enough, it's David to the rescue, as he has hatched a fairly stellar plan. He invites Stevie, Nate, Janelle and Vi to come to London to do a study-abroad for a week. Each of them devises a schedule and specific course of inquiry for their time there. This inclusive, inventive, and vastly entertaining series has been a boon to YA literature. As a layered, complex character who solves crime while also battling anxiety, Stevie Bell reads like the redoubtable love child of Jessica Fletcher and Adrian Monk. There will hopefully be more Stevie Bell mysteries to come." — Horn Book MagazineTrue-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.

I will add, I do feel like the pacing was a bit slow at some points. There are not many significant plot points until about halfway through. That being said, I keep reminding myself that most thrillers are condensed into one book, whereas this will be a trilogy, so I understand the decision/need to have a more fleshed out beginning before diving into all the drama. I am anxiously anticipating book two and am extremely hopeful that things will be nonstop action from here. Before meeting with the gang, we get introduced THE NINE: bunch of comedy writer teenagers who have complex relationships, dating with each than breaking up and dating the rest of group members ( story takes place in 90s so it’s understandable that their relationship patterns remind us Aaron Spelling’s young adult series like Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place) Pretentious Sebastian, free spirited Sooz, Irish joy Rosie, vintage styled Noel, natural athlete Peter, comedy nerd Yash, heartbreaker Julian, aspiring history student Angela, medical student Theo are the group members. They are vivid, interesting characters and as soon as I got introduced with them I wished they had their own book instead of being part of Stevie Bell mystery drama. Amount of the character numbers is already too much. I got a little exhausted to concentrate on the nine and gang of Stevie including David’s new British friends! His wife's body was eventually found, but his daughter, Alice, was never recovered. Soon thereafter, Albert himself, died under mysterious circumstances. My only other pet peeve was with Ellingham himself. This book switches timelines between the present day and the past, including scenes with Ellingham. His wife and daughter were kidnapped by Truly Devious, who demands a ransom. I think part of my swooning over Truly Devious was being new to Ellingham Academy; learning about the school, its history and all of the people there. We had less of that excitement in this one, at least for me.I always enjoy murder mysteries. I liked references of Christie and Conan Doyle books, methods of solving mysteries. There were a lot of similarities and I found it easy to follow along with the intrigue because of that. I would love to know if the author was at all inspired by that case.