---
product_id: 55084829
title: "Truly Devious: A Mystery"
price: "COP 100480"
currency: COP
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.co/products/55084829-truly-devious-a-mystery
store_origin: CO
region: Colombia
---

# Truly Devious: A Mystery

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## 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 P ennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award Winner

Review: A Thoroughly Enjoyable Mystery - "Truly Devious: A Mystery" by Maureen Johnson is by far one of the best and most memorable books that I have read in the past several years. I had read quite a few book reviews before I began reading and went into the book expecting a cozy mystery at a boarding school, but "Truly Devious" had a whole lot more up its sleeve. The mystery takes place at Ellingham Academy, a boarding school in the mountains of Vermont. Ellingham Academy is a unique kind of school, to say the least. Its founder, Albert Ellingham, an extremely wealthy and influential business mogul and lover of all things games and riddles, established the school in the 1930s as a non-conformist place of learning; a place where students were given greater freedom and privileges and encouraged to take initiative of their learning and individual interests. It is highly selective of its applicants; only a small number of the brightest students are admitted each year. Shortly after Ellingham Academy opened, Albert's wife, Iris, and young daughter, Alice, were kidnapped. The only evidence of wrong-doing was a letter that Ellingham received; a threatening riddle that was signed by "Truly, Devious." The crime was never entirely solved; a man admitted to the crime and was discovered to be in possession of the ransom money, but the evidence simply did not appear to support that this man was the real culprit. One of the reasons why this book was so effective and enjoyable for me to read was because of the main character (as well as the entire cast of characters). Stephanie "Stevie" Bell is intensely interested in true crime. She has the keen eye of a detective. Stevie often says what she is thinking and has some trouble relating to people. She battles anxiety by reading Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie mysteries and by listening to true crime podcasts. As a true crime aficionado, Stevie is very familiar with the Ellingham case. She gets accepted into Ellingham Academy with the intention of cracking open the mystery of the Ellingham affair and revealing the identity of "Truly Devious." Along the way Stevie finds herself unexpectedly finding comfort and refuge in the school and with her housemates and friends. Author Maureen Johnson did an incredible job with Stevie's character development. By the end of the book I was fully invested in Stevie Bell and felt like she was someone that I really knew and not just another character in a novel. Another selling point for me was the dual timelines. The book expertly interweaves between 1930s Ellingham Academy during the time of the kidnapping and present day Ellingham Academy with Stevie attempting to solve the case. Sometimes when I read books that have multiple timelines or perspectives it can seem a little tedious keeping the facts straight, but this was not the case for me in this book. It should be made known that this book is marketed as the first of three books in the "Truly Devious" series. I sincerely hope that the next two books get written quickly because I'm really interested in finding out what will happen next. The characters and their development, plot, style and quality of writing all made this a very enjoyable read and I anticipate that before the next novel in the series is released I will read this book again (something that I seldom do). I read this on my Kindle, along with listening to the Audible version, and the narrator, Kate Rudd, is exceptional. Her ability to create and maintain the different voices of the characters and the emotions in their voices was nothing short of amazing and helped me to better form and connect with the characters in my mind. If you are interested in a clever mystery this winter with a remarkable protagonist, an equally remarkable cast of characters, great plot, style and quality of writing, I would definitely recommend "Truly Devious: A Mystery" which is why I'm giving it a 5 star rating for both the book and the Audible version of the book.
Review: " If that isn't the best dedication you've ever read - *ARC provided by Epic Reads Insiders in exchange for an honest review* "For anyone who has ever dreamed of finding a body in the library." If that isn't the best dedication you've ever read, I don't know what it. This is the second book I have read by Maureen but I honestly don't remember anything about the first one. As soon as I saw this book in my inbox and read the premise, I couldn't start reading it fast enough. I literally stopped everything I was doing (and reading) and proceeded to ignore the entire world in order to devour it. I have always been fascinated with true crime shows so the fact that this book fell onto my lap recently, felt like THE book I've been waiting for all my life. "Stevie Bell had a simple desire: She wanted to be standing over a dead body." This book follows Stevie, who is as obsessed with true crime as I am, if not more. Definitely more. I don't aspire to stand over a dead body. Maybe a skeleton in a cemetery/crypt, but not a fresh corpse. Anyway, before I go off track, this book takes place at a fascinating private school, Ellingham Academy, where learning is a game. I've never read, seen, or heard of anything like it so I have to give huge props to Maureen for coming up with something so fresh and unique. Anybody who attends this academy gets to explore it as a form of learning so of course, I was jealous of the fact that I couldn't jump into the pages and attend this school myself. But anyway, while Stevie attends school there, she takes it upon herself to solve one of the most infamous murder cases in American history that took place there. I really liked that Stevie had a way of giving voice to a lot of my thoughts and desires. I had many problems with some of her characteristics. Even though Stevie and I shared such a fascination over crime, I found it difficult to really care for her as a MC. It did put a damper on my mood but what drove me was the crime itself. The reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because I had a huge problem attaching myself to almost all of the characters. Don't get me wrong, I really liked them but I'm just not crazy about them yet. I'm really hoping book two changes that for me. I found that my heart pretty much only ached for the founder of the Academy and everything that he went through. I wouldn't wish any of it upon my worst enemy and it really drove me off the wall that I couldn't just give him a happy ending. This book is told alternately during the present and flashbacks to 1936. I enjoyed both time lines to no end and it was very surprising since I usually prefer one time line over another, but that wasn't the case here. Since the present is a few decades after the events that transpired in 1936, the reader knows how it all ends but we are still forced to live through its every agonizing moment. I felt like I was on board a doomed roller coaster that I couldn't get off of while knowing that it was about end in the most brutal way. Yeah, it was intense. Another reason why I only gave this 4 stars was because the ending wasn't much of a shock for me. I was feeling kind of 'meh' about the reveal of Truly Devious' identity. I don't know, I saw it coming and I really, REALLY wanted to be proven wrong. I just hope that we are being thrown in a loop and it actually ends up being a more 'interesting' killer, if that makes sense? It basically wasn't a worthy ending for me, but my mind is still going crazy right now with anticipation for the sequel. So as you can see, I am still deeply invested in this story. I honestly don't think I can wait until next year but it looks like I have no choice in the matter, sadly. I will definitely be stalking Maureen Johnson from now on! "Schools may be famous for many things... They are not supposed to be famous for murders."

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #64,127 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1 in Teen & Young Adult 20th Century United States Historical Fiction #4 in Teen & Young Adult Historical Mysteries & Thrillers #15 in Teen & Young Adult Fantasy & Supernatural Mysteries & Thrillers |
| Customer Reviews | 4.2 out of 5 stars 8,151 Reviews |

## Images

![Truly Devious: A Mystery - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71yU7yRcd2L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Thoroughly Enjoyable Mystery
*by B***7 on February 14, 2018*

"Truly Devious: A Mystery" by Maureen Johnson is by far one of the best and most memorable books that I have read in the past several years. I had read quite a few book reviews before I began reading and went into the book expecting a cozy mystery at a boarding school, but "Truly Devious" had a whole lot more up its sleeve. The mystery takes place at Ellingham Academy, a boarding school in the mountains of Vermont. Ellingham Academy is a unique kind of school, to say the least. Its founder, Albert Ellingham, an extremely wealthy and influential business mogul and lover of all things games and riddles, established the school in the 1930s as a non-conformist place of learning; a place where students were given greater freedom and privileges and encouraged to take initiative of their learning and individual interests. It is highly selective of its applicants; only a small number of the brightest students are admitted each year. Shortly after Ellingham Academy opened, Albert's wife, Iris, and young daughter, Alice, were kidnapped. The only evidence of wrong-doing was a letter that Ellingham received; a threatening riddle that was signed by "Truly, Devious." The crime was never entirely solved; a man admitted to the crime and was discovered to be in possession of the ransom money, but the evidence simply did not appear to support that this man was the real culprit. One of the reasons why this book was so effective and enjoyable for me to read was because of the main character (as well as the entire cast of characters). Stephanie "Stevie" Bell is intensely interested in true crime. She has the keen eye of a detective. Stevie often says what she is thinking and has some trouble relating to people. She battles anxiety by reading Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie mysteries and by listening to true crime podcasts. As a true crime aficionado, Stevie is very familiar with the Ellingham case. She gets accepted into Ellingham Academy with the intention of cracking open the mystery of the Ellingham affair and revealing the identity of "Truly Devious." Along the way Stevie finds herself unexpectedly finding comfort and refuge in the school and with her housemates and friends. Author Maureen Johnson did an incredible job with Stevie's character development. By the end of the book I was fully invested in Stevie Bell and felt like she was someone that I really knew and not just another character in a novel. Another selling point for me was the dual timelines. The book expertly interweaves between 1930s Ellingham Academy during the time of the kidnapping and present day Ellingham Academy with Stevie attempting to solve the case. Sometimes when I read books that have multiple timelines or perspectives it can seem a little tedious keeping the facts straight, but this was not the case for me in this book. It should be made known that this book is marketed as the first of three books in the "Truly Devious" series. I sincerely hope that the next two books get written quickly because I'm really interested in finding out what will happen next. The characters and their development, plot, style and quality of writing all made this a very enjoyable read and I anticipate that before the next novel in the series is released I will read this book again (something that I seldom do). I read this on my Kindle, along with listening to the Audible version, and the narrator, Kate Rudd, is exceptional. Her ability to create and maintain the different voices of the characters and the emotions in their voices was nothing short of amazing and helped me to better form and connect with the characters in my mind. If you are interested in a clever mystery this winter with a remarkable protagonist, an equally remarkable cast of characters, great plot, style and quality of writing, I would definitely recommend "Truly Devious: A Mystery" which is why I'm giving it a 5 star rating for both the book and the Audible version of the book.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ " If that isn't the best dedication you've ever read
*by T***T on January 21, 2018*

*ARC provided by Epic Reads Insiders in exchange for an honest review* "For anyone who has ever dreamed of finding a body in the library." If that isn't the best dedication you've ever read, I don't know what it. This is the second book I have read by Maureen but I honestly don't remember anything about the first one. As soon as I saw this book in my inbox and read the premise, I couldn't start reading it fast enough. I literally stopped everything I was doing (and reading) and proceeded to ignore the entire world in order to devour it. I have always been fascinated with true crime shows so the fact that this book fell onto my lap recently, felt like THE book I've been waiting for all my life. "Stevie Bell had a simple desire: She wanted to be standing over a dead body." This book follows Stevie, who is as obsessed with true crime as I am, if not more. Definitely more. I don't aspire to stand over a dead body. Maybe a skeleton in a cemetery/crypt, but not a fresh corpse. Anyway, before I go off track, this book takes place at a fascinating private school, Ellingham Academy, where learning is a game. I've never read, seen, or heard of anything like it so I have to give huge props to Maureen for coming up with something so fresh and unique. Anybody who attends this academy gets to explore it as a form of learning so of course, I was jealous of the fact that I couldn't jump into the pages and attend this school myself. But anyway, while Stevie attends school there, she takes it upon herself to solve one of the most infamous murder cases in American history that took place there. I really liked that Stevie had a way of giving voice to a lot of my thoughts and desires. I had many problems with some of her characteristics. Even though Stevie and I shared such a fascination over crime, I found it difficult to really care for her as a MC. It did put a damper on my mood but what drove me was the crime itself. The reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because I had a huge problem attaching myself to almost all of the characters. Don't get me wrong, I really liked them but I'm just not crazy about them yet. I'm really hoping book two changes that for me. I found that my heart pretty much only ached for the founder of the Academy and everything that he went through. I wouldn't wish any of it upon my worst enemy and it really drove me off the wall that I couldn't just give him a happy ending. This book is told alternately during the present and flashbacks to 1936. I enjoyed both time lines to no end and it was very surprising since I usually prefer one time line over another, but that wasn't the case here. Since the present is a few decades after the events that transpired in 1936, the reader knows how it all ends but we are still forced to live through its every agonizing moment. I felt like I was on board a doomed roller coaster that I couldn't get off of while knowing that it was about end in the most brutal way. Yeah, it was intense. Another reason why I only gave this 4 stars was because the ending wasn't much of a shock for me. I was feeling kind of 'meh' about the reveal of Truly Devious' identity. I don't know, I saw it coming and I really, REALLY wanted to be proven wrong. I just hope that we are being thrown in a loop and it actually ends up being a more 'interesting' killer, if that makes sense? It basically wasn't a worthy ending for me, but my mind is still going crazy right now with anticipation for the sequel. So as you can see, I am still deeply invested in this story. I honestly don't think I can wait until next year but it looks like I have no choice in the matter, sadly. I will definitely be stalking Maureen Johnson from now on! "Schools may be famous for many things... They are not supposed to be famous for murders."

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I can't believe I have to wait a year for the next one!
*by S***D on March 18, 2018*

So. I have major beef with Maureen Johnson. I am a huge fan of her, and her writing, and her Shades of London series. I wait in anticipation for each and every new book to come out, and have been waiting year after year for the 4th in the series to be released, except it hasn't been and I don't even know if it ever will. I understand that she's been going through a lot, and of course, priority is herself and her health. My confusion lies in the fact that...well...she left that series unfinished and has now started writing a NEW series! Completely new series! And here's the other thing...it is very similar, in terms of plot and storyline, to the Shades of London series (boarding school, murder, mystery, group of kids trying to get the bad guy and solve a century old mystery?) (except we haven't encountered any ghosts...yet). So what does this mean for Shades of London? Is she done with that? I'd love if anyone who has or knows the answer would share it with me. Now...to get on with this book review. I am a sucker for YA mysteries, and I do love Johnson's writing style, so obviously I immediately purchased this book. The mystery in this one is quite heartbreaking, involving a 3 year old child, which tugs at my heartstrings. This is a very intricately written book, with so many complex things happening and being built simultaneously. Moving between past and present, you are left in awe at how Johnson maneuvered all the events and put them together in a way that isn't too complicated for the readers to grasp, but still leaves you scratching your head. The book starts with a prologue, where a student at Ellingham Academy is murdered. That scene is written so well that it made me think of The Lovely Bones and that suffocating scene where Susie gets brutally murdered. We then find out that the school's founder's wife and 3 year old daughter are also missing. In present day, Stevie Bell enrolls into Ellingham Academy with one goal in mind - to solve the murder mystery that took place back in 1936. Now, I have to admit, I was rolling my eyes at this. A teenager is going to solve a mystery that went unsolved for almost a century. Really? Except, once I got into it and got to know the characters and got to know Stevie better, I didn't even care anymore. I suspended reality and decided to go with the flow, and was completely behind her, supporting her and rooting for her. The book continues to alternate between past and present as the events of the past are slowly revealed and how the crime was never really solved and the child's body was never found, and how Stevie tries to put it all together in present time, while strange things start to happen mirroring the events of the past. In the midst of all that, we get to know Stevie's flat mates, friends, family, her likes and dislikes, her insecurities, her love interest (of course) and all the usual high school drama. David is definitely an intriguing character, and I have to admit, I didn't see that one coming, although I should have probably expected it, but I didn't. This whole book played out like a big set up for what's going to happen in book 2. It introduces you to the murder in the past, then sets you up with a new murder done in the same fashion as the one from the past with a poem by "Truly Devious" him/herself, then leaves you with, not one, but TWO killer cliffhangers so you basically have to bang your head against the wall in frustration as you wait until next year for the second installment. I hope that this is one series Maureen Johnson will see through to the end.

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*Last updated: 2026-07-10*