Review: Truly, Devious (Truly, Devious #1) by Maureen Johnson

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. ~ Goodreads

Source: Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Review: I was pretty excited when this book showed up. I’ve always wanted to give Maureen Johnson’s books a try and I’m starting to read more thrillers/mysteries. Toss in that this became a buddy read with my blogger friend Jen & I was eager to jump in.

I wish I could say it was everything I was hoping for but it fell pretty flat for me. I’m horrible at reviewing meh books so I’m going to do a list of pros and cons instead.

The set up:

In April of 1936, the wife and daughter of Ellingham Academy founder, Albert Ellingham, were kidnapped by “Truly, Devious”. The only clue was a creepy riddle made up of cut and paste letters from magazines and sent to Albert.

There was also an additional victim, a brilliant student named Dolores, but none of the crimes were ever solved.

Flash forward to present day, and Stevie Bell, who fancies herself as an amateur sleuth, is one of the very few accepted to the quite prestigious Ellingham Academy. Her goal is to solve the Truly Devious murders.

Pros:

* Really interesting premise! Johnson weaves the 1939 case seamlessly into the present tense and does a great job of having the other students join Stevie in investigating this cold case from their own perspectives and talents. One student is a You Tube star, another – a writer, for example, so coming together to make a reenactment/documentary as a school project works.

*Stevie is a super relatable protagonist. She suffers from anxiety and panic attacks but knows to be a good detective, she’ll need to work past that. She uses the case as a tool to challenge herself. She asks for help when she needs it too. A major plus. She’s obsessed with true crime shows and she’s just really cute.

* The 1936 case is REALLY interesting. I’m not always a fan of flashback story telling but it works here. The eclectic characters, the speak easy setting, the new prestigious boarding school – it all lends to a fantastic mystery and who-dun-it.

* The Ellingham Academy is an interesting place. It was founded by the Albert Ellingham as an all expense paid school for the most brilliant minds. The application process is odd, the school itself is very offbeat and the students it accepts is so random that I couldn’t help but be enthralled with that setting.

But…..

Cons:

* This book never really goes anywhere, And it’s long, 416 pages, so I would like to have felt like the time I invested led to something…anything – but I didn’t feel like it did. Instead it threw in yet another twist.

* The romance….eek, it’s bad! And weird. And I just wish it wasn’t included. It wasn’t a big part of the story – but might be in the next because of the way things ended. The guy is - I believe my exact term to describe him while chatting with Jen about him was “squicky” lol

* So many characters. So many! The older mystery is very tightly plotted. The present day story – not so much. There’s a large cast of characters that are void of personality descriptors other than what clothes they are wearing. And Johnson manages to describe what everyone is wearing in every single scene. I just found it odd and ended up forgetting everyone other than the core group, who, other than the adorable, cynical Nate, I didn't care about.

* Truly, Devious was okay. I didn’t hate it at all, but I doubt I’ll read on. This book mostly felt like a set up for the second installment when it really could have been an excellent stand alone.

This book got MANY 5 stars so I suggest trying it for yourself if you like twists and turns, don’t mind major cliffhangers and enjoy a plucky protaganists, in the vain of Nancy Drew.
Here is Jen’s review if you would like a slightly different take on it. She tells me that this book is very in keeping with Maureen Johnson's writing style - so if you love her books ,t hen you should love this one as well.