May 2022 First in a Series BOTM - Truly Devious, by Maureen Johnson

[Alaina]

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.

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.

**This BOTM thread will be open until June 5th @ Midnight (in your time zone)**

[Kira]

Jumping in on this!

[Kira]

Chapter 1
(view spoiler)[It is a strong start. I am liking the set up and the writing is making me curious about this Ellingham Academy (hide spoiler)]

[Kira]

@20%
(view spoiler)[ The tour of the campus was interesting. Still no clues about what happened in 1936. 20% in but seems like the author is still building up the scene - feeling a bit slow paced. (hide spoiler)]

[Kira]

@30%
(view spoiler)[ mmmm why do i feel like George is not as innocent as he looks (hide spoiler)]

[Kira]

Chapter 9
(view spoiler)[I don't think Flora and Leo are involved in the kidnapping but they are definitely hiding something - maybe Iris and George's affair? (hide spoiler)]

[Kira]

Chapter 12
(view spoiler)[the real mystery begins nowwwww (hide spoiler)]

[Kira]

Chapter 15
(view spoiler)[WTH?Hayes just....died? (hide spoiler)]

[Kira]

Chapter 26
(view spoiler)[This mystery is getting so interesting but the book is only about 14% left. How the hell are we going to get so many answers in so few pages> (hide spoiler)]

[Kira]

Finished
(view spoiler)[ WHAT AN ENDING!!!!!! I’ll need to read the next part sooonnn (hide spoiler)]

[Becky]

"I wrote the first book and then I forgot how to write." Nate, 24%

As someone who is friends with a bunch of writers and who has attempted some writing herself, welcome to writing, my guy!

I read this book three years ago, and I'm surprised what I'm remembering and what I'm not. Roota the saxaphone? Totally forgotten! Who dies and how? Totally remember! So that's annoying, although that's on my brain and not the book's fault. At 24% we're still in the introducing the characters stage, and I'm enjoying meeting these characters again, knowing a little bit more about them than they've chosen to reveal so far.

[Becky]

Chapter 12/13

(view spoiler)[I think the message flashed on Stevie's wall is the most unsettling part of the whole book. Is it real? Is it a dream? The original crime happened 80 years ago, so there's no way this was the actual Truly Devious. Right? But it feels way too personal, too much of a threat to be a simple prank. So what's going on here? (hide spoiler)]

[Becky]

Chapter 14

(view spoiler)["The distance, she knew, was about four hundred feet. Four hundred feet of dark tunnel may not sound like a lot of dark tunnel, but it is, in fact, a lot of dark tunnel."

Never fear, Stevie. Four hundred feet of dark tunnel definitely sounds like a lot of dark tunnel. (hide spoiler)]

[Becky]

Chapter 18

(view spoiler)["You have to take things as they are, not how you hear they're supposed to be."

That was one of the most sensible things an adult had ever said to Stevie.

Not only sensible in the wake of a sudden death and an investigation. That's a top shelf bit of advice for life in general. (hide spoiler)]

[Elizabeth]

34% (view spoiler)[ It's been a year since I last read this so I didn't remember much. But I really enjoy how Stevie is required to explore the human side of true crime. As someone also interested in the topic, it's sometimes easy to forget there's people involved in these tragedies. (hide spoiler)]

[Becky]

The End

(view spoiler)[That ending! Ack! Ack! Ack!

The author made some interesting choices here. It would be foolish to expect a resolution to the 1930s murders when we only get the flashback revealing the last bit of the crime at 94%. And it would be a bit unlikely for a student to crack the cold crime of the century over the course of a couple of weeks while also attending school, no matter how unusual that school is or what advantages being at the scene of the crime (or at least some of it) granted.

So we get solutions, but not equally satisfying solutions, to the two current mysteries raised in the book. How and why did Hayes died? and What is David's deal? And dropped randomly in the middle of all the scramble, in a moment when Stevie doesn't even have a chance to absorb what she's discovered: the real identity of Truly Devious.

So we've got the location of a teenage murderer and the overall mystery to draw us into the next book, plus what David's identity means between David and Stevie, not to mention David and all their schoolmates. And now we know who Truly Devious is, but what if anything did they have to do with the kidnapping and murders?

Cliffhangers can be awful, especially in mysteries. But I think the author gave us enough for at least a moderately satisfying ending, and enough questions to draw the reader into the next book.

I'm not sure if I have time to jump into the next one now, but I kind of want to. That's the sign of a good book. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Today is the LAST day to comment on this thread.

[Elizabeth]

63% (view spoiler)[ It was the dry ice! Even though it was only mentioned briefly, I do remember enough of science classes to know it can be dangerous. (hide spoiler)]

[Elizabeth]

78% (view spoiler)[ Stevie could've picked a better time to search in David's room. He's valid in feeling mad that she's snooping through his things. (hide spoiler)]

83% (view spoiler)[ On the one hand, I love these little reveals. On the other, this hardly seems a motive to kill someone. Although, Haye's did seem to burn bridges. (hide spoiler)]

[Elizabeth]

94% (view spoiler)[ While I liked the dramatics of the accusation, part of me wonders why Stevie wouldn't call for backup in case she tried to run before the police arrived.... she probably couldn't overpower all of the group in the room, but still. (hide spoiler)]

100% (view spoiler)[ Okay, that end reveal for David was my favorite. I kept wondering why the senator kept being brough up. Makes total sense!

Unrelated, I don't think Ellie did it. Not completely. Idk what her motive was? Even if she was angry, she did seem like she was wanted the money to buy her instrument. She also could have resorted to blackmail or public reveal rather than killing him. (hide spoiler)]