“Be still, my Agatha-Christie-loving beating heart.” -Bustle

“Remember the first time reading Harry Potter and knowing it was special There’s that same sense of magic in the introduction of teen Sherlock-in-training Stevie Bell.” - USA Today (four stars) “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 * Junior Library Guild Selection * Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best Books of 2019 * Hypable's Best Books of 2019 * Where did the murderer hide What’s the meaning of the riddle Albert Ellingham left behind And what, exactly, is at stake in the Truly Devious affair The Ellingham case isn’t just a piece of history-it’s a live wire into the present. And when Stevie finally returns, she also returns to David: the guy she kissed, and the guy who lied about his identity-Edward King’s son.īut larger issues are at play. Even if it means making a deal with the despicable Senator Edward King. Stevie’s willing to do anything to get back to Ellingham, be back with her friends, and solve the Truly Devious case.

She must move past this obsession with crime. But then her classmate was murdered, and her parents quickly pull her out of school. It’s the very reason she came to the academy. The Truly Devious case-an unsolved kidnapping and triple murder that rocked Ellingham Academy in 1936-has consumed Stevie for years. No answer is given freely, and someone will pay for the truth with their life. In New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson’s second novel in the Truly Devious series, there are more twists and turns than Stevie Bell can imagine. Someone has gotten away with murder.New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller! Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy.

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. 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. 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. Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.” 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. Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists.

The vanishing stair by maureen johnson