Pages: 416
Published: 16th January 2018
Genre: Young Adult Mystery
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.
This is an engrossing story that provides an intricate mystery for the past and one for the present, both taking place within the same enjoyable setting, which is a high school with a twist. With a likeable protagonist and clever balance between two equally intriguing timelines, the writing is fast paced and contains an inherent wittiness that captures the thrill of a search for answers.
It has an engaging concept that is absolutely perfect for the young adult genre, but there is a lot to like here for older readers too, especially when the plot gets more complex and hard to predict. While it is quite irreverent for the most part and does not take itself too seriously, there is a gradual build up of suspense and some key issues explored including good representation, and none of it feels inauthentic or rushed.
Ellingham Academy is a free private school in rural Vermont, attended by the brightest and most innovative young minds. It was founded by influential billionaire Albert Ellingham, who wanted learning to be a game and students to have access to all the resources they need in order to realise their potential. One night in 1936, his wife and daughter were both kidnapped and a pupil called Dottie was killed, with a sinister riddle written by someone known only as Truly Devious was left behind.
It remains one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in the United States, and when Stevie Bell arrives at Ellingham in the present day despite the misgivings of her parents, she believes that she will be the one to solve it. Obsessed with true crime stories and detective novels, She knows all the facts of the case by heart and with the help of her classmates, soon gains access to some of the key locations and artefacts surrounding it.
While Stevie adjusts to the unfamiliar reality of having a close friend and the inexplicable attraction she feels towards the enigmatic David, she agrees to help actor Hayes create a trailer based on the Ellingham mystery, but her attempts to uncover the truth are halted by another shocking murder. All these years later, it seems like Truly Devious has made an unwelcome return.
It is not easy to balance two separate mysteries in this way, but the author executes it really well and keeps things moving all the way, until a cliffhanger ending that leaves certain things unresolved as a tantalising prelude to the next book in the series. There were a lot of exciting or unexpected twists, and of all the clues that are scattered throughout, many were well hidden and led to an outcome that was not easy to predict.
The shadowy presence of Truly Devious and the very cleverly written rhyming riddles they leave adds a more menacing element to it all, and although the mystery in the present day takes centre stage to a degree, what happened to Albert Ellingham’s wife and daughter is never far from the surface. Indeed, the only part of the plot that felt out of place was romance, which was hinted at early on but never made a great deal of sense.
All of it is written in the third person, switching between the two timelines on a sporadic basis. It begins with Dottie and she happens to be killed just when you are starting to connect with her, but thankfully Stevie is introduced and she is a really fun character to spend time with, particularly as her enthusiasm for the Ellingham case and unsolved mysteries in general is rather infectious.
Stevie is high functioning and outwardly expressive about the things she is passionate about to the point of self-consciousness, yet she also has other insecurities such as social anxiety and occasional panic attacks. These aspects are explored very sensitively and not only made her seem more believable, but also quite relatable.
As for the other characters in the present, Janelle was a delight right from the moment she was introduced and it was just so lovely how she and Stevie became friends instantly. Hayes was a little on the self-important side and David was just unusual, evasive and sometimes annoying, but clearly thoughtful beneath that exterior. As for the staff such as Pix and Security Larry, they can be described as coolly efficient.
The first thing you notice about Albert Ellingham himself is his decisiveness. When faced with a traumatic and almost impossible scenario, he reacts without hesitation and manages to stay rational, which deserves respect even though all his attempts are to no avail. We only received glimpses of other characters in the earlier timeline such as the butler and Flora, but there is definitely more to come on that front.
On that topic, it certainly seems like the question of what happened to Albert’s wife and daughter is a mystery that will span the entire series, with Truly Devious themselves a curious entity that lurks in the background. Although the manner of the ending will be frustrating for some, the revelations that arrived about certain characters at the end also set up the next book extremely well; as you know that you have to read on in order to find out a lot of the answers.
The setting of Ellingham Academy is a wonderful concept and its location helps to fill it with a tangible sense of atmosphere, especially during the earlier timeline where the majority of scenes take place at night and the action plays out like a classic murder mystery, albeit one without a dead body. On a separate point, the naming of the houses after Greek and Roman deities is a nice touch.
Overall, a fun and captivating mystery which you can easily fly through in a short space of time as it offers an enthralling mix of a neatly woven plot, and pure escapism. Stevie is a great character to carry the story and the two timelines are balanced together really well and with lots of room left for it all to be developed further as the series progresses. And as I gratefully discovered, the ideal book to get you out of a mini reading slump.
Maureen Johnson is a prolific author of young adult mystery fiction, but the Truly Devious series undoubtedly represent the most popular entries in her bibliography, with the fifth and final book due to be released in 2023.
Her other series include Suite Scarlett and Shades Of London, while she has written collaboratively with the likes of John Green and Cassandra Clare among others. She lives in New York.
I read this one during a week away in September, and I could not have chosen a more suitable book to bring with me. It was fast paced and I sped through it in a matter of days. I had struggled to focus on physical books for a while, so this proved restorative in that respect. Most importantly however, it was an excellent read with a mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Stephen Reads Books 