Pages: 383
Published: 15th June 2021
Genre: Young Adult Mystery
Content warnings: Child death, drugs
Amateur sleuth Stevie Bell needs a good murder. After catching a killer at her high school, she’s back at home for a normal (that means boring) summer.
But then she gets a message from the owner of Sunny Pines, formerly known as Camp Wonder Falls – the site of the notorious unsolved case, the Box in the Woods Murders. Back in 1978, four camp counsellors were killed in the woods outside of the town of Barlow Corners, their bodies left in a gruesome display. The new owner offers Stevie an invitation: Come to the camp and help him work on a true crime podcast about the case.
Stevie agrees, as long as she can bring along her friends from Ellingham Academy. Nothing sounds better than a summer spent together, investigating old murders.
But something evil still lurks in Barlow Corners. When Stevie opens the lid on this long-dormant case, she gets much more than she bargained for. The Box in the Woods will make room for more victims. This time, Stevie may not make it out alive.
Over the course of a trilogy we have seen true crime obsessed teenage sleuth Stevie Bell solve two fiendish murder cases in one fell swoop, and as readers we had great fun along the way. Now, with the fame that comes with being featured in the Batt Report, she is hired to look into another longstanding mystery away from the verdant climes of Ellingham Academy – and the outcome is something just as entertaining.
What makes this series so engaging is that alongside the author’s constant homage to the classic murder mysteries with a cool modern twist, we have steady pacing and characters who are likeable and relatable. Yes, some of the protagonists are geniuses in their particular field, but they are really grounded and written like regular, smart teenagers with very real concerns and insecurities.
There was so much more potential to develop this series beyond the original trilogy, and this more standalone mystery is ideal bonus content. It is great to just be able to spend more time with these characters, while the case Stevie is investigating is just as clever and well thought out than what has gone before, with the similarly spooky vibes to go with it.
The concept of the case is fairly generic, centring around four teenagers who lost their lives while taking illicit drugs at a summer camp. However, there is enough in the finer details to make it interesting, with the cryptic message left at the scene in Truly Devious style and the fact that each of the victims – especially Sabrina – is given a good amount of depth.
Everybody connected with the case is still in the local area and it still looms large over them, so we get that sense early on that the killer is never far away, despite the fact that much of the action in the present day lacks menace. That changes in the second half of the book as Stevie digs a little deeper, as we are presented with red herrings and some very subtle clues, and this all leads towards a suspenseful climax.
As we all know, the best way to reveal the killer’s identity in a fictional murder case is to gather all the key players together and explain the facts, presenting all the evidence before finally drawing the conclusion. That scene is done well again here, although it arrives following a huge plot jump which comes as a surprise. One moment Stevie is recovering from a close encounter and the next she is announcing the killer in front of the assembled villagers. It just seemed like a chapter was missing somewhere.
There is nothing to dislike about Stevie. She is extremely principled and down-to-earth, and it is a lot of fun to follow her as she puts all the pieces together. It is good to see her anxiety still being represented with authenticity, but we also see how she grows in confidence and that is certainly evident during the final throes.
Still, she would be a lot less without her friends. Janelle is an absolute joy to behold and it was great for her to have a larger role in this one, with her amazing resourcefulness and forever positive attitude. Nate is a huge procrastinator but also unshakeably loyal, never having to use many words to show how loyal he is to Stevie. And would you believe it, even David is likeable here.
Apart from the fact that one of them runs a bakery and spoils Stevie and her friends with lots of nice cakes, there is nothing too memorable about the people who were connected to the murders – either back then or in the present day, but that does not seriously detract from the story. One character who stands out though is Carson, the current owner of the camp, who has some strange motives to go with his unhealthy fixation with the case.
Although the events of that night still haunts the camp and the wider village, the only eeriness comes during the flashbacks to the murders. They take place at night and the message left over the victims’ bodies is chilling, while the frequent references to two other friends practicing on their guitar as everything was taking place adds to the atmosphere. In the present day, it actually feels picturesque but nobody living there has moved on.
The writing is so smooth and the author’s grasp of her characters so sublime that everything feels very effortless at this point. There is the perfect combination of humour and rock-solid mystery that appeals to young adult audiences and beyond, and the ending has a good payoff even when the mystery is extremely difficult to untangle. We just have to bow to Stevie’s superior crime-solving skills on this one.
Overall, we may not be investigating deaths at Ellingham Academy anymore, but this book proves there are great mysteries to be solved elsewhere and lots more puzzle pieces for Stevie to slot into place. There is much more besides that as she shares a lovely dynamic with Janelle and Nate which is better than ever here, and other than a jarring plot jump, it is a whole bunch of fun everywhere you look.
I really enjoyed this one. It was great to finally revisit these characters and the execution of the story was mostly fabulous.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Stephen Reads Books 