A mysterious remote school high in the Vermont mountains, a mystery that has remained so for generations, and a true-crime aficionado who is determined to put an end to the mystery once and for all – that is if she doesn’t end up part of a whole new one before solving the old. Stevie Bell arrives at Ellingham Academy ready to perfect her Sherlock deductions and solve a cold case which has haunted the school for decades. Years before the wife and daughter of the founder of the school were mysteriously kidnapped and a ransom was demanded. Left in the wake of the kidnappings was a clue in the form of a riddle signed Truly Devious. No one has managed to unravel the clues and reveal the true perpetrator of the crime and now Stevie feels it’s her mission to solve but shortly after her arrival at the school, more mysterious events begin to transpire and it now appears her old friend Truly Devious has returned to reek more havoc and death than they did the first time around.

My Thoughts

This for me felt like a classic WHO-DONE-IT – lots of twists and turns and enough mystery to keep the reader guessing. I listened on audio and the narrator did a terrific job bringing a large cast to life with convincing differences in tone and inflection. My only caution with this title (as others have mentioned) is that it is literally part 1 of 3 and while the end wasn’t as abruptly cut off as I had worried reading some of the reviews before I started – but is still very much a TO BE CONTINUED rather than a closing of one part satisfactorily and opening another. Be prepared to read the next book and I expect book 3 because there is no grand reveal of our murderer Truly Devious in book 1. There is a twist right at the end which does give Book 1 enough ending to not feel completely cheated but I can deeply sympathise with those who read this before the release of Book’s 2 and 3 at the feeling of an excruciatingly long wait to continue the series,

I also loved the intricate plotting with our story flipping back and forward from part to present day and slowly unravelling the story of the mystery and the subsequent murder of a student and the reasons for this. It was skilfully written and let the murder mystery play out naturally and in a structured time line with not all the Information being info-dumped by a character (IE: the baddie) at the end. I hope this style continues. Midway through the story I was hovering in a near DNF stage but gladly pushed through and was glad I did with the 2 cliffhanger endings a surprise all around.

If you love a good who done it – don’t mind investing in a definite 3 book reading session and enjoy a good YA novel – then this could be the one for you.