By Ava Grippo – Entertainment Editor

“Truly Devious” is a mystery YA novel written by Marueen Johnson and published on January 16th, 2018. “Truly Devious” is the first book in the series. The story follows the main character, Stevie Bell, who gets accepted into Ellingham Academy, a boarding school in the Vermont mountains. Years ago, there was a kidnapping and murder of the school’s founder’s wife and child. Ever since Stevie discovered the case, she has been obsessed with solving it. 

When Stevie is accepted, she’s beyond thrilled, as this is her chance to really solve the case. When she arrives, she meets her new house members, Janelle, Nate, Hayes, David and Ellie. The five of them couldn’t be more different. 

“Truly Devious” is quite descriptive, not lacking in any details of the scenes. The story follows a more plot driven storyline, but even so, falling in love with the characters is quite possible. Janelle is a kind, outgoing girl whose talent is building things. Nate, an introverted writer. Hayes, an egotistical actor. David, a wild video game creator, and Ellie, the funky artist. 

This book has many character relationships to root for. Stevie and Janelle grow into best friends. The two of them are always there for one another, always supportive. Stevie and Nate create a bond through their share of social anxiety and Stevie and David can’t help but be attracted to one another. 

When one of the students at Ellingham is murdered, Stevie’s desire to solve cases intensifies. Stevie wants to find the truth, and figure out, is this murder connected to the ones in the past? 

Stevie is portrayed as a true crime fanatic, but through her layers, she deals with ongoing panic attacks and anxiety. She doesn’t let anything get in her way of investing the truth, though. Stevie is not afraid to take risks to fill her desires. She had always wanted to be a part of an investigation, but she’s not sure being a part of one lives up to what she dreamed of. 

Stevie’s thoughts include, “That was something they taught you in anxiety therapy – the thoughts may come, but you don’t have to chase them all. It was sort of the opposite of good detective work, in which you had to follow every lead.”

Throughout the stories, there are flashbacks to the time of the first crime, where readers get an inside look of what happened and how the characters felt. The book is a mix between the past and present, both keeping readers on their toes about the past and current mystery. 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars