Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is one of the newest students at the remote mountaintop boarding school that was the scene of one of the most famous kidnapping and murder cases of the 20th Century. Ellingham Academy was founded by an eccentric millionaire as a sanctuary for gifted students – but the educational utopia almost didn’t survive its first term. Shortly after opening, two Ellingham family members disappeared and a student was killed. Though the school eventually reopened, the mysteries swirling around campus have kept amateur detectives like Stevie speculating for decades.
Stevie’s sure that with two school years actually spent on the mountain, she’ll be able to find enough evidence to crack the cold case – but there is danger lurking in Ellingham Academy’s secret tunnels and corridors. If the threatening notes being left for Stevie are to be believed, the original killer has returned. It’s up to Stevie and her unconventional housemates to figure out what’s going on before the bodies start piling up once more!
Reviewed by Lynn Heitkamp, Butman-Fish Library
