With the last month of autumn came the long cold evenings, perfect for picking up a good book and enjoying it with a cup of tea. In my opinion detective novels are synonymous with autumn and thus the perfect pick for chasing away that November blues. Today I’d like to recommend a modern take on the genre - Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious.
1930s. Elite boarding school, famous not only for its exclusiveness, or the eccentricity of its founder, Albert Ellingham, but also the kidnappings and murder of his wife and daughter. A mocking letter signed by the titular ‘Truly Devious’ at the centre of it all, and next to none leads. Skipping ahead to the next century, the case continues to captivate curious minds, such as that of Stevie Bell. Podcasts, books, TV series - you name it, she’s seen it. Stevie dreams about becoming a detective, and what better way of starting her career than solving an unsolvable case full of twists and turns? Her dream becomes much closer to reality when she gets accepted into the Ellingham Academy, but it soon becomes clear than ‘Truly Devious‘ may not have been the only questionable character to have walked its halls.
Our protagonist, Stevie, is a lonely teenager, content with her obsessions, dreaming about doing the impossible - solving the Ellingham case. Seeing as the academy is an elite school for exceptional students, once she gets there it is difficult to get over her impostor syndrome. The fact she suffers from anxiety does not make this any easier. However, her actions show she is an intelligent, driven person, and the reader ends up rooting for her to solve the case.
The majority of the other characters is made of an eccentric group of students who get little development besides arbitrary character traits and an assigned ‘special talent’ that made them eligible to attend the academy. There are three exceptions to that - Stevie’s friends, brilliant inventor Janelle and recluse writer Nate, and the obligatory love interest, David. While the friendship felt a little forced at first, or perhaps more accurately, convenient, the dynamic of this trio is entertaining due to the juxtaposition of their personalities. Stevie’s hilarious conversations with Nate about his writer’s block are an excellent example of this. As for David, he ticks a lot of the boxes on the brooding male character bingo, starting with mysteriousness and a cold attitude. Needless to say, this is a tired trope, therefore I found myself unable to root for their relationship. Thankfully, the romantic subplot does not overshadow the main plot, making it a minor inconvenience in an otherwise enjoyable read.
As with any detective novel, Truly Devious is no stranger to slow-paced action leading to pay-off in the form of the occasional clue. Seeing as this will be a trilogy, the major reveal is absent, instead replaced with a tragic event, leaving us on a cliffhanger. It will be interesting to see how the aftermath is handled in the sequel, and how it will impact Stevie’s investigation. Speaking of, the flashbacks to the events leading to and night of the kidnappings were an interesting way of presenting the case, rather than having Stevie divulge everything, risking an ‘info dump’. These also serve as a well-timed reprise from the singular point of view of the protagonist.
Boarding school is always a good setting for teenaged protagonists, as it removes their guardians from the picture, meaning there are fewer obstacles to furthering the plot. Here, even the teachers are largely absent, which is intentional, as the school founder believed brilliant minds should not be hindered in any way. Extremely convienient, isn’t it? This, coupled with the isolation of the school campus itself provides a mysterious atmosphere, which works in favour of the novel as a whole.
Nevertheless, Truly Devious is an entertaining young adult twist on the crime genre with a cliffhanger that will leave you itching to start the next book in the series as soon as possible.
Rating: 7/10
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