All Stevie Bell wanted was to find the key to the Ellingham mystery, but instead she found her classmate dead. And while she solved that murder, the crimes of the past are still waiting in the dark. Just as Stevie feels she’s on the cusp of putting it together, her parents pull her out of Ellingham academy.
For her own safety they say. She must move past this obsession with crime. Now that Stevie’s away from the school of topiaries and secret tunnels, and her strange and endearing friends, she begins to feel disconnected from the rest of the world. At least she won’t have to see David anymore. David, who she kissed. David, who lied to her about his identity—son of despised politician Edward King. Then King himself arrives at her house to offer a deal: He will bring Stevie back to Ellingham immediately. In return, she must play nice with David. King is in the midst of a campaign and can’t afford his son stirring up trouble. If Stevie’s at school, David will stay put.
The tantalizing riddles behind the Ellingham murders are still waiting to be unraveled, and Stevie knows she’s so close. But the path to the truth has more twists and turns than she can imagine—and moving forward involves hurting someone she cares for. In New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson’s second novel of the Truly Devious series, nothing is free, and someone will pay for the truth with their life.(Goodreads)
Not exactly what I was hoping for…
I loved Truly Devious! I loved the quirky characters and the double mystery. I did not love The Vanishing Stair. I didn’t hate it, but something felt like it was missing the whole time. The characters were still there but I really felt like we didn’t see as much of them. Stevie seemed on her own or with new characters that I just didn’t really care about.
The Ellingham mystery moved along which was nice, but the more recent mystery seemed to be at a standstill. The plot moved along at a very decent pace, but I realized what I liked most about this series was the characters and they seemed to take a back seat. That being said I will certainly continue on with this series
I was a little disappointed but not enough to give up.
Overall: 3
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