TRULY DEVIOUS BY MAUREEN JOHNSON REVIEW

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. "A place" he said, "where learning is a game."

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym, Truly Devious. It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history. 

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder.

Deciding where to start this review is TOUGH. I just want to gush. In fact, I don't think I can help but to gush. I LOVED THIS BOOK. OH MY GOD. IT'S YA? IT'S MYSTERY? IT'S A BOARDING SCHOOL AND THE MAIN CHARACTER LOVES TRUE CRIME.. FIVE STARS. No, seriously, I gave it five stars. YES I KNOW. ME. A MYSTERY. FIVE STARS.

Listen, I LOVE mysteries. But often they're predictable and I can't give five stars to a book that I spent most of the time going "HOW HAVEN'T YOU FIGURED THIS OUT YET". Here's the thing with Truly Devious: I have no idea. Have. BECAUSE THE BOOK ENDS ON A CLIFF HANGER. Okay, so there's a mystery within the mystery and we do get the resolution to one, but it's not the big'un that we've went into the book expecting. 
I couldn't even hazard a guess on this mystery and it's killing me that I have the sequel sitting there waiting because I NEED TO KNOW but I also don't like to binge read series (when I do actually read them lol) because I just muddle them up and there's nothing worse than trying to sell a book to somebody and fucking up by giving them a spoiler because what you thought happened at the start of book one is actually something from book two!

I know everyone's heard of this book and probably read it already but I'm assuming if you're here you somehow missed it out or maybe you just love seeing people gush over it but if by some chance you still haven't picked this up PLEASE DO. Just make sure you have the sequel on hand...

​On that note, when does book three come out?