The Box in the Woods (Truly Devious)

This woman always leaves me with my mouth hanging open. She is SUCH AN AMAZING Murder Mystery writer!!!I had read the Truly Devious books and lived them, but with my HUGE TBR pile, I hadn’t read this fourth book that takes place at a summer camp in the woods. I love the details in these stories. The characters are so real too. They’re teenagers, and Stevie is the girl who solves these unsolvable cold cases, all while almost getting herself killed, falling for a guy and making true friendships. Stevie is an odd girl, stuck in her head a lot, but she has a really good heart. The others have their oddities, but they fit together perfectly.I never totally guess the mystery. I might guess pieces, but I’m always shocked by the reveal. I love that!! Anyone who enjoys really well plotted mysteries, that keep you turning the pages, will love this YA Mystery, Truly Devious series!

3.5 STARSStevie Bell is back, and so is murder.Murder from the 1970s, that is. After solving the famous mystery of Alice Ellingham’s disappearance, Stevie Bell hasn’t really found anything nearly so exciting. Working at the deli counter for the summer definitely doesn’t count as interesting. But then she receives an email inviting her to solve a decades-old cold case, one in which four camp counselors were killed. Known as the Box in the Woods murder, it’s her ticket out of deli counter monotony, and into what she does best: solving mysteries.With the help of her friends from Ellingham, she means to make this summer count, putting the Box in the Woods case to rest at last. But when digging into old murders starts turning up new leads, it also turns up new dangers. Soon, Stevie is back in the center of a mystery whirlwind, and no one is safe. The question is, is she still the Stevie Bell who solved the Ellingham case, or is she the Stevie Bell who’s about to meet a very true crime end?I missed Stevie Bell like you wouldn’t believe.The Truly Devious series has a place of honor on my dedicated favorites shelf, mostly because I spent every minute of those three books digging into their deepest corners, trying to reach the solution before it was handed to me. Mysteries are pretty much my personal catnip, in one part because I like a good puzzle, and in another part because I like being right. (I know, that sounds terrible. But doesn’t it feel good when you say something and then you’re right? It feels good, trust me.)So, missing Stevie led me to place a pre-order, which led me to curling up in bed with this book, which led me to this review. A fairly straightforward chain of events.Which is probably why I’m a little bummed this didn’t knock my socks off as solidly as the core trilogy.Don’t get me wrong! The Box in the Woods still sparkles with Maureen Johnson’s slightly oddball but very delightful sense of humor, as well as a cast you can’t help but love. (Except David. I still don’t like David. Sorry, guys, I just don’t.) Stevie’s back and ready to get answers, Janelle is the gal with a plan at any given time, and Nate is still avoiding writing his book, which remains deeply and painfully relatable.But by the end, I felt like something was missing. The spark that drew me to the series in the first place wasn’t quite as bright. And the solution? Well, it’s in the solution.It’s a little difficult to review The Box in the Woods while keeping it spoiler free, but bear with me, because I’m about to try.Obviously, I don’t want to give anything away. Where’s the fun in that? This is a mystery, friends! You’re supposed to be puzzled!But I’m a big believer in making sure the reader of a mystery has all the puzzle pieces they need to solve it, even if they don’t know it yet, and this time, it felt like a couple were missing. Not too many, mind you. There were a couple that show up with perfect clarity in hindsight, and a couple reasonable red herrings along the way.But at the end of the book, I found myself wondering exactly how we ended up that deep into left field. In many ways, it makes sense, and in many other ways… Well, it’s convoluted, and not in the delightful riddle-filled way that Truly Devious is convoluted. More convoluted in that you did the first problem on the math test wrong, but still ended up at the right answer. Or did the problem right and still got the wrong answer? I’m not entirely sure which away around it should go.Long story short, though, I mostly enjoyed The Box in the Woods and being back in the saddle with Stevie, but the explanation left a little something to be desired. It felt like a bit of a stretch, or like the final element was added by spinning a wheel and throwing a dart. Mostly hit, with a just enough miss.The important thing, though, is that Stevie Bell is back.I know, I know, I keep coming back to this. But it’s true! At the end of the day, I love this series because Stevie is an anxiety-riddled true crime aficionado who looks at things just differently enough to solve mysteries that have been cold for literal years. She’s fun, she’s kind of a teenage disaster, and she’s got her heart in the right place. After all, she’s not in it for fame. It’s about closure, about doing right by victims, by survivors.And I suppose maybe it’s a teeny tiny bit about kicking the brain into high gear to solve a puzzle. I know the feeling. Love the feeling.Which means I still recommend The Box in the Woods for any Truly Devious fan. Maybe it doesn’t quite have the spark of the core trilogy, but it’s still fun, and honestly? What’s more classic than a summer camp murder? Now’s the perfect time to give it a read, before camps close for the season and all the dismal weather outside makes it hard to imagine anyone enjoying the great outdoors. (Though no day, in the end, is a bad day for more Stevie Bell.)CW: smoking, drug use, violence (including gun violence), loss of a loved one, child death

As a huge fan of the Truly Devious series, I was thrilled to learn Maureen Johnson had written another novel with Stevie Bell as the protagonist. First, you do not need to have read the original series to appreciate this book although I highly recommend it because it is so captivating! Second, in my opinion, Maureen Johnson may have even topped herself in some ways with The Box in the Woods. Near the end of the Truly Devious series, I had at least a bit of an idea who might have been involved. However, the twists and turns at the end of this novel were not to be predicted. WOW!! I loved the way this book concluded. The setting Johnson creates in Barlow Corners and with the camp add just as much to the story as Ellingham Academy did in the original trilogy. The message Johnson sends about what we recognize and don't about the place we live was absolutely perfect. Side note - I am a high school English teacher, and my students loved reading the original Truly Devious book. Many went on to read the rest of that series. I can't wait to introduce more students to this stand alone novel. I think they will be even more excited by the surprising direction this story takes. If you love a mystery that is both fun and intense at the same time, BUY THIS BOOK! I can only hope the many openings for characters like Stevie, Nate, and David that Maureen Johnson leaves at the end will lead to more books involving them in the future.

Can't wait to crack this baby open!!

Loved it! Fun summer mystery novel!

The book was well maintained. Coming to the plot, it was something none couldve guessed. It was fantastic to read. If you have finished The Ellingham- Truly Devious series, surely you will enjoy this one.

Geschenk für meine Nichte . Kam gut an

Muito bom o livro é a edição combina com os restantes livros da coleção

I love a good murder mystery and have been a fan of the Truly Devious series since the first book was published. There was an agonising wait for each new book, then one day it was all over but the rereads…or so I thought. Then up pops a brand new Stevie Bell mystery, a stand-alone too so no waiting around for the final solution.There is enough background in this book for you to read it as a stand-alone, even if you haven’t read the original trilogy. It also avoids spoilers so if, having read The Box in the Woods, you want more, you can go back to the start with book #1, Truly Devious. I can also recommend the audio books which I used for re-reading purposes. Narrator, Kate Rudd, really brings the characters to life.Like me, Stevie has been feeling a little flat after fulfilling her long time dream of solving the Ellingham Murders. She receives an invitation from entrepreneur, Carson Buchwald, for her and her friends to work at a summer camp with a side helping of cold case thrown in. The murder of four teenagers, christened the ‘Box in the Woods Murders’ occurred in 1978 at the then-named Camp Wonder Falls. The local town was devastated and never really recovered. When Carson brings in Stevie to solve the murders and help him make a true crime podcast at the same time, the locals are less than enthusiastic. Before very long it becomes obvious the case is not as cold as it appears.This book, like the others, is written from Stevie’s point of view and she is an easy character to bond with. I feel the havoc that solving a mystery wreaks on Stevie’s personal life and the driven nature of her desire, not just to solve, but to provide closure to those close to the victims. Johnson’s mysteries are rarely ‘here are the clues, you could solve it for yourself’ stories. The details unfold to us as they do to Stevie. While I am skilled at picking out salient details and will happily puzzle away at their importance, I have accepted that I will never get to the solution first. I am happy just to let the story unfold. The pleasure is in watching Stevie unpick the mystery, facing increasing danger as she does, but unable to let go until the mystery is solved.Stevie’s two sidekicks are a pleasurable background to the mystery. Johnson’s secondary characters are always interesting. I love Nate, the perennially blocked writer and Janelle the creative inventor. They always seem to be able to offer just the right support and practical assistance. Johnson is an amazingly inclusive writer. She normalises LGBTQ+ characters in a way that could teach some writers of adult fiction a thing or two. Boyfriend, David, also puts in an appearance but is less present than in previous books and there is a hint, just the tiniest hint that Nate also has feelings for Stevie. I’m taking this as a solid indication that more Stevie Bell Mysteries are on the horizon. Yay!The Box in the Woods was is a first rate Young Adult mystery. Out now in hardback, ebook and audio.