--- product_id: 107426050 title: "Truly Devious: A Mystery" price: "243 kr" currency: NOK in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.no/products/107426050-truly-devious-a-mystery store_origin: NO region: Norway --- # Truly Devious: A Mystery **Price:** 243 kr **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Truly Devious: A Mystery - **How much does it cost?** 243 kr with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.no](https://www.desertcart.no/products/107426050-truly-devious-a-mystery) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson weaves a delicate tale of murder and mystery in the first book of a striking new series, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and E. Lockhart. 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. The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three. Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2018 * Junior Library Guild Selection * 2019 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Nomination * 2019 ALA's Best Fiction for Young Adults Nomination * Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books 2018 * Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction 2018 * 2018 Nerdy Book Club Young Adult Winner * Seventeen Best YA Book of 2018 * Lincoln Award Nominee * 2020-2021 South Carolina Book Awards Nominee * 2020 P ennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award Winner Review: YA Mystery- review on Smada's Book Smack blog - Stevie was surprised when the application she sent actually got her accepted to the prestigious Ellingham Academy she dreamed of attending. Even more shocking, her conservative parents allowed her to attend. Stevie knows she was given a spot at the school due to her research of the unsolved crime that took place in the 1930's at the house, and she plans to prove her worth by solving it...If she doesn't get caught up in something more dangerous first. This was such a good book and I was so completely into it. Time flew while the story unfolded and I loved the characters as well as the mystery plot. And, not only do we get one detailed mystery, we actually get two in two different time zones. Fist back in the 1930's, a wealthy man's wife and daughter were kidnapped and a student at his school went missing, and then we have lots of intertwined mysteries from the present day dealing with Stevie's classmates and the mystery and drama they created. Let's take a minute and talk about the wonderfulness that is Stevie. She is so quirky, smart, nosy, perceptive, endearing, anxiety ridden and I absolutely loved her. Her parents want nothing more but her to be a "normal" girl with friends, a boyfriend and no strange hobbies like solving murder mysteries and true crime podcasts. Stevie just wants to do her thing, almost incompletely unconcerned with what others think of her. This girl, she marches to her own beat and I love it. She was so incredibly awkward I just wanted to be her friend so we could be awkward and unconcerned together. I also really liked how Maureen made her struggle with her anxiety, her panic attacks felt so real as if I was experiencing them with her (I don't have anxiety nor panic attacks but it felt like the author knew what she was bringing to life). Stevie's internal monologue was hands down my favorite part of the book and I could not help but laugh while reading. I will admit that I was completely wrong in my impression that this was a standalone mystery- nope! Instead this is the first book in a trilogy that won't be finished for a few years (at least) and Truly Devious concluded with a cliff hanger! Yep, the story just left the characters and readers flailing like overactive muppets, with a surprising bombshell drop and zero answers about everything we are dying to know. That being said, I absolutely loved the book...but I would not have picked it up to read if I knew there was more to come that was not even a little bit available yet. I have zero patience, it is a fact. That tells you how good the story was that the book still got 5 stars out of me with no answers forthcoming! Alas, I will be counting down the days until I can get my grabby hands on the next book in the series, and I know I will have to do a re-read before I can start book two so that way I don't miss out on any little detail, because there sure were a lot. Review: " If that isn't the best dedication you've ever read - *ARC provided by Epic Reads Insiders in exchange for an honest review* "For anyone who has ever dreamed of finding a body in the library." If that isn't the best dedication you've ever read, I don't know what it. This is the second book I have read by Maureen but I honestly don't remember anything about the first one. As soon as I saw this book in my inbox and read the premise, I couldn't start reading it fast enough. I literally stopped everything I was doing (and reading) and proceeded to ignore the entire world in order to devour it. I have always been fascinated with true crime shows so the fact that this book fell onto my lap recently, felt like THE book I've been waiting for all my life. "Stevie Bell had a simple desire: She wanted to be standing over a dead body." This book follows Stevie, who is as obsessed with true crime as I am, if not more. Definitely more. I don't aspire to stand over a dead body. Maybe a skeleton in a cemetery/crypt, but not a fresh corpse. Anyway, before I go off track, this book takes place at a fascinating private school, Ellingham Academy, where learning is a game. I've never read, seen, or heard of anything like it so I have to give huge props to Maureen for coming up with something so fresh and unique. Anybody who attends this academy gets to explore it as a form of learning so of course, I was jealous of the fact that I couldn't jump into the pages and attend this school myself. But anyway, while Stevie attends school there, she takes it upon herself to solve one of the most infamous murder cases in American history that took place there. I really liked that Stevie had a way of giving voice to a lot of my thoughts and desires. I had many problems with some of her characteristics. Even though Stevie and I shared such a fascination over crime, I found it difficult to really care for her as a MC. It did put a damper on my mood but what drove me was the crime itself. The reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because I had a huge problem attaching myself to almost all of the characters. Don't get me wrong, I really liked them but I'm just not crazy about them yet. I'm really hoping book two changes that for me. I found that my heart pretty much only ached for the founder of the Academy and everything that he went through. I wouldn't wish any of it upon my worst enemy and it really drove me off the wall that I couldn't just give him a happy ending. This book is told alternately during the present and flashbacks to 1936. I enjoyed both time lines to no end and it was very surprising since I usually prefer one time line over another, but that wasn't the case here. Since the present is a few decades after the events that transpired in 1936, the reader knows how it all ends but we are still forced to live through its every agonizing moment. I felt like I was on board a doomed roller coaster that I couldn't get off of while knowing that it was about end in the most brutal way. Yeah, it was intense. Another reason why I only gave this 4 stars was because the ending wasn't much of a shock for me. I was feeling kind of 'meh' about the reveal of Truly Devious' identity. I don't know, I saw it coming and I really, REALLY wanted to be proven wrong. I just hope that we are being thrown in a loop and it actually ends up being a more 'interesting' killer, if that makes sense? It basically wasn't a worthy ending for me, but my mind is still going crazy right now with anticipation for the sequel. So as you can see, I am still deeply invested in this story. I honestly don't think I can wait until next year but it looks like I have no choice in the matter, sadly. I will definitely be stalking Maureen Johnson from now on! "Schools may be famous for many things... They are not supposed to be famous for murders." ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #15,685 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #5 in Teen & Young Adult 20th Century United States Historical Fiction #6 in Teen & Young Adult Historical Mysteries & Thrillers #12 in Teen & Young Adult Ghost Stories | | Customer Reviews | 4.2 out of 5 stars 8,293 Reviews | ## Images ![Truly Devious: A Mystery - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/812Jq7SJ3GL.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ YA Mystery- review on Smada's Book Smack blog *by K***K on May 10, 2018* Stevie was surprised when the application she sent actually got her accepted to the prestigious Ellingham Academy she dreamed of attending. Even more shocking, her conservative parents allowed her to attend. Stevie knows she was given a spot at the school due to her research of the unsolved crime that took place in the 1930's at the house, and she plans to prove her worth by solving it...If she doesn't get caught up in something more dangerous first. This was such a good book and I was so completely into it. Time flew while the story unfolded and I loved the characters as well as the mystery plot. And, not only do we get one detailed mystery, we actually get two in two different time zones. Fist back in the 1930's, a wealthy man's wife and daughter were kidnapped and a student at his school went missing, and then we have lots of intertwined mysteries from the present day dealing with Stevie's classmates and the mystery and drama they created. Let's take a minute and talk about the wonderfulness that is Stevie. She is so quirky, smart, nosy, perceptive, endearing, anxiety ridden and I absolutely loved her. Her parents want nothing more but her to be a "normal" girl with friends, a boyfriend and no strange hobbies like solving murder mysteries and true crime podcasts. Stevie just wants to do her thing, almost incompletely unconcerned with what others think of her. This girl, she marches to her own beat and I love it. She was so incredibly awkward I just wanted to be her friend so we could be awkward and unconcerned together. I also really liked how Maureen made her struggle with her anxiety, her panic attacks felt so real as if I was experiencing them with her (I don't have anxiety nor panic attacks but it felt like the author knew what she was bringing to life). Stevie's internal monologue was hands down my favorite part of the book and I could not help but laugh while reading. I will admit that I was completely wrong in my impression that this was a standalone mystery- nope! Instead this is the first book in a trilogy that won't be finished for a few years (at least) and Truly Devious concluded with a cliff hanger! Yep, the story just left the characters and readers flailing like overactive muppets, with a surprising bombshell drop and zero answers about everything we are dying to know. That being said, I absolutely loved the book...but I would not have picked it up to read if I knew there was more to come that was not even a little bit available yet. I have zero patience, it is a fact. That tells you how good the story was that the book still got 5 stars out of me with no answers forthcoming! Alas, I will be counting down the days until I can get my grabby hands on the next book in the series, and I know I will have to do a re-read before I can start book two so that way I don't miss out on any little detail, because there sure were a lot. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ " If that isn't the best dedication you've ever read *by T***T on January 21, 2018* *ARC provided by Epic Reads Insiders in exchange for an honest review* "For anyone who has ever dreamed of finding a body in the library." If that isn't the best dedication you've ever read, I don't know what it. This is the second book I have read by Maureen but I honestly don't remember anything about the first one. As soon as I saw this book in my inbox and read the premise, I couldn't start reading it fast enough. I literally stopped everything I was doing (and reading) and proceeded to ignore the entire world in order to devour it. I have always been fascinated with true crime shows so the fact that this book fell onto my lap recently, felt like THE book I've been waiting for all my life. "Stevie Bell had a simple desire: She wanted to be standing over a dead body." This book follows Stevie, who is as obsessed with true crime as I am, if not more. Definitely more. I don't aspire to stand over a dead body. Maybe a skeleton in a cemetery/crypt, but not a fresh corpse. Anyway, before I go off track, this book takes place at a fascinating private school, Ellingham Academy, where learning is a game. I've never read, seen, or heard of anything like it so I have to give huge props to Maureen for coming up with something so fresh and unique. Anybody who attends this academy gets to explore it as a form of learning so of course, I was jealous of the fact that I couldn't jump into the pages and attend this school myself. But anyway, while Stevie attends school there, she takes it upon herself to solve one of the most infamous murder cases in American history that took place there. I really liked that Stevie had a way of giving voice to a lot of my thoughts and desires. I had many problems with some of her characteristics. Even though Stevie and I shared such a fascination over crime, I found it difficult to really care for her as a MC. It did put a damper on my mood but what drove me was the crime itself. The reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because I had a huge problem attaching myself to almost all of the characters. Don't get me wrong, I really liked them but I'm just not crazy about them yet. I'm really hoping book two changes that for me. I found that my heart pretty much only ached for the founder of the Academy and everything that he went through. I wouldn't wish any of it upon my worst enemy and it really drove me off the wall that I couldn't just give him a happy ending. This book is told alternately during the present and flashbacks to 1936. I enjoyed both time lines to no end and it was very surprising since I usually prefer one time line over another, but that wasn't the case here. Since the present is a few decades after the events that transpired in 1936, the reader knows how it all ends but we are still forced to live through its every agonizing moment. I felt like I was on board a doomed roller coaster that I couldn't get off of while knowing that it was about end in the most brutal way. Yeah, it was intense. Another reason why I only gave this 4 stars was because the ending wasn't much of a shock for me. I was feeling kind of 'meh' about the reveal of Truly Devious' identity. I don't know, I saw it coming and I really, REALLY wanted to be proven wrong. I just hope that we are being thrown in a loop and it actually ends up being a more 'interesting' killer, if that makes sense? It basically wasn't a worthy ending for me, but my mind is still going crazy right now with anticipation for the sequel. So as you can see, I am still deeply invested in this story. I honestly don't think I can wait until next year but it looks like I have no choice in the matter, sadly. I will definitely be stalking Maureen Johnson from now on! "Schools may be famous for many things... They are not supposed to be famous for murders." ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Thoroughly Enjoyable Mystery *by B***7 on February 14, 2018* "Truly Devious: A Mystery" by Maureen Johnson is by far one of the best and most memorable books that I have read in the past several years. I had read quite a few book reviews before I began reading and went into the book expecting a cozy mystery at a boarding school, but "Truly Devious" had a whole lot more up its sleeve. The mystery takes place at Ellingham Academy, a boarding school in the mountains of Vermont. Ellingham Academy is a unique kind of school, to say the least. Its founder, Albert Ellingham, an extremely wealthy and influential business mogul and lover of all things games and riddles, established the school in the 1930s as a non-conformist place of learning; a place where students were given greater freedom and privileges and encouraged to take initiative of their learning and individual interests. It is highly selective of its applicants; only a small number of the brightest students are admitted each year. Shortly after Ellingham Academy opened, Albert's wife, Iris, and young daughter, Alice, were kidnapped. The only evidence of wrong-doing was a letter that Ellingham received; a threatening riddle that was signed by "Truly, Devious." The crime was never entirely solved; a man admitted to the crime and was discovered to be in possession of the ransom money, but the evidence simply did not appear to support that this man was the real culprit. One of the reasons why this book was so effective and enjoyable for me to read was because of the main character (as well as the entire cast of characters). Stephanie "Stevie" Bell is intensely interested in true crime. She has the keen eye of a detective. Stevie often says what she is thinking and has some trouble relating to people. She battles anxiety by reading Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie mysteries and by listening to true crime podcasts. As a true crime aficionado, Stevie is very familiar with the Ellingham case. She gets accepted into Ellingham Academy with the intention of cracking open the mystery of the Ellingham affair and revealing the identity of "Truly Devious." Along the way Stevie finds herself unexpectedly finding comfort and refuge in the school and with her housemates and friends. Author Maureen Johnson did an incredible job with Stevie's character development. By the end of the book I was fully invested in Stevie Bell and felt like she was someone that I really knew and not just another character in a novel. Another selling point for me was the dual timelines. The book expertly interweaves between 1930s Ellingham Academy during the time of the kidnapping and present day Ellingham Academy with Stevie attempting to solve the case. Sometimes when I read books that have multiple timelines or perspectives it can seem a little tedious keeping the facts straight, but this was not the case for me in this book. It should be made known that this book is marketed as the first of three books in the "Truly Devious" series. I sincerely hope that the next two books get written quickly because I'm really interested in finding out what will happen next. The characters and their development, plot, style and quality of writing all made this a very enjoyable read and I anticipate that before the next novel in the series is released I will read this book again (something that I seldom do). I read this on my Kindle, along with listening to the Audible version, and the narrator, Kate Rudd, is exceptional. Her ability to create and maintain the different voices of the characters and the emotions in their voices was nothing short of amazing and helped me to better form and connect with the characters in my mind. If you are interested in a clever mystery this winter with a remarkable protagonist, an equally remarkable cast of characters, great plot, style and quality of writing, I would definitely recommend "Truly Devious: A Mystery" which is why I'm giving it a 5 star rating for both the book and the Audible version of the book. ## Frequently Bought Together - Truly Devious: A Mystery (Truly Devious, 1) - The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious, 2) - The Hand on the Wall (Truly Devious, 3) --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.no/products/107426050-truly-devious-a-mystery](https://www.desertcart.no/products/107426050-truly-devious-a-mystery) --- *Product available on Desertcart Norway* *Store origin: NO* *Last updated: 2026-09-16*