The Box in the Woods (Truly Devious, 3)
After solving the case of Truly Devious, Stevie Bell investigates her first mystery outside of Ellingham Academy in this spine-chilling and hilarious stand-alone mystery from New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson, now available in paperback.
Amateur sleuth Stevie Bell needs a good murder. After catching a killer at her high school, she’s back at home for a normal (that means boring) summer.
But then she gets a message from the owner of Sunny Pines, formerly known as Camp Wonder Falls—the site of the notorious unsolved case, the Box in the Woods Murders. Back in 1978, four camp counselors were killed in the woods outside of the town of Barlow Corners, their bodies left in a gruesome display. The new owner offers Stevie an invitation: Come to the camp and help him work on a true crime podcast about the case.
Stevie agrees, as long as she can bring along her friends from Ellingham Academy. Nothing sounds better than a summer spent together, investigating old murders.
But something evil still lurks in Barlow Corners. When Stevie opens the lid on this long-dormant case, she gets much more than she bargained for. The Box in the Woods will make room for more victims. This time, Stevie may not make it out alive.
* Cosmopolitan Best YA Books of 2021 * People Magazine Best Books of Summer 2021*
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Community Reviews
The Truly Devious series is one of my absolute favorite mystery stories so when I heard there was going to be another one I could NOT wait!
It’s been weeks since Stevie solved the Ellingham murders and life has gone back to pretty mediocre. All her friends are back to their normal lives outside of Ellingham and she’s taken a job at the local grocery store deli while she waits to get back to Ellingham in the fall. After the news broke about Stevie’s revelations she dealt with her 15 minutes of fame and was bombarded with emails from all over asking for her help in solving all kind of crimes including help finding missing people. None really peaked her interest until she received an email request to work at a summer camp in order to solve a 40+ year murder of four camp counselors and she can bring some friends.
Of course I enjoyed this one. The mystery alone was fascinating and we get to see it happen in the beginning of the book which will keep you wanting to read more. Although the majority of the story is from Stevie’s point of view, we do get to see excerpts from one of the victims on the night of the incident. I really enjoyed this format and thought it added some good elements to the story.
You’ll still find Stevie’s dry humor and witty banter between her and her friends in this one as well. Those are the parts I loved the most, especially when she brings up “Moose” again! I’d read this one just for those lines. Nate and Janelle come with her to camp and it’s a bit of heaven for both of them. I did want more David in this one and we do get to see him later in the book but for me it wasn’t enough. That was the only thing that was missing in this story for me but overall it has total Truly Devious vibes and to me that is what makes these books some of the best YA Mysteries we’ve seen.
10/10 would recommend and often do to people asking me what YA books out there are my favorites!
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