Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

Stevie has an interest in crime. She hopes to work for the FBI someday. Now, she has been accepted to the prestigious Ellingham Academy. Not only is the school quirky and selective, in a beautiful mountainside location, but it’s the site of a 1930’s murder/kidnapping case — which Stevie is kind of obsessed with. She’s convinced that the wrong man was convicted of the crime, and that, on site, she can solve the case. What she doesn’t expect is to find a crime happening in the present day. It’s a lot harder to solve mysteries, Stevie discovers, when your own emotions are involved...

The first thing you should know about this mystery is that it ends on a cliffhanger. I took off half a star for that, and half a star for the love/hate romance subplot. Other than that, I loved this book. Johnson’s writing is crisp and clever, and since I love boarding school stories and 1930’s mysteries, this was a terrific mashup. Mostly, I just want the next book now, so I can find out if my theories are correct! And I wish that at least one loose end about the present-day mystery had been tied up. I’m going to have to wait to find out. So, my recommendation is that you wait and read this when the entire trilogy is available. Don’t torture yourself like I did!

(Reviewed from an e-audiobook, borrowed through my library system.)