A review by aprilyang1
The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson

2.0

I wanted to like this book SO much but it actually felt so disappointingly flat. The majority of this book is Stevie essentially repeating what she did in the first two books and somehow “guessing” how the case went down? I’m not even sure how she managed to solve the case based on the evidence she found. The big reveal was incredibly anticlimactic and unfortunately a huge let down. Plus, there was a lot of that mystery, anticipation, and feeling of excitement missing, so I did not feel that to desire to pick up the book and read it.

The only real redeeming factors were Nate, Janelle, Vi, and Hunter. They were the best characters and the most reasonable. Also, I preferred reading about the past more than the present with Stevie in regards to the case. I mean, we as the reader discover everything through the chapters retracing the past. Again, Stevie just has some sort of feeling about the case and it’s not always backed up by actual evidence. Another review I read on Goodreads explains it as some sort is divine intervention and honestly that’s all I can use to describe how Stevie comes up with her conclusions.

Overall, not my favorite. I was disappointed. However, I wouldn’t say I’d never read the next book in this series, which I think covers a new case.