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A review by rachelsb00kreviews
The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson
5.0
The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson(Truly Devious series, part three)
Read: October 12 - 14 (Book Review Page: https://www.facebook.com/rewbookreviews)
Here we go! The last book of this trilogy; though I will read the other two books in time but as I said before they don’t go with the Ellingham Academy setting. They just follow Stevie to her first mystery after this first case and explores her need for finding a good murder.(She’s an odd duck but a clever one!) This book, much like the previous one, is very fast paced and full of “Wait, what?” moments that keep you reading. Definitely my favorite of the series and worth 5⭐️! This as a trilogy is wonderful and I am excited to eventually read what Stevie Bell gets up to next.
“If you look for murder, murder may find you.”
Ellingham Academy must be cursed. Three people are dead; two students from the school and now another in accident in the nearby town of Burlington. All at the exact moment of Stevie’s greatest triumph…She knows who Truly Devious is. She has solved the case of the century. At least, she thinks she has. With so much tragedy, and David missing—disappeared and up to something, as always—it’s hard to focus on the past. But Stevie is sure that somehow all these things connect; the deaths in past and present, the missing Alice Ellingham(she was never confirmed dead) and the missing David Eastman. When a horrifying accident and impending snowstorm force an evacuation of the academy, Stevie realizes she must stay on the mountain to face the storm and possibly a murderer. In this tantalizing finale of the Truly Devious(The Ellinghaam case) trilogy, the dual narratives of from past and present tangle together in an explosive end for all who’ve walked through Ellingham Academy.
I won’t give away anything but I will say that the mysteries of both the 1930’s and present Ellingham Academy is full of twists and turns. I did not expect to be so stunned by the revelations revealed by the sections written in the past and the ones Stevie discovers! She truly is a sleuth and her heroes of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, would be proud! Maureen Johnson, your writing is exceptionally clever, fun and so fully scenic that I felt that I was right alongside these characters in Ellingham Academy. I was solving a case with Stevie, hating everything to do with writing with Nate(he was my favorite since writing at times SUCKS!), creating inventions with Janelle and up to no good with David…I loved this series!
One of the top things I love about books is when the title has an explanation or reason within the book and this one was reveal quite early on. “The Hand on the Wall” title is a representation of past lives in a house; it is a way of saying that those who lived before leave things behind and over the years, we repaint or remodel covering up the past. It was such a creepy way of beginning this book but that’s what made it beautiful too; the past deserved to be discovered and avenged for those who were no longer there. Highly recommend if you want a somewhat easy/cozy mystery that sucks you in with clever characters and want to discover the truth behind a fictional crime of the century.
Read: October 12 - 14 (Book Review Page: https://www.facebook.com/rewbookreviews)
Here we go! The last book of this trilogy; though I will read the other two books in time but as I said before they don’t go with the Ellingham Academy setting. They just follow Stevie to her first mystery after this first case and explores her need for finding a good murder.(She’s an odd duck but a clever one!) This book, much like the previous one, is very fast paced and full of “Wait, what?” moments that keep you reading. Definitely my favorite of the series and worth 5⭐️! This as a trilogy is wonderful and I am excited to eventually read what Stevie Bell gets up to next.
“If you look for murder, murder may find you.”
Ellingham Academy must be cursed. Three people are dead; two students from the school and now another in accident in the nearby town of Burlington. All at the exact moment of Stevie’s greatest triumph…She knows who Truly Devious is. She has solved the case of the century. At least, she thinks she has. With so much tragedy, and David missing—disappeared and up to something, as always—it’s hard to focus on the past. But Stevie is sure that somehow all these things connect; the deaths in past and present, the missing Alice Ellingham(she was never confirmed dead) and the missing David Eastman. When a horrifying accident and impending snowstorm force an evacuation of the academy, Stevie realizes she must stay on the mountain to face the storm and possibly a murderer. In this tantalizing finale of the Truly Devious(The Ellinghaam case) trilogy, the dual narratives of from past and present tangle together in an explosive end for all who’ve walked through Ellingham Academy.
I won’t give away anything but I will say that the mysteries of both the 1930’s and present Ellingham Academy is full of twists and turns. I did not expect to be so stunned by the revelations revealed by the sections written in the past and the ones Stevie discovers! She truly is a sleuth and her heroes of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, would be proud! Maureen Johnson, your writing is exceptionally clever, fun and so fully scenic that I felt that I was right alongside these characters in Ellingham Academy. I was solving a case with Stevie, hating everything to do with writing with Nate(he was my favorite since writing at times SUCKS!), creating inventions with Janelle and up to no good with David…I loved this series!
One of the top things I love about books is when the title has an explanation or reason within the book and this one was reveal quite early on. “The Hand on the Wall” title is a representation of past lives in a house; it is a way of saying that those who lived before leave things behind and over the years, we repaint or remodel covering up the past. It was such a creepy way of beginning this book but that’s what made it beautiful too; the past deserved to be discovered and avenged for those who were no longer there. Highly recommend if you want a somewhat easy/cozy mystery that sucks you in with clever characters and want to discover the truth behind a fictional crime of the century.