Something is wrong at Ellingham Academy: Its murderous past won’t stay in the past.

Ellingham Academy is the famous private school in Vermont where the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists who will change the world are admitted for two years before college. Shortly after the school was founded in the early twentieth century by millionaire philanthropist Edward J. Ellingham, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. Ransom notes were signed with the closing “Truly Devious,” but no matter how much money Ellingham paid, the victims were never returned and the identity of Truly Devious remained a mystery.

Stevie Bell’s passion is true crime. When Stevie begins her first year at Ellingham Academy, she sets out to solve the Ellingham murder mystery, even though it’s a cold case that’s eighty years old. Then her fellow classmate and internet star, Mayes Major, turns up dead—and Stevie has a brand new crime to solve. Could Truly Devious be at work again

Maureen Johnson skillfully weaves together two compelling mysteries—one set in Gatsby-esque glory and one set in the present—and serves up a delicious read.