The Hand on the Wall
Updated: Oct 3, 2022
Maureen Johnson
Amazon Summary:
New York Times and USA Today bestseller!
New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson delivers the witty and pulse-pounding conclusion to the Truly Devious series as Stevie Bell solves the mystery that has haunted Ellingham Academy for over 75 years.
Ellingham Academy must be cursed. Three people are now dead. One, a victim of either a prank gone wrong or a murder. Another, dead by misadventure. And now, an accident in Burlington has claimed another life. All three in the wrong place at the wrong time. All at the exact moment of Stevie’s greatest triumph . . .
She knows who Truly Devious is. She’s solved it. The greatest case of the century.
At least, she thinks she has. With this latest tragedy, it’s hard to concentrate on the past. Not only has someone died in town, but David disappeared of his own free will and is up to something. Stevie is sure that somehow—somehow—all these things connect. The three deaths in the present. The deaths in the past. The missing Alice Ellingham and the missing David Eastman. Somewhere in this place of riddles and puzzles there must be answers.
Then another accident occurs as a massive storm heads toward Vermont. This is too much for the parents and administrators. Ellingham Academy is evacuated. Obviously, it’s time for Stevie to do something stupid. It’s time to stay on the mountain and face the storm—and a murderer.
In the tantalizing finale to the Truly Devious trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson expertly tangles her dual narrative threads and ignites an explosive end for all who’ve walked through Ellingham Academy.
My Review:
9.5/10
So here we are. The final book in the Truly Devious main trilogy, and it was something else. Before I start let me say that I took a loooong break from this series, after reading the second book, The Vanishing Stair, so when I finally came back to it, I needed some time to get back in the headspace. But even after my break, I loved this book so much, for many reasons.
Firstly, I found this wrapped up all loose ends, which I really liked. Everything finally fit into place and everything was explained. What was cool about this was after ending this book, I realized how the clues were perfectly breadcrumbed throughout the whole novel. THis book literally had me shaking from the ending, it was so unexpected and caught me by surprise.
The author has done it again, at making one compelling mystery, perfectly designed with clues and traps. Bravo.
I also enjoyed this book because there was so much tension between the characters. They are all stuck inside the house during a snowstorm, and all the characters have too face what is going on between them, which in the end makes for a fun read.
Side bar: Do you ever sit down and read a book, usually a mystery, and when the character is finally onto something, and they realize it, and everything starts to get put into place, and just cheer for them? That’s what I was doing for the whole second half of this novel. And I think that is my main reason for loving this book, it was intense and never a dull moment.
OVERALL:
I feel this was the perfect finale to a trilogy, and if you haven’t read this series, I highly recommend it. Especially for fans of mysteries.