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  • Truly Devious

  • A Mystery
  • By: Maureen Johnson
  • Narrated by: Kate Rudd
  • Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (151 ratings)
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Truly Devious cover art

Truly Devious

By: Maureen Johnson
Narrated by: Kate Rudd
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Summary

New York Times best-selling author Maureen Johnson weaves a delicate tale of murder and mystery in the first book of a striking new series, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and E. Lockhart. 

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early 20th century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. "A place," he said, "where learning is a game." 

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym "Truly, Devious". It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history. 

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder. 

The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three. 

Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2018 

Junior Library Guild Selection 

2019 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Nomination 

2019 ALA's Best Fiction for Young Adults Nomination 

Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books 2018 

Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction 2018  

2018 Nerdy Book Club Young Adult Winner 

Seventeen Best YA Book of 2018 

Lincoln Award Nominee 

2020-2021 South Carolina Book Awards Nominee

©2018 HarperCollins Publishers (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about Truly Devious

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant story, awful narration

The story is brilliant, definitely worth the hype it received, but the narration is awful! Very much like Siri but with a little more emotion. At times it was fine, but so much of it was read in a robotic staccato drone. It was very off putting and stopped me getting carried away in the story.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A Good Attempt

I feel like I'm being a bit generous with giving this book a full 3 stars but it wasn't as bad as some other books I've read in the past slide I'll give it a pass.

I was nervous going into this book. Maureen Johnson wrote one-third of "Let It Snow" and I vowed back then that I would never read another book by her or Lauren Myracle. I liked Maureen's section more but the whole thing about insta-love really put me off.
That being said, I have heard nothing but good things about this series of books so decided that I would give it a shot. Enough years have passed between now and the publication of "Let It Snow" for her writing to improve so I was willing to give the audiobook a shot.

I was pleasantly surprised at first. I related to Stevie and her relationship with her parents. How her interests were seen as abnormal and worrisome, her intelligence discouraged because it would only lead her to trouble and not a boyfriend. How her political views differed greatly from her conservative parents. Her voice was very robotic and she thought of things in ways that made her feel as though she had landed from another planet, but she was interesting.

But of course, Maureen couldn't go 20 minutes without bringing in a needless love interest. I don't like David. I thought he was interesting as a suspect but his and Stevie's romance was pointless and quite frankly not wanted. I didn't go into this story for a contrived Riverdale moment.

The mystery was interesting and really the only reason I'll be continuing with the series. The Ellingham Affair, one of the two central mysteries of the book, is the thing that got me through. I am excited to see what happens next with that because I want to know more about Alice, about who was really behind the kidnapping and what happened to this little girl. The modern-day mystery was good but it didn't hold a candle to the 1930s mystery.

As a final note, I will say I hope the narrator (if it remains to be the same woman) learns how to read better... And I don't mean that in a nasty way. Her voice went very robotic every now and then. It made sense in the past era scenes but for the modern times, it sounded like she was reading off a page rather than telling me the story. I think I'm a little too used to Stephen Fry narrating things because when he tells a story, he makes the world come to life. When this woman read, it felt like she was slugging through for a simple paycheck. She had potential but damn did she not sell this one well.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic book but narration a bit werid

The narrator sounded like Siri. But the actual book is amazing! I really enjoyed the way it was written just not the way it was read.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

I’d advise you to read this book

I didn’t get to finish this book and that’s the biggest peeve of mine but the woman who narrated this book just put me right off. She sounds robotic and uninterested and I couldn’t carry it on. Id advise anyone to just read the book unless you can ignore the narrator.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Narration is Questionable

I really love the story and think I have found my new favourite book yet the narration isn't that great. It is robotic and sounds a little like Siri. Otherwise the book is great.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Horrendous narration

The narrator is really bad, almost robot-like. If Siri were to narrate a whole book, this is what it would sound like.

The mystery itself was subpar.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Bad Narration

I loved everything about the book the biggest let down was the narration. The narrator is robotic it’s like listening to siri read! The only thing that kept me listening is the story line. I’ll buy the next book cause I don’t think I can manage listening to her voice any longer.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

This book is good

I loved this book had me hooked the hole way through but the cliff hanger at the end forces you to read the next one.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it

Great from beginning to end can’t wait to read the rest of the books! Thrilling, intriguing, exciting

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This was truly excellent

I really loved this, and being my first audio book, I was sceptical. Honestly, I wish I could listen again

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