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The Box in the Woods (Truly Devious, #4)

Maureen Johnson

Start date: July 1, 2021

Finish date: July 31, 2021

Discussion: Book of the Month

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What Members Thought

May 14, 2022 Colleen Scidmore rated it really liked it

Shelves: currently-on-my-kindle-fire, flash-drive

“This whole thing is ticking a lot of the horror movie boxes. Murder at a sleep away camp. A serial killer. A final girl. A kid who died because some teenagers were being irresponsible.”

Stevie Bell is home for the summer and working a mundane job behind a deli counter. How could life be so utterly boring after her whirlwind year at Ellingham Academy and solving not just one mystery but two?! One of them as far back as the 1930’s.

That’s all about to change when she gets an email from Carson the owner of a well known box service called Box Box and also the new owner of Sunny Pines Summer Camp. Formerly known as Camp Wonder Falls and the infamous spot of The Box in the Woods Murders, an unsolved murder case involving the gruesome deaths of 4 teenage camp counselors back in 1978. Carson has invited Stevie to be a part of his PodCast which will detail the story of Barlow Corners, the victims and the crime itself. Carson would also like Stevie to take a crack at solving the decades old murders.

To sweeten the deal Carson let’s Stevie invite along her friends from Ellingham. This is a tougher case than Stevie realized, it’s more emotional and real feeling. She actually witnesses the towns pain and the grieving loved ones are still alive and raw. She needs Nathan and Janelle to help her put together the puzzle pieces from 1978. But someone from Barlow Corners doesn’t want this secret to come to light and Stevie Bell, amateur sleuth extraordinaire might not live to solve another case.

Maureen Johnson once again does an amazing job weaving past and present together so seamlessly. It reads so perfectly fluid. She also leaves lots of bread crumbs to follow, but I never would have seen this coming until the very end. I’m not sure how I feel about the reasoning behind murders, but I could actually see it as a possibility. Maybe exaggerated a bit but still possible.

Even though The Box in the Woods detours away from Ellingham Academy and has a completely different scenery and scenario along with some new characters thrown in the mix, it doesn’t lose its charm. Stevie and friends never fail to disappoint. With Stevie being the oddball girl that loves everything murder, Janelle the lovable best friend who never met a craft (or project) she didn’t like and Nathan my favorite of them all whose sarcastic humor and whit kept me laughing even with some serious tones, I couldn’t help but fall in love with them all over. And they do Summer Camp in only ways that they can do. My only complaint is I would have liked a little more on Stevie’s friends.

I loved the 70’s nostalgia and the references to Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac. These were groups a bit before my time but I can remember my mom listening to their music when I was just a young child. The songs Sabrina and friends were listening to brought up some warm fuzzy memories. That’s always a plus!

I was worried I would become bored with the Truly Devious series, but if anything I’m eagerly anticipating the next installment, to see where Stevie’s new year at Ellingham Academy takes her and who’s next on the chopping block. 😁 ...more

44 likes · Like · see review

Dec 04, 2023 Jenn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: signed-copies, books-i-own, contemporary, 3-star-reads, young-adult, thriller, mystery, read-in-2023

Ok so fourth book time and we are no longer at Ellingham Academy. It's now summer time and Stevie finds herself back home and working part time. In another word: she's bored. But of course it doesn't stay that way for long. Enter a mysterious email from the owner of a summer camp who wants Stevie and her friends to come out and solve a murder that took place there 40+ years ago.

Stevie immediately gets everyone on board except David who's off trying to make something of himself without his father ...more

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