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OLDER FICTION
Johnson, Maureen

The Hand on the Wall

369 pp. | HarperCollins/Tegen | January, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-0-06-233811-2 $18.99
(2) YA Truly Devious series. In this satisfying conclusion to the trilogy (Truly Devious, rev. 1/18; The Vanishing Star, rev. 3/19), student sleuth Stevie Bell believes she has solved the eighty-year-old cold case of the Ellingham family kidnapping and murders. But before she can tell anyone, she must connect the dots between the past and the recent deaths of three people connected to Ellingham Academy. Her investigation is disrupted by yet another accident (thankfully not fatal this time), the surprise return of her duplicitous ex-boyfriend David, and a massive snowstorm that immobilizes the remote Vermont boarding school. While trapped on campus with her friends, Stevie finally identifies the person responsible for murdering her classmates Hayes and Ellie and her mentor Professor Fenton. But will she be able to reveal what she knows before the killer closes in on her? The ending is grimly gratifying. As a layered, complex character who solves crime while also battling anxiety, Stevie Bell reads like the redoubtable love child of Jessica Fletcher and Adrian Monk. This entire series--inclusive, inventive, and vastly entertaining--has been a boon to young adult literature, a category thirsty for mystery and detective tropes.
Reviewer: Jennifer Hubert Swan | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2020

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