The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Hand on the Wall is the third book in the Truly Devious series. At this point in the story, three people connected to Ellingham Academy have died since our intrepid protagonist, True Crime aficionado, Stevie Bell has arrived.
One, the victim of a potential prank gone wrong, the second, dead by misadventure and the third succumbed to a tragic accident in Burlington. Is that all these deaths are though? Were they accidents and misadventures, or something much more sinister. How about murder?
If you haven’t read the earlier books, you may want to avoid the rest of this review. Although I do try very hard not to reveal anything not included in the Publisher’s synopsis.
At this point, Stevie Bell knows who Truly Devious is. She’s cracked the case. One of the greatest unsolved mysteries of our time, and she, a high school girl in rural Vermont has figured it out. At least she thinks she has.
It’s actually hard for Stevie to concentrate strictly on the decades-old case. Paired with the recent tragic events, it’s becoming muddled. Stevie is perplexed. Her gut tells her these three newer deaths are in some way connected to those of the past, but how?
With a storm of epic proportions bearing down on the private school, most students are quickly evacuated for safety. Stevie is right where she wants to be though. She can’t leave. Not when the answers she seeks could lie within these walls.
I loved the two previous books and this was definitely a solid continuation to the series.
I really enjoyed filling in some of the blanks regarding the historic-Truly Devious case. In this installment, as with the previous two, you do get alternating perspectives of both the past and present-timelines.
The information gained in this book really helped to make sense of some of the questions I’ve had regarding that earlier timeline, but where does it go from here?
This left off in a very intriguing place, so I am definitely excited to move forward with the next book.
Stevie has grown so much as a character since the first installment. She’s gaining confidence and really coming into her own. I am looking forward to watching her grow even further as she continues working on the many mysteries surrounding her.
Another aspect I really enjoyed about this one was the inclement weather. The storm essentially evacuating most of the unnecessary players from the school was a nice set-up for creating a spooky, claustrophobic-feeling ambiance.
I am planning to continue onto the next book very soon, in order to be caught up just in time for the 5th-book in the series, Nine Liars, to be released next month!