EXCUSE ME?! What the HECK, Maureen???

Sorry, had to get that out after that ending. Anyway, this book was perfect. Thanks to Maureen Johnson and NetGalley for the e-ARC. I’m so glad we’re back to Truly Devious Stevie and that Box in the Woods Stevie was just a one-off that we won’t repeat.

I loved the murder mystery in this book! It felt so real and so much more tangible than Box in the Woods, and it was so interesting to see it all play out in Stevie’s head.

This book is following Stevie through her senior year, battling senioritis and the fact that her boyfriend David is in London studying abroad and not at Ellingham with the rest of the crew. To settle that, we’re all headed to London.

At the same time, we’re also following the Nine through the harrowing night of June 23, 1995 at the Merryweather estate. We are aware something bad happens to these friends, aware that Stevie has a habit of ending up involved in murders and cold cases, and aware that this time in London will be no different.

I’m loving Maureen’s writing as always. All of the characters are so well laid out, even when there’s a million of them. She adds these one-liners all the time that are just perfection and I love being able to laugh right when the story is getting a little serious.

“You know how I feel about you, right?” she said. “Like, if you needed a kidney or something, you should definitely come to me after you’ve asked everyone else you can think of.”

Also, pretty sure we’re getting even more books in this series? I really hope so considering that ending.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy!

Stevie Bell is back and this time, she’s in England! While her friends are busy thinking about college applications and futures, Stevie is preoccupied with two things: her relationship with David, and (of course) murder. David’s new friend Izzy introduces Stevie to a new case, and when Izzy’s aunt goes missing, it becomes clear that Stevie needs to solve it. She may even need to lie to do it.

This has so much of the wit and charm of the others in the series, and I appreciate the references to other mysteries (I kept shouting about Orient Express while I was reading this one…particularly since this is called nine liars!). I did feel like there was a little bit of odd pacing between the murder mystery and Stevie’s romance with David—and I honestly was a bit over David by the end!! I like that this has been left open for another installment!!

4.5 ⭐️

Wow! This one sneaks up on me! I did not realize this was part of a series, but now I have a new one to start in 2023! Stevie's boyfriend is studying abroad, and like most young adults, she misses him terribly. This leads up to her boyfriend suggesting she study abroad with her friends.
This suggestion does not strike me as abnormal because many dreams of visiting other countries. However, her school teacher is not at all convinced that this is something Stevie should be doing because it seems she finds trouble wherever she goes. However, she and her group of friends are allowed to go with conditions, and they agree!
While in London, one of her boyfriend David's friends asks her for aid in a case involving her aunt. Nine people went to the countryside, and only some returned. In comparison, there are many different possibilities that this could have been a burglary gone wrong, or it could have been maybe the survivors know more than they are saying. I loved the characters! The characters are all well thought out, and the background stories of each of the characters are amazing! I loved Stevie and her curiosity! I enjoyed all the twists and turns of the story! While I have not read the other books in the series, and I soon will, this story was easy to follow without knowing the characters' backgrounds! If you love an excellent cold-case mystery and the fun quirkiness of a good mystery, then this should be your next read! I loved that the story was a mystery and had some fun aspects! Thank you, Harper Collins Children's Books and Netgalley, for the extraordinary opportunity to read and review this one!

I did not vanish although it probably seemed that way. I have been bingeing the Truly Devious mystery series by Maureen Johnson in order to read and review the ARC of Nine Liars by December 27. The bingeing has probably taken me most of December but it was well worth it.

The heroine of the Truly Devious series is Stevie (Stephanie) Bell, the daughter of middle class conservative parents who look askance at their daughter because she has this obsession with murders. Stevie wants to be a detective and even at 16, she’s very good at it. Her parents would rather she behaved more normally with a respectable boyfriend, marriage, and kids. And, as we enter the world of Nine Liars, the fifth installment of the series, Stevie does have a boyfriend in David, the son of a politician whom Stevie’s parents adored. David, however, is studying in England while Stevie is continuing her studies at quirky Ellingham Academy. When an opportunity arises for Stevie to visit David, she convinces her friends as well as the school’s president that a week’s trip to London would be a good thing. Of course, a missing woman and a decades old murder come into play in Nine Liars.

The thing about having binged all of the previous books in the series in rapid succession was that I noticed that the writing in Nine Liars was clunkier than usual. Far too often Maureen Johnson led us through England using Stevie’s anglo-ignorance to introduce places and items using “called” or “named” in phrases. Using this phrasing once or twice would have gone unnoticed but multiple times drew attention.

I found the flashback in this book occurring in 1998 to be far more interesting than the ones in the previous novels. The British characters, members of a university comedy sketch group, felt a little like the characters in the 1992 Kenneth Brannagh film, Peter’s Friends, except that murder is involved. Johnson drew these characters a bit more roundly and I cared about them more and, frankly, would have loved to have spent more time with them.

Stevie has always been a self-involved character, drawn into self, and sometimes oblivious, but she reaches her peak of being self-serving when she creates a lie that involves her friends. I found this to be particularly problematic as Stevie’s friends forgive completely despite the fact that she compromised their once-in-a-lifetime trip as well as their education and perhaps more remotely their lives. While Stevie does solve the case, the idea that she faces no repercussions for lying and basically abusing her friendship left a bad taste. Her friends are the best and probably deserve a little better (or a lot) from her.

Lastly. Stevie Bell in my mind is a slim blonde, hoodie-wearing 16-year-old Columbo. She is observant cataloger of information. In the way that Columbo solved cases by storing seemingly irrelevant facts is the same way that Stevie does and makes the ending of each novel a fun fest. While Nine Liars felt uneven, it’s still a fun treat for any reader who enjoys a quirky teenage sleuth.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say I definitely enjoyed the Box in the Woods more, but this book still had some good moments.

This is another great installment in the Truly Devious/Stevie Bell mysteries, though I will agree with other readers that this one is not as strong as The Box in The Woods.

Nine Liars is an homage to the classic English Whodunit - and it does that really well. Honestly, I would read a whole spin off series on The Nine.

There is a lot of teenage drama in this book which I've seen bother some readers, but I think it was realistic, especially with Stevie's anxiety.

Initially, I found this book hard to get into, but it could have equally been my headspace at the time. I re-read Truly Devious to re-familiarize myself with Maureen Johnson's work and style, then dove straight into this book. The hardest part for me was keeping all the characters separate. It's no easy feat to suddenly introduce 9 characters and have to remember their quirks, names, and traits. I made myself a flow chart to keep up with who was who, but felt a little lost all the same. I enjoyed the setting of the book, although it felt more like "Maureen Johnson describes her weeklong vacation to England" rather than "Stevie Bell solves a mystery", so for that reason I'm going to give this one 3.5, rounding up t0 4.

One of my favorites in the series. It was fast paced and I couldn’t put it down. Love all the previous characters and the new ones.

I was insanely excited about this book because I adore this series. How is this book 5?!?! Anyways, I'm so sad to report that I was let down with this one. I'm very confused about the direction that Johnson wants to take in this series.

Let me start with what I did like...

I still love Stevie's friends and their personalities are such a great mix. Nate is just my whole heart! I loved that they would do anything for Stevie and each other.

The actual murder case was cool and I was really interested in it. I didn't quite work it out as fast as I had hoped but that's good! I liked the fact that they were in another country and they were learning about it. It really was the perfect setting for this mystery.

Now, let me talk about some things that I had a lot of issues with...

It's no secret, the whole series, Stevie is just so self-involved. It's even worse when she's working on a case but in this book, she goes too far. The way that she treats her friends is unacceptable. I hate how they just come to accept that this is the way she is. When she's not working a case she's "adrift" and her head is in the clouds. She doesn't plan for her future and just doesn't do much. Stevie, my girl, you need some therapy and some major help. There is more to life than chasing/solving a case. Your friends deserve better from you too.

There is so much personal drama in this book that it takes away from the actual mystery that is going on. I hate what Johnson is doing with Stevie and David. I get that you need to create tension and drama but this was not the way. We are in book FIVE and this should not be happening. It's enough... I'm getting so bored with the maybe or maybe not.

Lastly, this book only wraps up one thing but there are several open endings. We have to be getting book 6 (I hope!!!) and will I be reading that asap? Maybe so. I just hope that it's a better installment than this one.

Overall, I did like this book and I highly recommend reading this series. I flew through this book and read it in two days. In a long series, you have to know that they will not all be winners, and that's the case here. I am still looking forward to book 6 because I need answers!

Many thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's/Katherine Tegen Books for an e-arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

When it clicks, it clicks; that’s how it works for Stevie Bell and that’s what works in these novels! This is a great addition to a fun-filled series. Loved every page!

Stevie Bell is taking her detective skills abroad to try and solve a murder mystery from the 90’s. Her boyfriend, David, has been studying in London and invites Stevie for a visit. When she arrives, she learns of a cold case from his friend Izzy whose aunt was there when two of her friends were murdered. In 1995, nine friends who met at Cambridge University go to a country house and play hide-and-seek leaving two of them murdered with an ax. No one was ever charged, and the friends went on with their lives until Stevie arrives and starts investigating. Things start to get intense as Stevie uncovers clues and the gang must keep in touch with Ellingham Academy to stay with the schedule that has been approved for them. As she gets closer to uncovering what really happened, things start to fall apart for Stevie and she doesn’t know what to do next.

Stevie Bell and the Truly Devious series gets better with each book. I have found myself loving the mysteries and fun dynamics of these stories. I have only one negative about these books, there is an aspect of LGBTQ throughout them all. As an adult reading these I can deal with but with this being marketed as young adult I don’t like that aspect advertised to younger readers. The story is fantastic, the characters are true to how I would see them acting in the progression of each book and the mysteries unfold beautifully. Not only is Stevie dealing with the case to solve but also trying to deal with the aspect of her boyfriend being in London and how things have changed in their time apart.

So many great aspects of this story that kept the pages turning quickly and hard to put down. Stevie Bell is the new age Nancy Drew and the cases she keeps coming across call to her and with the help of her friends she can help solve cases that no one else has been able to solve. My favorite thing about this series is the way they are so different from many of the other books I have read. So many books these days are a formula and the same old thing, these books are very different and entertaining. The story is mostly told from the point of view of Stevie but also at times shows what happened in the past, this back and forth helps with the story and for the reader to understand. I recommend this book to adult readers who love a good mystery with great characters and fun stories. I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

I am a huge fan of Stevie Bell, and the Truly Devious series contains some of my favorite YA books (The Vanishing Stair and The Box in the Woods). After reading The Box in the Woods last year, I hoped that Maureen Johnson would continue this series and possibly write about Stevie solving a murder in London while visiting her boyfriend David. I was so excited when Nine Liars was announced and the summary was just what I was hoping for!

It is Stevie and the gang's senior year at Ellingham Academy, and David invites them all to visit him in London for a week. They meet David's new friend Izzy who is anxious to tell Stevie about a double-murder back in the 90s that her aunt has a connection to. Her aunt was a part of "The Nine", a tight-knit group of friends whose lives were upended when two of them were murdered. The case was determined to be a burglary gone wrong, but Izzy's aunt has her own suspicions. Is it possible that one of the Nine is responsible for the deaths of their two friends?

While this was an interesting mystery with an exciting London setting, this is unfortunately my least favorite book in the series. I wished the mystery would have started earlier on in the story, as I wasn't very interested in the cold case until about halfway through the book. A majority of the plot is also about Stevie and David's relationship, which I honestly could have done without. As I stated above, I am a Stevie Bell fan, but I found her a little insufferable in Nine Liars. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I needed more mystery and less relationship drama.

I have loved this series from book one and still do! I love Stevie and the gang and am always on the edge of my seat by the end! Seriously, I hope these never end. Teen detective is my fav genre or mystery. HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

One Sentence Summary: Nine friends, four deaths, 1 killer via 90's London.

Reminds Me Of: Agatha Christie, Good Girl's Guide to Murder

Three Reasons You Should Read This:
1) This is a duel time flashing between 90's London and present day London.
2) Fun London setting + Manor House (Map included!)
3) This is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie style murders. I figured out the murderer by Chapter 12 (thanks to all the Poirot I've been reading)! Do you think you can solve it faster?

One Thing You Should Know Before You Pick This Up:
This is technically part of a series, but this would absolutely work as a standalone if you want to jump in here. But be warned, you will not be able to resist reading the rest of the series.

Content Warnings:
Alcohol, Anxiety, Blood, Death, Grief, Injury Detail, Panic Attacks, Murder

Favorite Quote:
“Izzy made it sound like Stevie was Wikipedia Holmes, a walking, talking, deducing database that ate true crime and spat out justice.”

Soundtrack:
There Are Too Many of Us - Blur
We Got a File on You - Blur
There's No Other Way - Blur
Champagne Supernova - Oasis
Wannabe - Spice Girls
London Calling - The Clash
Too Afraid to Love You - The Black Keys
Vacation - The Dirty Heads
Michicant - Bon Iver

This is the newest release in the Truly Devious series, following Stevie Bell as she travels to London during her final year at Ellingham Academy.

The mystery in this book was my favorite of the series so far. It was fascinating! The past timeline had fantastically strong character development and red herrings galore. It was perfect.

I felt that the portion of the story that took place in the present wasn't as compelling. Still, this is a must read for anyone who has read the earlier books in the Truly Devious series!

Nine Liars, by Maureen Johnson, is the fifth book in the Truly Devious series. In this installment, Stevie Bell and the usual crew go to England on a weeklong study abroad trip (with the added benefit of seeing David, Stevie's long-distance boyfriend). There, one of David's friends, Izzy, brings a decades-old case her aunt had been involved in to Stevie's attention, in which nine recent Cambridge graduates played a drunken game of hide-and-seek and only seven of them survived. Seizing the case as a distraction from college applications and her insecurity over her relationship with David, Stevie must hurry to solve it before their trip is over.

I love Truly Devious more than just about anything, so I was absolutely thrilled to get this eARC. The first three books are absolute perfection, and, though I didn't like the vibes of The Box in the Woods that much, it was still an easy five-star read, so I was expecting this book to be one as well.

The best part about this book is the actual case. The English countryside manor and the academic origin of the friend group at the heart of the case gave it such a dark academia atmosphere. I loved reading about the chaotic friend group and how they've stayed together in the wake of the tragedy. The mystery itself was so interesting as well, and, though not quite measuring up to the levels of perfection that the original Truly Devious mystery attained, was definitely something I enjoyed worlds more than the slasher-film-esque mystery of The Box in the Woods. Overall, the mystery aspect of the book was excellent enough that I was almost able to overlook my other issues with it.

Stevie continues to be an extremely relatable and wonderful protagonist. She's extremely worried about the future as all of her friends are deep in college applications (something which she hasn't even started to think about yet). She's very happy in her relationship with David, but, when they arrive in England, begins to become overwhelmed with anxiety over sex and jealousy over his friendship with Izzy.

I think that the latter two insecurities are my primary issues with the book. While the college anxiety felt relatable and definitely setting the right tone for the book, the worrying about sex took up such a large portion of the first half of the book that it was almost absurd. Though an okay thing to include, the amount of page time that was dedicated purely to Stevie worrying about sex felt extremely out of place and mostly just annoying. The jealousy angle was more forgivable, but I think that it should have definitely been fleshed out and addressed a little more. It felt realistic to include, but could have been handled better.

Janelle, Nate, and Vi continue to be the same amazing group that they always are, though I wish they had gotten a little more of a presence. Janelle and Vi hardly have any part to play in the story, and Nate only really does in the last quarter of the book. These characters all add a lot to the series, so I wish that they had been there a little more. Additionally, Izzy, the new side character for this book, is okay, but I wish that she had had a little more of a personality or backstory, since she is there for a significant portion of the story but I can't really recall a single interesting thing about her. Maureen Johnson usually does a great job with the side characters in this series, so I wish they had gotten a little more love in this book.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book. Though not the 5-star read that I was expecting, it's still an easy 4/5 stars. The mystery was amazing, but the overwhelming amount of page time taken up by Stevie's irritating personal drama took away from all of the other great aspects of the book enough that I had to take off a star. I'd still highly recommend this book, however, and I'm definitely looking forward to whatever adventures Stevie Bell encounters next!

I was incredibly excited to see another continuation of the Truly Devious/Stevie Bell series, I loved the first three and the fourth was a good follow-up, but this one was missing something. The mystery, maybe? It was slow. And the mystery part wasn't as interesting or mysterious (?) as the Truly Devious storyline.
Stevie and her crew felt like connecting with old friends. Stevie was a mess, which I actually kind of liked, because she's 17, and even though she'd solved actual murders in the past and had the notoriety and success of those under her belt, she was still dealing with 17-year-old stuff like where to go to college, or what she wants to be when she grows up, or whether her boyfriend wants more from their relationship.
I wouldn't say the mystery was predictable, because it wasn't, but it seemed to take a while to get there and I didn't feel that invested in the victims or the suspects.

It wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't up to par with the first three. Independent of those I would probably have rated it higher, but I had expectations from not being able to put down the first three and this one I had to convince myself to finish.

3.5/5 stars.

(I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Happy Wednesday y’all! We’re finally on the other side of the freezing cold for now and I’m so excited- but the cold was amazing for one thing and that’s for reading! I was able to get in some good reading these past few days, which was great because today’s my stop on the Nine Liars tour with Turn the Page Tours! Nine Liars is the 5th book in the Truly Devious series, and y’all know how much your girl loves the Stevie Bell books! Nine Liars came out yesterday, so make sure you pick it up ASAP, and if you haven’t read any of the Truly Devious books, make sure you pick all of them up today!
Nine Liars 5/5 Stars
Summary from Goodreads: Senior year at Ellingham Academy for Stevie Bell isn’t going well. Her boyfriend, David, is studying in London. Her friends are obsessed with college applications. With the cold case of the century solved, Stevie is adrift. There is nothing to distract her from the questions pinging around her brain—questions about college, love, and life in general. Relief comes when David invites Stevie and her friends to join him for study abroad, and his new friend Izzy introduces her to a double-murder cold case. In 1995, nine friends from Cambridge University went to a country house and played a drunken game of hide-and-seek. Two were found in the woodshed the next day, murdered with an ax. The case was assumed to be a burglary gone wrong, but one of the remaining seven saw something she can’t explain. This was no break-in. Someone’s lying about what happened in the woodshed.Seven suspects. Two murders. One killer still playing a deadly game.
Man y’all, every time I think Maureen Johnson can’t get better with her Stevie Bell books, a new one comes out! I really liked the way that we had our dual timelines, so we saw what was going on back in 1995 when the murders were happening and got to know those characters and we got to see Stevie and the gang in London, visiting David and doing their whole study abroad, while also finding this murder to investigate. I really enjoyed the pacing and the plot and pretty much devoured this book so fast.
Here are my favorite things about Nine Liars:
-The setting: I love London so Stevie and the gang being there was amazing!
-David and Stevie being reunited: I love David and Stevie together. I think they bring out the best in each other and I know they don’t always feel that way, but they’re teenagers with big feelings, so that makes sense.
-The gang in general: I love Nate, Janelle, and Vi and the bond all four of them have and even when Stevie has her stupid ideas and follows through on them, they still love her.
-The murder mystery itself: this one was probably my favorite Stevie Bell mystery because until it was explained at the end, I really had no clue who had done it, but it made so much sense once it was explained! I felt like I knew all of the characters really well and could understand all of their reasonings behind why they could have done it, so everything made so much sense.
Overall, I loved this book and I think you need to pick it up today! Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository | IndieBound

I absolutely love the truly devious series and even though I don't usually like when authors try to make series longer than they should be I was really excited to read this book.

And the wait was worth it!! I love how Maureen writes with dual timelines and how well they help set the mystery. The puzzles were definitely one of my favorite parts of this book. Also I was just really happy to see more of Stevie, David and all of their friends. And the way London was described made me feel like I was there too.

More Stevie Bell murder mysteries? Yes please! I was delighted with Truly Devious and now with Nine Liars. Maureen Johnson is an accomplished writer who will entrance you with her characters and fast paced writing.

Nine Liars is an ingenious continuation of one of the all-time best YA mystery series ever.

It is no secret that I adore the Truly Devious series with my whole heart. The way this series has grown and adapted is brilliant, with these new stories adding so much more to our characters and their development over the series. Johnson keeps adding these new layers that enrich your reading experience, particularly in superb character work and these incredibly well-plotted mysteries.

Maureen Johnson’s work just always hits that sweet spot for me. There’s that sense of cosy crime, a familiarity and a comfort to the characters and the world. It is genuinely like a modern day Agatha Christie, but way more diverse and updated to suit our world now. Johnson has that touch of something so special and unique, but also always with a sense of something so fresh and new. She is just impeccable at constructing overarching plots that will totally destroy your mind and everything you thought you knew. Though Stevie and the gang may have moved away from the Truly Devious case, I would love to continue reading about their exploits evermore. Every book offers a totally original and fascinating mystery, while continuing to develop these characters and relationships we have come to know and love.

Stevie Bell is an icon. This has already been clearly established. She’s Sherlock Holmes for the Instagram generation, with a discerning wit and a mind that moves at a million miles an hour. Her powers of observation are mind-blowing and watching her piece together the puzzle, or reveal everything in a lengthy speech is endlessly entertaining. That classic denouement and unveiling of every last detail is always a moment that makes me drop my book in shock. Minor details you had not picked up on earlier become earth-shattering revelations. Nine Liars is no exception to this rule, with an exceptional finale that had me staying up into the early hours to complete. Of course, she is joined by a stellar cast of supporting characters, all of whom have grown so much since their first introduction. It feels like settling back with old friends and that tension of evolving and moving on is one that drives a lot of character dynamics here. There is a natural end in sight to their days spent together, with university looming, and Johnson threads in those fears of being left behind or not quite knowing where your future lies perfectly.

Johnson always makes setting play such an important part in the story, almost becoming its own character. This is such a quintessentially British mystery. I loved all the English references, though they are very much with an American tourist gloss on them. The bubble of London is burst with a rustic countryside estate, complete with an unsolved murder to boot. Of course, I ate it up! For me, it felt like a love letter to the Golden Age of Crime and the British cosy crime mysteries that Johnson is inheriting from. There are plenty of meta references and woven in tropes, though these are often challenged and undermined. The homage is clearly there but Johnson never takes the easy route. Instead, you are lured in with that sense of familiarity, but nothing is ever as it seems in the world of Truly Devious.

Nine Liars is essential reading for anyone who enjoys a good old fashioned mystery, but with a distinctively modern twist. Prepare for Johnson to fool you all over again.