~Summary~
Stevie Bell has just been accepted to the elite Ellingham Academy, a boarding school located in the mountains of Vermont. The school was founded by Albert Ellingham in the 1930’s. Shortly after the school’s opening however, his wife and daughter were kidnapped, the only clue to the kidnapper being a mysterious ransom letter signed, “Truly, Devious”. When Stevie arrives at the school, she can’t resist making it her mission to discover what happened that fateful night almost a century ago when the unsolved Ellingham kidnappings took place. But not all the mysteries at Ellingham are stuck in the past, strange things are happening and Stevie is determined to find out the truth, before it’s too late…
~My Thoughts~
This is the first audio-book that I can remember listening to on my own that I ended up really enjoying! I do want to make it clear though for people who don’t know that this book does not work as a stand-alone. To find out what happens you must be prepared to read the full trilogy. I wasn’t prepared for this going in but thankfully I enjoyed this book enough that I had no problem going on to the second!
I really loved Stevie’s character and how focused she was. She kept a clear head and didn’t let herself be swept away in the crowd which makes for the perfect mystery protagonist. The secondary characters remained pretty ambiguous but Nate made me laugh! I don’t have too many theories yet so I’m just excited to find out more!!
Overall, I’d recommend this to mystery fans who are prepared to commit to a full series. It’s also the perfect series for the fall so if you’ve been thinking about reading these books, now’s the time! Happy Reading 🙂
The Art of Reading 