If Stevie’s at school, David will stay put.

King is in the midst of a campaign and can’t afford his son stirring up trouble. In return, she must play nice with David. Then King himself arrives at her house to offer a deal: He will bring Stevie back to Ellingham immediately. David, who lied to her about his identity-son of despised politician Edward King. At least she won’t have to see David anymore. Now that Stevie’s away from the school of topiaries and secret tunnels, and her strange and endearing friends, she begins to feel disconnected from the rest of the world. She must move past this obsession with crime. Just as Stevie feels she’s on the cusp of putting it together, her parents pull her out of Ellingham academy.įor her own safety they say. And while she solved that murder, the crimes of the past are still waiting in the dark. Where do you look for someone who's never really there? Always on a staircase, but never a stair.Īll Stevie Bell wanted was to find the key to the Ellingham mystery, but instead she found her classmate dead.

The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three.The Vanishing Stair is the second book in the Truly Devious series. Could truly devious be the one behind this round of murders? Maureen Johnson is the bestselling author of several novels, including 13 Little Blue Envelopes, the Truly Devious series, the Suite Scarlett series, and the Shades of London series. Someone has yet again gotten away with murder. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor: Janelle, the novelist: Nate, the actor: Hayes, the artist: Element, and the jokester: David. True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is preparing to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. The only real clue was a note baring a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the deceptive code name “Truly, Devious.” It became soon one of the great unsolved crimes of American history. Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. No answer is given freely, and someone will pay for the truth with their life. In New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson’s second novel in the Truly Devious series, there are more twists and turns than Stevie Bell can imagine.

“A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.” New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century man, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. Truly Devious is the first novel in the Truly Devious series written by Maureen Johnson Description Įllingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, artists and people with a exceptional talent.

Truly devious the vanishing stair