The Vanishing Stair

The Truly Devious casean unsolved kidnapping and triple murder that rocked Ellingham Academy in 1936has consumed Stevie for years. Its the very reason she came to the academy. But then her classmate was murdered, and her parents quickly pull her out of school. For hersafety, they say.She must move past thisobsessionwith crime.

Stevies willing to do anything to get back to Ellingham, be back with her friends, and solve the Truly Devious case. Even if it means making a deal with the despicable Senator Edward King. And when Stevie finally returns, she also returns to David: the guy she kissed, and the guy who lied about his identityEdward Kings son.

But larger issues are at play. Where did the murderer hide? Whats the meaning of the riddle Albert Ellingham left behind? And what, exactly, is at stake in the Truly Devious affair? The Ellingham case isnt just a piece of historyits a live wire into the present.

Truly Devious

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. A place, he said, where learning is a game.

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym Truly, Devious. It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder.

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 Hand On The Wall

Ellingham Academy must be cursed. Three people are now dead. One, a victim of either a prank gone wrong or a murder. Another, dead by misadventure. And now, an accident in Burlington has claimed another life. All three in the wrong place at the wrong time. All at the exact moment of Stevies greatest triumph . . .

She knows who Truly Devious is. Shes solved it. The greatest case of the century.

At least, she thinks she has. With this latest tragedy, its hard to concentrate on the past. Not only has someone died in town, but David disappeared of his own free will and is up to something. Stevie is sure that somehowsomehowall these things connect. The three deaths in the present. The deaths in the past. The missing Alice Ellingham and the missing David Eastman. Somewhere in this place of riddles and puzzles there must be answers.

Then another accident occurs as a massive storm heads toward Vermont. This is too much for the parents and administrators. Ellingham Academy is evacuated. Obviously, its time for Stevie to do something stupid. Its time to stay on the mountain and face the stormand a murderer.

In the tantalizing finale to the Truly Devious trilogy,New York Timesbestselling author Maureen Johnson expertly tangles her dual narrative threads and ignites an explosive end for all whove walked through Ellingham Academy.