The Velvet Knife | Review | Spoilers

My review of The Velvet Knife by Maureen Johnson contains a plot summary, spoilers and my thoughts about this book, Truly Devious Series book 6. Plus FAQ!

The Velvet Knife (Truly Devious Series 6) | Review | Spoilers

The Velvet Knife (Truly Devious Series Book 6) by Maureen Johnson

• Publication Date September 29, 2026 by Harper Teen. Thanks to them for the advance copy.

• I also reviewed Truly Devious way back in 2020, and I have to pat myself on the back for sensing TROUBLE with the romantic plot in this series. I was SO right. But we’ll get to that.

If you forgot what happened in Nine Liars: Book 5 (or any other book) I have short recaps of books 1-5!

Plot Summary for The Velvet Knife

Stevie is moping after her breakup with David. These two have been many breakups, including the time he found out she was spying for his dad. But this one might be the worst, because she caught him kissing another girl and then he dumped her. RUDE. She’s also studying Watergate in school, which is both a historical and thematic tie-in.

The mystery in the past for The Velvet Knife was, honestly, not my favorite. I do NOT enjoy cult stories and actively try to avoid them. But here we go:

In 1976, a young woman named Helen meets a hippie couple named Denver and Dean in the Strand Bookstore in New York City.

Meanwhile, Stevie is perplexed when David sends her a birthday present: his black wool overcoat. What does this mean??

Back in 1976, Helen gets to know Dean and his harem of young women: Cat, Denver, Sally, Jane, and Lacey. She learns that they all live together in a Catskills house owned by Sally’s parents and she agrees to join them. She takes the name Blue, and also takes over the cooking for the group, who initiate her. Dean is very controlling; no surprises there.

Janelle, my girl, has RECEIPTS on why David is a terrible person. She has a SPREADSHEET of all his bad deeds and she’s adding the fact that David ruined Stevie’s birthday with his cryptic gift. Go Janelle!

Stevie and Nate had to New York, where they stay at Nate’s editor’s apartment. It’s a small doorman building with a motley crew of residents:

• Andy, Margo (an influencer) and their daughter Luna
• Imogen and her wife Sophie (an actor)
• Lance and his wife Mitzi
• Arthur
• Helen (hmmmm…), a former pastry chef and her bird, Murph
• Elliot: a writer
• Benny: animal rescue volunteer

Luna knows who Stevie is and they discuss all the murders she’s solved. The next day, Helen invites Stevie over and reads her tarot cards.

Stevie then goes to a Watergate exhibit at the NYPL. When she returns, she’s locked out. Luna shows her around the building basement. When Stevie gets back to the apartment, Helen has left her a fruitcake.

On Christmas morning, Benny takes Stevie to the animal shelter where she volunteers.

Stevie freaks out when David comments “nice coat” on her Instagram post. She FaceTimes Janelle, who tells her David is a “sad little rich boy” and she can do better. My hero! Janelle and Vi want to come to NYC for New Year’s Eve.

Helen’s bird Murph has been noisy all day and Stevie and some neighbors convince the doorman to check on Helen. She’s dead.

Back in 1976, Dean and the gang are in New York City, pickpocketing. Dean asks Blue to recruit a new girl, Melissa, whom they rename Star and initiate into the group.

Back in Helen’s apartment, the group calls 911 and Stevie snoops around. She notices that Helen has multiple articles about Stevie’s crime solving. Stevie finally gets to talk to Nate, who has been hanging around with Elliot. She tells him about David’s Instagram comment, and he says that David is playing games.

Stevie reflects on the last thing Helen said to her: “what would you do if you knew someone was going to commit a murder?” Inspired by the sleuthing of Woodward and Bernstein during Watergate, she seizes on Arthur’s mention that Helen had an ex named Robert, a chef.

Stevie tracks Robert down. He tells her Helen came from money, then went to culinary school in the late 1970s, then worked at a hotel with Robert. In 1997 they were planning a wedding, but one day Helen called it off and left town.

Stevie searches Helen’s apartment again and finds a stack of odd articles, including one about human remains being found in the Catskills in 1998. Years later, the bones were DNA-tested and matched to Melissa Long.

Stevie also finds a 1977 calendar from a food co-op that has picture of Helen. She calls Loretta, the owner of the co-op, who is shocked that Helen died recently. Loretta assumed that Helen died in a van accident that claimed multiple lives. Because the van exploded, the five bodies inside could not be identified.

Back in 1976, Blue gets Dean to build her a bread oven and begins selling her bread at the food co-op. Star tells Blue that people in town think that Dean is a hustler who forces them to steal for him. Where is all the money going? Blue finds a huge bag of cash buried in the woods.

Janelle and Vi arrive in NYC. Stevie, who is still creeping on David’s social media, sees a picture of him in New York City. She impulsively texts him and he asks if she got his letter. Janelle admits to hiding the letter, but she brought it. David says in the letter that he sucks and did something stupid that he wishes he could take back. He wants to meet up. Janelle begs her not to take him back. WE ARE ALL BEGGING, STEVIE!

Back in 1976, Blue can’t stop thinking about the bag of cash. She tells Dean she needs supplies and she and Star/Melissa head to the co-op, where they get dimes for the pay phone. Blue tells Star to call her brother and ask him to pick her up from a nearby farmstead.

Stevie and David, who has been drinking, meet. He says he wants a do-over. She gives him Helen’s fruitcake.

Luna texts Stevie that Benny fell from the building to her death. Stevie rushes back and volunteers to lure Murph back into his cage. Luna helps Stevie hack the building CCTV footage. Benny fell out the window around 1: 17. Everyone was in the building except Elliot and Stevie.

Spoilers for the Velvet Knife

Back in 1976, Blue has a plan: steal the money and flee. Since Star was about to leave the group would suspect her. Jane brings Blue mushroom-laced tea for her fake “cramps” and soon Blue can’t remember the plan.

Stevie tells Janelle that she can’t stop thinking about the girl she saw David with. Janelle tells her she’s Stevie. She can’t let it drop.

Back in 1976, Star is back, with an Hermes scarf tied over her mouth. Dean tells everyone he was saving money to buy them a place, but it’s gone. Dean threatens Star and Blue sees her cast iron skillet smash Star’s head. They wrap Star’s body. Blue hides the scarf. Dean tries to burn Star in the bread oven.

Stevie locates Dean, who is now running a cultish acting school. She asks David to come with her to talk to him. Stevie asks him about Melissa and the van accident. Dean asks David if he cheated on Stevie. Later, David confesses. The person he was kissing was Katrina, and he slept with her. And she wasn’t the first.

Back in 1976, Dean burns all their clothes. Blue sneaks away and grabs the bag of money from its hiding place. She watches Denver, Jane, Sally, Cat and Lacey get in the van. She hitchhikes to a nearby town and gets a hotel room. The next day, she sees the news about the van accident.

Stevie and Luna brainstorm. Why would anyone want to kill Benny? They sneak into her apartment, where Stevie decides Murph was lured outside with pineapple. She asks the doorman if Helen had any visitors the day she died. No, but Benny did.

Stevie goes to Imogen and Sophie’s apartment, waving an empty pineapple cup. Dean visited the building the day before Helen died. To see Sophie. Who took one of Dean’s cult acting courses, in which Dean got her to admit she’d given up a child for adoption. Now Dean wanted something from Helen’s apartment: a scarf.

Sophie thought Helen might have hidden the scarf in Murph’s cage, so she lured him out of it with pineapple. Benny came over to feed Murph and saw her. Sophie “bumped into her” and pushed her out the window. Uh… what? It’s not THAT easy to fall out a window. Sophie agrees to confess.

David shows up with her fruitcake. Stevie tells him she WANTS TO BE OKAY WITH HIS CHEATING. Stevie finds the scarf hidden in the fruitcake package.

Blue, high on mushrooms, was the one who killed Star. Or did she?

Helen, who knew she was dying, bought a recorder to tape her voice for Murph. She also managed to tape her conversation with Dean, in which she accused him of causing the van accident to cover up Star’s murder. She also tells him she has physical evidence that ties him to Melissa: the scarf.

Stevie and David go to a dog cafe. He flies back to London the next day. After winter break, Stevie goes to the University of Vermont to see David. She gives him his coat back, which is a good sign. She tells David she’s giving up mysteries to “be normal.” They banter, and then she kisses him. NOOOOOOOOOO Janelle get over here NOW!

My Review of The Velvet Knife

First, I’m with Janelle. Stevie should have dumped David in book two.

I did like the Only Murders in the Building feel of The Velvet Knife. If you love the show, check out my list of Books Like Only Murders in the Building AND take my OMITB Quizzes. You can start here!

I really didn’t like the mystery in the past because of the cult elements, but maybe you’ll feel differently.

I really HATED the romance, which I always knew I would. Way back from book one. Let’s recap what I said SIX YEARS AGO in my original review:

“Stevie is a somewhat awkward character, which I appreciated. She’s obsessed with true crime (and the Ellingham case in particular) and suffers from anxiety. Her love interest, to me, was odd and very off-putting. Was he supposed to be brooding and aloof? Not sure, but I didn’t understand his appeal. At all.  

While I wouldn’t mind a change in love interest, I’m hoping that the romance situation doesn’t get weird and complicated like it did in The Shades of London series.

FAQ: About The Velvet Knife