Quick Truly Devious Series Recap

Looking for a Quick Truly Series Recap of all the books in the Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson? I’ve got you covered with quick recaps of Truly Devious, The Vanishing Stair, The Hand on the Wall, The Box in the Woods, and Nine Lives plus a link to my Review and Spoilers for The Velvet Knife

Quick Truly Devious Series Recap

Notes for Newbies:

• All the books in the Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson feature a crime in the past and one in the present.
• The first three books are interconnected and you can (supposedly) read the last three as standalones. I disagree, yes, in the last three books the mysteries are wrapped up, but there’s a LOT of character backstory.
• The first four books are FREE on Kindle Unlimited
• Check out my Author Spotlight on Maureen Johnson (including when I met her)

Truly Devious RECAP: Main Character List

These are the Ellingham students who play the greatest roles in the series:

• Stephanie “Stevie” Bell: a true crime fanatic
• Nate Fisher: published author/prodigy
• Hayes Major: actor and Stevie’s housemate (DEAD)
• Janelle Franklin: Stevie’s housemate; artist and inventor
• David Eastman: computer programmer; son of conservative politician
• Element “Ellie” Walker (DEAD)
• Vi Harper-Tomo: (they/them) Janelle’s partner

Truly Devious Recap (2018)

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Past Mystery: In the 1930s, wealthy industrialist Albert Ellingham builds an estate for his family and a school called the Ellingham Academy. Both buildings are filled with architectural secrets, like hidden passages.

One day, Ellingham received a sinister note signed, Truly, Devious that suggests he is in danger. Shortly afterwards, Ellingham’s daughter and wife are kidnapped for ransom. Although he gives the purported kidnappers several different deliveries of cash and valuables, they never return his family. His wife’s body eventually turns up but his daughter remains missing.

When a local man is caught with marked bills from one of the ransom, he’s blamed for the crime.

In the present, a true crime fanatic Stephanie “Stevie” Bell arrives at Ellingham as a student and begins to investigate the Ellingham murders.

Hayes Major, a fellow student and aspiring filmmaker who enlisted other students in making a movie about the Ellingham murders, is found dead. The killer was Ellie Walker, another student who killed Hayes. Her presumed motive: Hayes paid her to write the screenplay for his movie and then pretended it was his work.

Using a secret panel and passageway, Ellie escapes. Stevie searches Ellie’s room and finds a box containing a feather, a pill box, a lipstick and a partially written poem called “The Ballad of Frankie and Edward.”

At the end of the book, Stevie is shocked to learn the identity of David, the fellow student she’s been having secret make-out sessions with. He’s the son of Edward King, a conservative senator.

My 2020 review of Truly Devious is here!

The Vanishing Stair Recap (2019)

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In the past mystery, we learn that in 1936, Francis Crane, an Ellingham Student, and her boyfriend Edward, wrote the “Truly, Devious” note to Albert Ellingham as a prank. One night, Francis and Edward see Albert Ellingham in a compromising position with an employee, Miss Nelson. That night, a woman named Dottie Epstein is killed.

In the present, Stevie is back at home in Pittsburgh after the events of book one. Edward King arrives at her house to convince her parents to send her back to Ellingham. in return, she argees to spy on David for his father.

When they agree, Stevie is given a job as a research assistant to Dr. Fenton, a local scholar working on the Ellingham case. Stevie also starts a project of her own: researching Frankie and Edward. She discovers that they were students in the 1930s, and that Edward died in 1940.

Stevie is also investigating the disappearance of Ellie Walker, her Minerva House housemate (and the presumed killer of Hayes Walker). She doesn’t believe that Ellie killed Hayes.

As Stevie works for Dr. Fenton, she learns that there is a secret tunnel in Minerva House. She, David and Nate find the tunnel, and also discover Ellie’s body.

Dr. Fenton and her nephew Hunter visit Stevie at Ellingham. Hunter confides in Stevie that there is a reward for anyone who finds Ellingham’s daughter Alice and that he thinks his aunt is using Stevie to get the reward.

In a flashback to the past, we learn this is true. The reward is $10 million and expires on what would be Alice’s 90th birthday. We also learn that George Marsh the detective hired by Ellingham to find his wife and daughter, is also the man who planned the kidnapping. But the that Marsh hired to carry out the kidnapping double-crossed him, killed Iris and took Alice. He says he knows where she is, but then he and Ellingham presumably die in an explosion.

Back in the present, Stevie stumbles on David, who has hired a local group of kids to beat him up and film it. She then finds a clue in Iris and Alice’s kidnapping and calls Dr. Fenton, who sounds drunk and makes a cryptic remark about someone else being there. Dr. Fenton then dies in a house fire.

Quick Recap of The Hand on the Wall (2020)

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In 1932, Albert Ellingham and his friend Leo Nair wait for a baby to be born. Ellingham and his wife Iris are adopting the newborn daughter of Flora Robinson, Iris’s best friend.

In the present, Stevie is convinced that George Marsh is behind the kidnappings of Iris and Alice. She also thinks that Marsh killed a student named Dottie Epstein, who witnessed him skulking around the school .

Dr. Fenton’s nephew, Hunter, is coming to live on campus.

In the past timeline, Frankie and Eddie compose the “Truly, Devious” poem and mailing it to the school. But a fellow student, Dottie Epstein, is watching them and sees Frankie drop some photos, which she puts in a tin and hides in her room.

We also learn the identity of Alice Ellingham’s biological father: Edward Marsh.

Back in the present, Hunter moves into Ellie’s old room. When Janelle invites a group of students to see an elaborate machine she’s built, the machine explodes and the semester is cut short.

In the past, Flora tells George that Alice was his daughter, and he is horrified, as he planned her kidnapping. He vows to find her and learns that one of the kidnappers claim to have left Alice with a couple who live in the woods. Sadly, they report that Alice died of the measles.

In the present, David (still furious at Stevie for spying on his for his father) is back with some flash drives he wants to use to destroy his father’s career. He asks Stevie and a few other students to hide at Ellingham with him so they can go over the information on the drives.

Stevie learns more from Hunter about Ellingham’s will: if Alice never claims her inheritance, all the money goes to the school.

There’s a HUGE info dump by Stevie, but in short:

• Dr. Charles Scott, headmaster of the Ellingham School, already knew Alice was dead as her body was discovered during a construction project. Charles wanted to use Dr. Fenton to claim the reward for finding Alice, but Dr. Fenton refused.
• Dr. Scott killed Hayes because he found out something he shouldn’t have. And Dr. Scott also told Ellie about the passageways, knowing she’d look for them and be trapped.
• Because there’s a huge storm, Dr. Scott is locked in his office by security. When he tries to escape, he falls to his death.
• David’s father sends a helicopter to take David away, but he still has enough ammunition to discredit his father.

Quick Recap of the Box in the Woods (2021)

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Stevie has solved the kidnapping of Iris and Alice Ellingham and the murders of Hayes and Ellie, and she’s back at home for the summer.

Carson Buchwald, the new owner of Camp Wonder Falls, offers Stevie a job. The camp is the site of a notorious quadruple murder in the 1970s. Being a true crime fanatic, she can’t say no!

In 1978, four camp counselors (Eric, Todd, Diane and Sabrina) are in the woods smoking weed. All of their bodies are found, stabbed to death, along with a box that says “surprise.”

Suspects:

• Copycat killer of “The Woodsman”
• Revenge for Todd’s hit and run killing of a young boy, Michael Penhale
• Shawn, Sabrina’s ex, who was jealous that she was now with Eric

Stevie invites her Ellingham friends to join her, but only Nate and Janelle can make it. They meet Allison, Sabrina’s sister, who is determined to solve the case. But everyone is shocked when Carson announces he’s making a podcast about the case.

Someone paints the word “Surprise” on the ceiling of Stevie and Janelle’s cabin. Carson receives a box of dolls, also marked “Surprise.” But Stevie figures out that Carson was responsible.

Allison and Stevie go to meet Michael’s brother, Paul, who says he had nothing to do with the murders. Shortly after, Allison falls to her death off Arrowhead Point. Stevie finds Sabrina’s diary. David tells Stevie that his father is sending him to school in England.

Stevie holds a murder reveal (info dump) in which she announced:

• Sabrina had overheard some men talking in German. They were hidden Nazis (yes, really.) She told Eric. The Nazis killed them, along with Todd and Diane.
• Patty, the daughter of one of the Nazis, killed Allison to keep the secret.

Quick Recap of Nine Liars (2022)

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Since David is in London, Stevie and friends Janelle, Vi and Nate decide to do study abroad and join him.

The case in the past is a country house murder from 1995. Nine friends from Cambridge (Sebastian, Sooz, Noel, Peter, Yash, Theo, Julian, Rosie and Angela) head off for a relaxing weekend that includes a nighttime, booze-fueled game of hide and seek.

The next day, the bodies of Rosie and Noel are found in a woodshed, hacked to death with an ax.

David’s tutorial partner, Izzy, suggests that Stevie look into the unsolved case. Izzy takes her to talk to her Aunt Angela, who clearly doesn’t want to talk about the murders. Angela then vanishes, leaving a locked briefcase.

Izzy then gathers three more of the Nine (Sooz, Peter, and Yash) to talk to Stevie. The remaining members of The Nine, plus Stevie and her friends, all head to Merriweather, the site of the murders.

Stevie is able to figure out the combination to the briefcase, which contains Angela’s research about the case. Angela was looking into another 1995 case, the drowning of American student Samantha Garvis.

Sooz figures out that Samantha has a connection to the Nine: she kissed Julian in a pub shortly before the murders and was on her way to Merriweather with some borrowed CDs when she died.

Angela’s body is found in the Thames, a presumed suicide. Izzy is distraught and David comforts her, which unnerves Stevie. She’s right, because he breaks up with her.

Stevie does her (now usual) murder reveal:

• Samantha Garvis caused a lot of turmoil in the Nine: Peter was jealous and blabbed to Julian’s girlfriend Rosie, who broke up with him and slept with Noel. When Peter encountered a drunk Samantha, he suggested they steal a boat. She slipped and accused Peter of pushing her. He panicked and held her under the water.
• Peter was then worried that Rosie knew something, so he lured her to the woodshed. When she told him that she and Noel saw him kill Samantha, he murdered them both.
• When Angela contacted Peter, pretending she had a clue, he had to kill her too.

Then Stevie confronts Izzy, who insists she and David are just friends. They head to the pub where they see David kissing someone else.

Quick Recap of The Velvet Knife (2026)

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The Velvet Knife features a mystery set in 1976, a trip to New York City, and BIG breakup.

Stevie is still smarting over David dumping her and possibly cheating, so she happily accompanies Nate to New York City for the holidays.

They are staying at the apartment of Nate’s literary agent and meet all her neighbors, including an enigmatic woman named Helen.

We learn Helen’s backstory: she joined a cult in the 1970s, but managed to escape with her life. Some of her cult members weren’t so lucky.

When Helen is found dead, Stevie (of course) has to investigate. She finds a pile of articles in Helen’s apartment, including some about Stevie’s detecting.

Stevie manages to trace Helen to a cult leader called Dean, who is alive, though his followers died in a fiery van crash.

Meanwhile, Benny, another neighbor, turns up dead. Is this connected to the cult or to Helen’s death? YES.

While trying to plot her escape from the cult, Helen was drugged with hallucinogenic mushrooms, during which time she killed her friend Blue. Dean disposed of Helen’s body and then set up the van crash to get rid of witnesses. But Helen managed to escape with her life, a stash of money, and Blue’s scarf, which had physical evidence on it.

Helen’s death was not murder. She had heart disease and was putting her affairs in order. Benny’s death was an accident. Sophie, Helen’s neighbor, was in Dean’s next venture, a cultish acting class. He convinced her to share a secret: she’d given up a baby for adoption. Then he blackmailed her to sneak into Helen’s apartment to look for the scarf. But Benny surprised Sophie, Sophie pushed her and Benny fell out the open window, four floors to the ground.

On the personal front, David strung Stevie along with cryptic social media posts, then confessed that he’d cheated on her multiple times, then suggested maybe she could be okay with that. WHAT!!!

Janelle, our queen and leader, told Stevie point black that David was a whiny, spoiled, manipulative cheater and that she deserved better.

The book ends with David and Stevie sharing a kiss. UGH.

Will there be a book seven in the truly devious series? I reveal all in:

My full recap of The Velvet Knife, with spoilers, along my thoughts on the book, and a FAQ.