Scan barcode
A review by ibeforem
The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
This is the fourth book in the Truly Devious series, but as far as the mystery goes, it's a standalone.
Life has moved on for Stevie and her friends since she solved the Ellingham mystery and has gone home for the summer. It looks like she has a long boring summer of working at the grocery deli ahead of her when she gets an email from Carson, the owner of a summer camp in Massachusetts. 40 years before, 4 camp counselors were murdered in the woods, and the case is still unsolved. Carson wants to bring Stevie in to work at the camp but also to work on a podcast with him where they try to solve the case themselves. With nothing better to lure her to say no, Stevie agrees, as long as her friends Janelle and Nate can come with her.
So now we basically have the Adventures of Stevie, Janelle, and Nate at Camp, with cameo appearances by David. Stevie is very interested in the case, but quickly finds out that working on a case where the people affected are still alive and hurting is much different than working on one where all the people directly involved are dead.
I did enjoy this, but we're sold all of this stuff about the podcast in the beginning and then there's very little work that's actually done on it, other than Stevie's investigating. In fact, the guy who brings her there plays very little part in the story as a whole. But it was still entertaining, and the core group of characters is still as strong as ever (I'm still on the fence about David). I look forward to seeing where she brings them next.
Life has moved on for Stevie and her friends since she solved the Ellingham mystery and has gone home for the summer. It looks like she has a long boring summer of working at the grocery deli ahead of her when she gets an email from Carson, the owner of a summer camp in Massachusetts. 40 years before, 4 camp counselors were murdered in the woods, and the case is still unsolved. Carson wants to bring Stevie in to work at the camp but also to work on a podcast with him where they try to solve the case themselves. With nothing better to lure her to say no, Stevie agrees, as long as her friends Janelle and Nate can come with her.
So now we basically have the Adventures of Stevie, Janelle, and Nate at Camp, with cameo appearances by David. Stevie is very interested in the case, but quickly finds out that working on a case where the people affected are still alive and hurting is much different than working on one where all the people directly involved are dead.
I did enjoy this, but we're sold all of this stuff about the podcast in the beginning and then there's very little work that's actually done on it, other than Stevie's investigating. In fact, the guy who brings her there plays very little part in the story as a whole. But it was still entertaining, and the core group of characters is still as strong as ever (I'm still on the fence about David). I look forward to seeing where she brings them next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder