Nine liars / Maureen Johnson.

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Title:

Author:

Johnson, Maureen, 1973- author.

ISBN:

9780063032651

9780063293182

Edition:

First Edition.

Physical Description:

445 pages : maps ; 22 cm.

Series:

[Truly devious series ; 5]

Truly devious series ; 5.

Abstract:

"Senior year at Ellingham Academy for Stevie Bell isn't going well. With the cold case of the century solved, Stevie is adrift. There is nothing to distract her from the questions pinging around her brain--questions about college, love, and life in general. Relief comes when David invites Stevie and her friends to join him for study abroad, and his new friend Izzy introduces her to a double-murder cold case. In 1995, nine friends from Cambridge University went to a country house and played a drunken game of hide-and-seek. Two were found in the woodshed the next day, murdered with an ax. The case was assumed to be a burglary gone wrong, but one of the remaining seven saw something she can't explain. This was no break-in. Someone's lying about what happened in the woodshed"-- Provided by publisher.

Subject Term:

Cold cases (Criminal investigation) -- Juvenile fiction.

Murder -- Juvenile fiction.

Foreign study -- Juvenile fiction.

Friendship -- Juvenile fiction.

Interpersonal relations -- Juvenile fiction.

High school seniors -- Juvenile fiction.

Boarding school students -- Juvenile fiction.

Murder -- Investigation -- Juvenile fiction.

Boarding schools -- Juvenile fiction.

Young adult fiction.

Cold cases (Criminal investigation) -- Fiction.

Murder -- Fiction.

Foreign study -- Fiction.

Friendship -- Fiction.

Interpersonal relations -- Fiction.

Mystery and detective stories.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Law & Crime.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Mysteries & Detective Stories.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Thrillers & Suspense.

Boarding school students. (OCoLC)fst00835101

Cold cases (Criminal investigation) (OCoLC)fst01736451

Foreign study. (OCoLC)fst00931877

Friendship. (OCoLC)fst00935174

High school seniors. (OCoLC)fst00956161

Interpersonal relations. (OCoLC)fst00977397

Murder. (OCoLC)fst01029781

Murder -- Investigation. (OCoLC)fst01029788

Young adult fiction. (OCoLC)fst01183080

Geographic Term:

Cambridge (England) -- Juvenile fiction.

England -- Juvenile fiction.

London (England) -- Juvenile fiction.

England -- Fiction.

England. (OCoLC)fst01219920

England -- Cambridge. (OCoLC)fst01204479

England -- London. (OCoLC)fst01204271

Genre:

Young adult fiction.

Detective and mystery fiction. (OCoLC)fst01726581

Fiction. (OCoLC)fst01423787

Novels. (OCoLC)fst01921742

School fiction. (OCoLC)fst02020484

Detective and mystery fiction.

Friendship -- Fiction.

School fiction.

Novels.

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library	Teen Fiction Book Hardback	120791003031239	T JOH	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Stevie Bell solved the case of Truly Devious, and now she's taking her detecting skills abroad when she becomes embroiled in a mystery from 1990s England. Another pulse-pounding and laugh-out-loud stand-alone mystery from New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson.

Senior year at Ellingham Academy for Stevie Bell isn't going well. Her boyfriend, David, is studying in London. Her friends are obsessed with college applications. With the cold case of the century solved, Stevie is adrift. There is nothing to distract her from the questions pinging around her brain--questions about college, love, and life in general.

Relief comes when David invites Stevie and her friends to join him for study abroad, and his new friend Izzy introduces her to a double-murder cold case. In 1995, nine friends from Cambridge University went to a country house and played a drunken game of hide-and-seek. Two were found in the woodshed the next day, murdered with an ax.

The case was assumed to be a burglary gone wrong, but one of the remaining seven saw something she can't explain. This was no break-in. Someone's lying about what happened in the woodshed.

Seven suspects. Two murders. One killer still playing a deadly game.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Set in the Truly Devious universe, this scintillating mystery by Johnson (The Box in the Woods) follows Ellingham Academy senior and renowned amateur sleuth Stevie Bell, who feels rudderless with no college plans or cases to solve. She misses her boyfriend, David, who is in London, so when he suggests a visit, she and her friends hop on a plane. Upon arriving, David's classmate Izzy solicits Stevie's help. In 1995, Izzy's aunt, Angela, and her eight housemates celebrated their Cambridge University graduation at a country estate. During a drunken game of hide-and-seek, someone murdered two of the attendees with an ax. The police assumed the killer was a burglar, who remains uncaught, but Angela once told Izzy she believes one of her friends is guilty. When Stevie confronts Angela, she denies the suspicion, but her obvious fright strengthens Stevie's investigative resolve. Johnson delivers a meticulously crafted fair-play mystery that gratifies as a standalone while also forwarding the richly textured characters' arcs, a treat for fans of the series. Distinctly written flashbacks to 1995 pepper the present-day narrative, creating resonance and investing readers in Stevie's case. Stevie cues as white; the supporting cast is intersectionally diverse. Ages 14--up. Agent: Kate Schafer Testerman, KT Literary. (Dec.)

Kirkus Review

Senior year is not off to a great start for Stevie Bell: She's antsy with no cases to solve, stressed by college applications, and missing her long-distance boyfriend terribly. So when David invites Stevie to visit him in England, she immediately accepts and, with the help of friends Janelle Franklin, Vi Harper-Tomo, and Nate Fisher, gets a study-abroad trip approved for all four of them. Upon their arrival, David introduces them to his classmate Izzy, who has a story to tell. In 1995, a tightknit group of Cambridge graduates who called themselves the Nine arrived at a country estate for a summer getaway. The morning after their arrival, they discovered the mangled remains of two members. Although the police concluded it was a burglary gone wrong, Angela, Izzy's aunt and a surviving member of the Nine, recently let slip her suspicion of a more sinister explanation for the deaths. Stevie's deductive skills are put to the test, but other concerns--her relationship with David, graduation and inevitable separation from her friends, a persistent feeling of inadequacy--compete for her attention and occasionally push her anxiety, which she manages with medication, to the brink. The exploration of the importance of friendship (with parallels between the Nine and Stevie's group) adds emotional vulnerability to this book, which has a well-developed sense of place and features the series' signature humor and layered mystery elements. The cast includes diversity in race, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Immersive and genre-savvy. (map, floor plan) (Mystery. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Johnson elevates her Truly Devious star from a one-case wunderkind to a true serial sleuth in this fifth series installment (and second standalone adventure) as Stevie Bell takes her skills abroad. David, her boyfriend and the epicenter of much of her anxiety, is studying in London, and when he proposes a one-week study abroad for Stevie and her three friends, Stevie jumps at the chance. But it's not long before a mystery finds her: David's friend has an aunt who, as a student on holiday herself, woke to find two of her friends murdered by axe--and all nine of their group seem to have secrets. The trail is cold and time is limited, but Stevie's on the case--if the murderer doesn't sniff her out first. Johnson has found a comfortable groove, settling naturally into Stevie's anxious, active mind while still finding fresh twists and turns in her cases. In both the case and Stevie's personal life, this entry ends with less resolution than most. There's no doubt about it: Stevie will be back.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Johnson's stressed-out, singular teen detective won hearts--and spots on best-seller lists--with the Truly Devious series and in the standalone adventure that followed; readers will happily follow Stevie to this second location.