Nine Liars (Truly Devious, #5) by Maureen Johnson
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on December 27, 2022
ISBN: 0063032651
Pages: 464
Genres: Mystery
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
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Called book five in the Truly Devious series, this book, like book four, could be a stand-alone mystery. Readers would have to accept that the relationships and dynamics of Stevie Bell and her friends would be better understood by reading the previous books, particularly books 1-3, but the mystery here needs no back reading.

Stevie is having a tough senior year, suffering from a form of imposter syndrome where she worries that her skill at solving mysteries is not enough to check off all of the boxes on a college application. She fears that she was accepted to Ellingham Academy on the strength of her resolve to solve the decades-old mystery of the disappearance of Alice Ellingham and now that the mystery is wrapped up, questions what she offers as a student or a person. Amidst this existential crisis, one that illustrates how invaluable it is that teens have a few trusted adults in their lives to talk with, Stevie is invited by her boyfriend, David, to England, where he is studying, to take a crack at a cold-case.

Stevie accepts, and her friends accompany her, which makes more sense if you’ve read the previous books, and goes off, once more, to put her powers of deduction to the test. The chapters of the book alternate between Stevie’s present day and the time period when the murders were committed. The cast of the past is a colorful group reminiscent of Stevie and her friends though Stevie is sure that one of them is a murderer who got away with it.

With a Clue-like feel, this book is a romp, albeit a dark one, through mystery tropes with some teen angst thrown in. Readers will not be able to put it down and this reviewer hopes that there are further mysteries to solve in Stevie’s future.

Reviewed by Jill O’Connor, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth