[ 3.75 🌟 ]

I personally have somewhat high standards for mysteries, mostly because my rating/feeling of the book is generally reflective of how the book ends.

I really liked the two storylines: one takes place in 1936 to about 1938 as a buildup to the original Ellingham crime, while the second follows Stevie Bell who attends the Ellingham Academy and pursues the cold case.

I don’t have many strong feelings on Stevie. She was a relatively interesting and likable character. I especially liked how the author represented her anxiety and anxiety attacks. I haven’t read many books in which a character struggles with anxiety, yet it is not the main focus of the story.

The romance threw me...a lot. It felt out of place and kinda of just dropped in there. I wanted to see where the crime(s) led to, and if Stevie was able to untangle them. To a certain extent, she sort of did by the end of the novel. However, the book leaves off on a cliffhanger, which I definitely did not appreciate. I will be reading the next books in the series, but really only to satisfy my curiosity about the one who calls themselves “Truly Devious” and find out who was behind the Ellingham crimes.