I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson Series: Truly Devious #4
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on 6/15/21
Genres: Mystery & Detective, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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Amateur sleuth Stevie Bell needs a good murder. After catching a killer at her high school, she’s back at home for a normal (that means boring) summer.
But then she gets a message from the owner of Sunny Pines, formerly known as Camp Wonder Falls—the site of the notorious unsolved case, the Box in the Woods Murders. Back in 1978, four camp counselors were killed in the woods outside of the town of Barlow Corners, their bodies left in a gruesome display. The new owner offers Stevie an invitation: Come to the camp and help him work on a true crime podcast about the case.
Stevie agrees, as long as she can bring along her friends from Ellingham Academy. Nothing sounds better than a summer spent together, investigating old murders.
But something evil still lurks in Barlow Corners. When Stevie opens the lid on this long-dormant case, she gets much more than she bargained for. The Box in the Woods will make room for more victims. This time, Stevie may not make it out alive.
Short and Sweet
In 1978, at Camp Wonder Falls four camp counselors were murdered and the case was never solved. In comes Stevie, the new owner invites Stevie to come to the camp to help him with his true crime podcast about the podcast, Stevie agrees to this as long as her friends can come along. Now Stevie is spending her summer with her friends and investigating a decades old murder. In a small town like Barlow Corners people know more than they’re sharing and Stevie is in for more than she bargained for.
Characters
Stevie: Our favorite mystery solver is back! I love Stevie, seeing her thought process is amazing I like seeing how she thinks of different pieces of the case. We see Stevie get stumped a few times but we also see her figure things out she’s like a modern day Nancy Drew.
My Thoughts
In 1978, four teen camp counselors went into the woods at night and didn’t come back out and the case was never solved. Stevie is recruited to come because she just recently solved the Ellingham case. I was so happy that she was able to bring Janelle and Nate, we also see David later on. Anyway we meet the townspeople and a few of the people who were actually at the camp when the murders happened so anyone of them could be the suspects but they all have alibis but the police investigation back then wasn’t so great. Stevie tries to do some interviews but some of the people aren’t happy she’s there so they aren’t really willing to talk and then out of nowhere one of the townsfolk is murdered so the plot thickens! Now Stevie knows for sure someone has something to hide and she’s getting closer to finding out what it is. Stevie being Stevie ended everything in a way only she could and I loved it.
Overall
I really enjoyed this book. The setting was great maybe because its summer right now so the camp vibes were perfect. I was hooked until the very last page trying to figure out what could of happened back in 1978 and I was not disappointed. I’m just so happy that I got to read this book and I would read it again. If you haven’t read this series, do it!
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