"Dr. Pixwell is a specialist in bioarchaeology," she said. "She works on archaeological digs in Egypt."

"That´s right," Pix said. "You read my faculty bio?"

"No," Stevie said. "The teeth, your shirt, you´ve got an Eye of Horus tattooed on your wrist, the chamomile tea in the kitchen has packaging written in Arabic, and you have a tan line on your forehead from a head covering. Just a guess."

"That´s extremely impressive," Pix said, nodding. Everyone was quiet for a moment. A fly buzzed around Stevie´s head.

"Stevie thinks she´s Sherlock Holmes," her father said.

[Source]

I really do think she has read the faculty bio.

german and english review

audible audiobook

spoilerfree

Inhalt: Willkommen zurück an der Ellingham Academy!
Endlich hat Stevie einen entscheidenden Hinweis auf den Schreiber des Erpresserbriefes gefunden, der sich hinter dem Namen Wahrhaftiger Lügner verbirgt. Aber nach dem tragischen Unfall eines Mitschülers nehmen ihre Eltern sie von der Schule. Stevie würde alles dafür tun, zur Ellingham Academy zurückzukehren und den Entführer von Alice zu finden. Selbst einen Deal mit dem Teufel eingehen – oder Davids Vater Edward King ...

Ein toter Star. Ein entführtes Mädchen. Eine verschwundene Mitschülerin.
Bei dem Versuch, die berühmte Ellingham-Affäre zu lösen, stößt Stevie Bell auf mehr Fragen als Antworten. Doch zunächst muss sie das Verschwinden ihrer Freundin Ellie aufklären. Gemeinsam mit David macht sie sich auf die Suche nach ihr und stößt dabei auf einen versteckten Gang im Internat. Welche Geheimnisse sind noch hinter den Mauern der Ellingham Academy verborgen?

Meine Bewertung: Oooh, ich bin so froh, dass ich doch zurück gekommen bin!!!

Ich war mir nicht sicher ob ich zu der Serie zurück gehe, es gab so viele Dinge die mich in dem ersten Buch gestört hatten aber letzendlich hat meine Neugier gesiegt und hier sind wir also...

Der zweite Band hat mir so viel besser gefallen als der erste Band. Wahrscheinlich weil hier jetzt wirklich von Stevie so viel mehr ermittelt wurde. Ich kann verstehen, dass wir im ersten Band einfach die Zeit gebraucht hatten um erstmal die Academy und auch die ganzen Mitschüler und alles kennenzulernen.

Gut, dass das jetzt alles aus dem Weg war und Stevie sich jetzt wirklich (abgesehen von ihrer Nebenmission in Sachen David), wirklich auf das Ermitteln konzentrieren konnte. Ich hatte das Gefühl, wir haben davon einfach diesmal so viel mehr bekommen. Es wurden sooo viele Forstschritte gemacht und ganz ehrlich hatte ich nicht erwartet, dass wir schon die ersten Antworten auf Fragen bekommen würden. AAAAH!!!!!

In diesem Band hat mich wirklich nur David genervt, doch ich habe gelernt ihn wunderbar auszublenden und die Bücher einfach ohne ihn zu genießen, denn genau das kann ich tun wenn er nicht da ist. Ooops!!!!

Dafür haben mir die anderen Charaktere einfach wieder unheimlich gut gefallen und uch die neuen Gesichter, die wir bekommen haben.

Jetzt bin ich doch wirklich total auf Band drei gespannt und kann es garnicht abwarten ihn in die Hände zu kriegen. PLOT TWIST, denn niemand, nicht mal ich, hab kommen sehen.

***

Summary: All Stevie Bell wanted was to find the key to the Ellingham mystery, but instead she found her classmate dead. And while she solved that murder, the crimes of the past are still waiting in the dark. Just as Stevie feels she’s on the cusp of putting it together, her parents pull her out of Ellingham academy.

For her own safety they say. She must move past this obsession with crime. Now that Stevie’s away from the school of topiaries and secret tunnels, and her strange and endearing friends, she begins to feel disconnected from the rest of the world. At least she won’t have to see David anymore. David, who she kissed. David, who lied to her about his identity—son of despised politician Edward King. Then King himself arrives at her house to offer a deal: He will bring Stevie back to Ellingham immediately. In return, she must play nice with David. King is in the midst of a campaign and can’t afford his son stirring up trouble. If Stevie’s at school, David will stay put.

The tantalizing riddles behind the Ellingham murders are still waiting to be unraveled, and Stevie knows she’s so close. But the path to the truth has more twists and turns than she can imagine—and moving forward involves hurting someone she cares for.

My review: Oooh, I'm so happy I actually came back to this story!!!

I wasn't really sure about going back to this series, there were just so many things in the first book that I didn't like but at the end of the day, curiousity got the best of me and here we are...

The second book was so much better than the first one. Mostly because Stevie actually got to investigate and find stuff out. I totally get that in the first book we had to get to know the academy and all the other studens and stuff.

Thank god that is out of the way and Stevie (aside from her side mission concerning David) she kann actually focus on figuring shit out. I just feel like we got so much more of that this time around. We actually got somewhere and to be honest I didn't expect that we would actually get some answers already. AAAAH!!!!!!

In this book the only thing that annoyed me was David, but I found away to just ignore him really well and enjoy the books without him, cause that's how I would enjoy the books even more, with him gone. Ooops!!!!

I really enjoyed the other characters just sooo much more, and really liked the new characters we got.

Now I'm actually really excited about the third book and can't wait to get my hands on it. PLOT TWIST that no one, not even I, saw coming.

October 1-26

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.”

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder.

The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three.

Review : I freaking loved this book it was a crazy book of twists and turns . This book is taken place in the present and in the past . Ellingham academy is where the Ellingham murders took place where Albert Ellingham family were taken and murdered. Stevie Bell is looking forward to coming to Ellingham to solve the murder. Her family doesn't get stevie they work for a politician who Stevie doesn't support. Stevie gets to the school she makes some friends she get suspicious of one guy David he doesn't have any social media and he's very secretive. Hayes a guy who got famous from a online zombie show he made asks stevie to work with him to make a show on the Ellingham murders and she agrees and has her friend Nate write for the show. Then something bad happens Hayes died a malfunction with dry ice or maybe something else happened. David and Stevie made out oh my God. Stevie goes through David's stuff and he gets mad which I understand David tells Stevie his parents died . Stevie starts to figure out some stuff . Ellie might be involved with Hayes death . Ellie helped Hayes write his show and then she runs away and then someone shows up the politician that Stevie doesn't support shows up cause David is his son what the fuck.

Quotes :

Albert Ellingham said knowledge was his religion and libraries were his church, so he built a church.”

Did they know that Arthur Conan Doyle went on to investigate mysteries in his real life and absolved a man for a crime for which he has been convicted? Did they know how Agatha Christie brilliantly staged her own disappearance in order to exact an elegant revenge on a cheating husband? They probably did not. And no one was going to discount Stevie Bell, who had gotten into this school on the wings of her interest in the Ellingham case, and who had been a bystander at a death that was now looking more and more suspicious.”

I annoy people," he said. "Believe me. I'm aware. It's an effective way to communicate if you don't have any other options. If you can't get in through the door, throw a rock through the window. And I think maybe you're the same way.