'The Box in the Woods' by Maureen Johnson is a fun fourth installment in the Truly Devious series though it lacks the complexity of the original trilogy.
After solving the Ellingham mystery, Stevie Bell is now known more widely as a teenage sleuth and so it comes as not much of a surprise when she is contacted by a man who wants to solve a decades old mystery at a summer camp. In 1978, four teenagers were killed at Camp Wonder Falls and the crime was never solved. The new owner wants Stevie's help to solve this mystery for a true crime podcast. Though she isn't too thrilled about the podcast, Stevie can't pass up the opportunity to uncover the truth of another crime that has long been buried.
Maureen Johnson has proven with the Truly Devious series that she can create a really fun and compelling mystery that keeps readers engaged through the last page. This is true in 'The Box in the Woods' though without the three book space to delve as deeply into the story, it's a much quicker and slightly less complex mystery. For those who have read the original trilogy, this is a fun addition to the series and it's great to return to the characters. If this is the start of a spin-off series of one-off mysteries, I think that it could work. If it is merely a follow-up to the original, it makes less sense as it doesn't really add anything to the trilogy beyond being another fun mystery. I will be interested to see what Johnson does next with these characters if this is the start of something new. 

I love Stevie Bell, and it was very fun and exciting to read a standalone mystery of hers.

I've come to the conclusion I will pick up anything having to do with the Truly Devious Series. I am so deeply attached to these characters and am constantly wishing for more books in this series. That being said I loved seeing the Ellingham crew in a different setting such as a summer camp and being able to see Stevie work her detective magic again never fails to bring a smile to my face. I thoroughly enjoyed the build-up of this mystery and the reveal left me ferociously reading until 3 am. 

This book was nearly perfect. The story was very good and it all got explained in the end. However, it felt like there was no time for the reader to try to put the pieces together to figure out the mystery until the last chapter of the book where the mystery is being explained. The reader didn’t have many of the facts until then.

I finished the final book in the original Truly Devious trilogy around this time last year, and did so with a sense of disappointment. Maureen Johnson manages to wrap up an interesting, winding mystery into to the lives of funny, diverse and complex young adults. The Box In The Woods was not only a brilliant read because it allowed me to dive back into the lives of Stevie, David, Janelle and Nate but also or because it is genuinely an interesting mystery, but also because it’s wide array of LGBTQ+ characters is rare in any book, especially when their sexuality or gender orientation don’t become their overriding personality trait. Johnson has created an array of complex, well rounded well adults who are a pleasure to read about, regardless of what mysteries they’re solving. 

But perhaps the best part of finishing this book is that

Nate finally finishes his