“Truly Devious” by Maureen Johnson, Katherine Tegan, 432 pages, $17.99, ages 14 and up
Agatha Christie meets “Riverdale” in Maureen Johnson’s latest, which offers two gripping mysteries rolled into one. The first mystery is what compels aspiring detective Stephanie, aka Stevie, to enroll at Ellingham Academy, a progressive Vermont boarding school with an infamous past. In 1936, the wife and daughter of the school’s billionaire founder, Albert Ellingham, were kidnapped for a ransom paid to no avail; the wife was eventually found dead — as was an Ellingham student believed to have crossed paths with the kidnapper — and the daughter never reappeared. Someone confessed, but true crime fanatics still devote blogs and books and podcasts to theorizing about what really happened. Stevie, in a school-sanctioned project, plans to solve the case once and for all. But before she can really get going, a classmate dies under suspicious circumstances, causing her to refocus her efforts.
Flipping back and forth between the past and the present, “Truly Devious” adds a modern flair to that delicious classic mystery novel-reading experience in which every passage seems rife with potential suspects and clues. Instead of ascots and tennis sweaters, the shady aristocrat wears ripped cargo shorts and faded T-shirts; the self-consciously eccentric socialite makes skirts out of trash bags and plays a vintage sax poorly. The one thing you won’t find in “Truly Devious” is closure — it’s the first book in a series. Based on this promising beginning, it’s fair to assume that the answers will be worth the wait.
“Shadow Girl” by Liana Liu, HarperTeen, 336 pages, $17.99, ages 13 and up
“Are you superstitious?” Coming out of the blue during a job interview, this questions confuses Mei, as it seems irrelevant to the position she’s applying for. Readers of Liana Liu’s engaging second novel will discern early on that “superstitious” is the last word one would use to describe such a pragmatic, clear-eyed and focused character. Whenever someone refers to Mei as her 8-year-old student Ella’s babysitter or nanny, she corrects them: “I’m her academic tutor.” Her sensible perspective gives weight to what might otherwise have been an intriguing but forgettable story about a girl who goes to work for a wealthy family at their island summer home and gets caught up in their drama. The layers of meaning only deepen when, while trying to convince Ella that there is no ghost haunting the house, Mei must finally admit to herself that she’s not sure, about anything.
The title, “Shadow Girl,” resonates strongly with the novel’s themes. It describes the possible ghost, Eleanor, the forgotten daughter of the home’s initial owners, and Ella, who is quiet and withdrawn for reasons Mei tries hard to discover. But perhaps it best applies to Mei, who has lived dutifully in the shadows with her mother, a Chinese immigrant, for much of her life. Mei has grown used to tapering her dreams to fit her circumstances. If she continues in this limited existence, she may end up like Eleanor, sad and angry and out of control.
“The Cruel Prince“ by Holly Black, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 384 pages, $18.99, ages 15 and up
This first volume of Holly Black’s planned young-adult series, “The Folk of the Air,” opens on a soothingly ordinary domestic scene: Three sisters lounge on the couch in front of cartoons. The two younger sisters are identical twins, and the older sister has unusual eyes and pointed ears, but there’s nothing else remarkable about them. They seem like typical kids on a typical day. “Everything was boring. Everything was fine.”
Then, suddenly, as so often happens in Black’s twisty-turny magical tales, everything was not fine.
Plunging from bland suburbia into the brutal, glittering world of the faerie folk, the narrative follows Jude, one of the twins, as she strives to make a place for herself in a society inhospitable to humans. It’s unique that, unlike her half-human, half-faerie sister, Vivi, Jude wants to be there, and she seems willing to do almost anything, even kill, to prove herself worthy. Though the tumultuous political situation, which involves a large cast of faerie royalty fighting to either usurp, escape or ascend to the throne, can be confusing, Jude distinguishes herself as a morally complex, tough but vulnerable main character. And it’s exhilarating to imagine that there’s a realm of dazzling creatures, so like us in some ways and so different in others, who can pop into our mundane lives and, if we’re not careful, carry us away — though they might make a quick stop at Target first.
Christine Heppermann is the author of two books for young adults and co-author of the “Backyard Witch” chapter book series for younger readers.
