The Box in the Woods

Books | Young Adult Fiction / Mysteries & Detective Stories

4.2

(1.9K)

Maureen Johnson

After solving the case of Truly Devious, Stevie Bell investigates her first mystery outside of Ellingham Academy in this spine-chilling and hilarious stand-alone mystery from New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson.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.* Cosmopolitan Best YA Books of 2021 * People Magazine Best Books of Summer 2021*

Thriller

Mystery

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Author

Maureen Johnson

Pages

400

Publisher

HarperCollins

Published Date

2021-06-15

ISBN

0063032627 9780063032620

Ratings

Google: 5

Community ReviewsSee all

"A stand alone book. You don't have to read the Truly Devious series first. (Although you'll want to read it when you finish. ) #summercampmurdermystery "

Brandi Always Reading

"🌕🌕🌕🌕🌘 I sped through this book for my standards because it was just so hard to put down. I loved revisiting the characters for the original series because these are some of the most well crafted mysteries I’ve ever read. This one felt a little scrunched into one book and I wonder if the freedom of a series would have given it more room to flourish. Nevertheless it kept me guessing and on my toes the whole time. I also love the characters. (Especially Nate). There were some seriously funny bits that I had to read over because I was enjoying it so much. Stevie and David still seem a little lacking but this book made massive steps in that. Having Stevie talk to more victims of the crimes who were still around let us see a side of her we haven’t before. One that cared more about the people than the case. (No shade to Truly Devious Stevie but she was investigating the 30s). I do think the overall conclusion felt a little random. I like to think I maybe could have guessed that when I finished a mystery rather than the author bring in a totally different plot point in the last 50 pages."

Abby

"4/5 stars, I felt that the books before were better. The answer to the mystery seemed like it was forced in, and some parts felt long, but other than that it was good "

Madi

"So I liked it but nothing more than that. Most of the book was kind of a waste of time because all the information came at the end. When it comes to murder-mystery books I like solving the mystery out with the MC but in this one the book/ MC just throw all the facts at you at the end when everyone else found out. I also like when as the reader your given all the fact to figure out the case so you can also figure it out for yourself but in this book you don’t get the opportunity to do that. So, for the reason listed, I give this a 3 out of 5. It could have been really good especially if ____(If you read the book I sure you know who this blank if for) was alive and around for the unveiling of the murder at the end, but that didn’t happen which left the ending really dry."

awesome_user_272740

"7/10 this book was good but didn’t necessarily have me on the edge of my seat. I loved Stevie but the rest of the characters felt a little 2D (this may just be because I haven’t read truly devious) Overall, this was a good read. "