Thursday, June 24, 2021

Review: The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson




The Box in the Woods 
by Maureen Johnson 
Publication Date: June 15th 2021 
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books 
Find This Book: The Box in the Woods 
Rating: 5/5



I was given an early finalized copy in by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Box in The Woods is a standalone companion novel to Maureen Johnson's Truly Devious trilogy. The best part is? You can 100% read this without reading the original trilogy first! I know, because I did. Maureen is a fantastic writer who made me feel right at home with these new-to-me characters. Standalones are such a great way to include new readers into a fandom-- they're a great way to 'sample' the characters and world building before diving into the original trilogy! All of the Truly Devious books are certainly on my TBR now!

The book itself is about amateur sleuth Stevie Bell who heads to summer camp at Sunny Pines where four gruesome murders happened back in the 70's. Can she solve this cold-case and prove she's not a one-hit-wonder???

This book is set in Massachusetts and it made me feel both homesick and nostalgic for my childhood (minus the murders). Stevie and her friends have really grown on me and the writting and clues are so well paced. Honestly, I hope Maureen Johnson starts writing more mystery standalone with Stevie (in the vein of a modern Nancy Drew series!)