It's the latest installment of the Truly Devious series. Stevie and the gang (Janelle, Vi and Nate) are in their senior year at Ellingham Academy (except for David, because he graduated). Everyone is feeling the pressure of their impending graduation -- while Janelle is stressing over what schools to apply to (is 27 too much?), Stevie is avoiding the subject, because graduation = losing the family she's found in her friends.
Stevie's still dating David (and I like the boy, even if he can be an arse sometimes), but it's a long-distance thing because David's studying at Cambridge. David invites the 4 to come to London for Thanksgiving Break. The gang is able to persuade Dr. Quinn to approve the trip (even though she's onto them about the real reason they're going). Stevie's excited (as excited as anxiety-prone Stevie can get) but the trip isn't the romantic rendezvous she imagined: David has a perky new bestie in the form of Izzy, a classmate at Cambridge. (Cue Stevie's insecurity). Stevie really wants to hate her, but Izzy is genuinely nice, so she can't.
Izzy, in fact, wants Stevie's help: in 1995, her aunt, Angela, along with 8 of her friends (they called themselves the Nine) went on a minibreak to Merryweather Manor. They had a rainy, cold, drunken game of hide-and-seek... and the next day, they saw something nasty in the woodshed (Cold Comfort Farm reference): Two of the Nine were there, chopped up with an axe. Izzy's Aunt Angela let something slip when she was high on pain meds after surgery and Izzy's convinced that Stevie can solve the mystery.
As with previous installments, we have flashbacks to 1995 and get to know the group of suspects. Johnson skillfully uses found family of the Nine to expose the present-day issues Stevie and the gang are facing. While book doesn't have the oomph of the first 3, it's definitely an improvement on #4. Johnson still hasn't quite mastered how to handle a stand-alone mystery (the trilogy was great at fleshing out all the players, but the standalones feel a bit lacking), but at least this time there were enough clues that you might be able to guess the killer. (I didn't, btw. I thought it was the guy who stuffed the keys down his pants. Yes, that gets mentioned several times. Did I mention the Nine were drunk?)
I really enjoy the dynamic between Stevie and her friends and Nate remains my favorite character, with Stevie a close second. Yet again, Stevie makes some boneheaded decisions as she learns how to navigate having friends and how to be a friend to these people she cares about. The book does a good job of portraying that anxiety you face your senior year of high school, whether it's avoiding applying to college, narrowing down where to apply, or just applying everywhere (71 colleges!).
I'm not happy with the ending, though. It just kind of stopped, in the middle of a cliffhanger. Some might rejoice at the development, but I'm left hoping that things get resolved quickly, rather than continuing the angst that comes with relationships and growing up.
A solid 4 stars.
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