The Box in the Woods

Stevie Bell is all set for a boring summer at home. When an entrepreneur owner of a summer camp contacts her with an unsolved case, and she gets to bring her friends along if she agrees to investigate. In 1978, four teenagers were murdered at Camp Wonder Falls, their killer never found.

I devoured the Truly Devious trilogy earlier in the year, so I was delighted when I heard that there’d be a spin-off standalone mystery featuring Stevie and her friends from Ellingham. Even better, it’s set at a summer camp.

I liked the setting, with Stevie staying at the scene of the crime, just some decades on. Again the kids are away from their families, with a sense of freedom. Plus there’s all the camp activities and a lake setting. Its full of the usual warmth and mild humour of the previous books. Just what I want in a YA mystery.

I loved that it acknowledged that the person who owns the camp and got Stevie involved is irresponsible and shouldn’t be getting her to do this. To counteract this, they have a very sensible person running the camp and telling them off for evading their duties.

It’s not quite as good as the books set at Ellingham but I enjoyed spending time with Stevie and friends again. David isn’t in this a huge amount and their relationship is still in a weird place. You could read this as a standalone but it might spoil the previous trilogy if you wanted to read that.

4.2
TW: gun violence, knife violence, gore

I'm so glad Maureen Johnson decided to give us more Stevie and her mysteries! I loved Truly Devious and this spin-off mystery had a lot of the same things I loved from the series itself.

It was so nice to get to see the characters again. I love Stevie, so I was already excited, but I'm glad we also got to see Nate and Janelle, and see how her relationship is going with David. I also loved the new cast of characters we get to meet, and the way they change and interact with each after getting displaced from an eccentric, posh school to a summer camp.

The mystery itself was really fun too. It's just messed up enough to feel genuinely tense and mysterious, while keeping that light hearted, teen detective vibe. The tension itself was played really well and the pacing is, while sometimes just a bit slow due to Stevie's personal problems cropping up, still great.

The twist/answer to the mystery felt both like it fit with the general vibe of the story and like it was playing homage to classic mysteries. It's not the most unique answer, but it still felt true to the story, and the pay off was worth it.

Now I just want more Stevie! I wish the balance between her relationship problems and the mystery itself was a little better, but that can be solved with another book. I want to hear about David, I want to see her friendship with Janelle grow, I was Nate to finish his book finally, but it's hard to satisfy all of that with a bonus novel and make the mystery a true focal point.

Pre-review comments below
Can we please continue these one shot mysteries I want Stevie to be the next Nancy Drew