But larger issues are at play. Where did the murderer hide? What’s the meaning of the riddle Albert Ellingham left behind? And what, exactly, is at stake in the Truly Devious affair? The Ellingham case isn’t just a piece of history—it’s a live wire into the present. Even if you happen to continue this series until the end of time, I can assure you I will read each and every one of them. That's a promise. Only Nate gives me hope, he’s a writer suffering from creativity crisis, he is weird, a little nerd, but he was the most trustworthy one who always supported Stevie! He is my hero candidate! Later that night, Stevie and David talk. He finds out about her deal with his dad and is furious about it. Stevie feels terrible. She also wonders if her deal with Edward King will be off if David knows about it. After their conversation, David ignores Stevie completely. The Agatha Christie-like ecosystem pairs with lacerating contemporary wit, and alternating past and present scenes makes for a multilayered, modern detective story.” — New York Times Book Review

Also, I don't know if it's just me but Edward King reminds me a lot of Donald Trump. I was wondering before why Stevie hated the politician so much, but now......I completely understand your hatred Stevie.😔 Writing is a lot of sitting down... It's a lot of trying things out and screwing up... It's either amazing or it's the worst thing in the world. Sometimes it goes well, and it's all you think about, and then, it's gone. It's like you're taking a ride down a river really fast, and then all of a sudden, there's no water. You're just sitting in a raft, trying to push it along in the mud. And then you've become me." The Vanishing Stair was what I expected it to be; an unnecessary bridge to the third book and this whole series could have been a duology. Yes, this book fell into the second book syndrome with much blabber and not much happening till the end! Let’s focus on the plot line because if I write more about my feelings about the characters, I can blurt out something and I’ll hate myself if I ruin your reading experience.I am actually happy I put off reading Truly Devious for almost a year after it was released, because honestly, I don't think I could have waited for the sequel.

TRULY DEVIOUS is a really good/and exciting murder mystery that tweens can handle. I think ages 10-12 are perfect, at least not 14-- it is something tweens can handle. The book goes from past to present and its about Stevie who wants to solve a murder. Of course you would expect lots of gruesome, bloody violence but there's not much of it. Only some mild blood- - but nothing tweens can handle, and the violence is not explicit its pretty mild. Most of the ''violence'' is talking about murder, than showing/describing any dead body-- except in one scene where they find a dead body (not gruesome nor gory; limited injuries) Besides that, there is some language still not offensive to one and other just to show expression. Still, its not really a problem as tweens will be captivated by the amazing mystery and adventure the book has, so they wont focus much on the language (language is mostly infrequent).There's some mild romance of teens, but nothing to racy-- or raunchy-- tweens can handle as this is the age where they start to like each other/feel attracted and that's all the book has. Mild drinking is also frequent, but nothing to excess-- and no one gets heavily drunk/or dangerous, but do expect very mild drinking at parties which is completely normal. This book is exciting to read but still faces the problems of the second book in the trilogies. There is no world-building in this one like the first book, Truly devious. There is also no proper ending as it happens only in the third book. The plot is engaging but nothing spectacular. So it will be challenging to find staunch supporters for this book. Some robotic characters with zero emotional depth with their super lame leader Stieve trying to solve the 80 year old crime which the FBI couldn't solve !

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I THINK YOU GUYS GET THE IDEA. BUT HONESTLY. NATE IS THE BEST CHARACTER. I LOVE HIS SARCASM AND HIS PERSONALITY AND HIS FRIENDSHIP WITH STEVIE!! UGHHHH.