Book Review: The Velvet Knife by Maureen Johnson

“Return to the world of Truly Devious as Stevie Bell and her friends travel to New York to solve a murder in the next standalone mystery from New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson.”

Goodreads blurb for The Velvet Knife

Review:

As usual when reading the Truly Devious series, after reading book five, I needed to know how the cliffhanger ends up being resolved. I was fortunate to have read it earlier this year, so it was still fairly fresh in my mind.

Stevie turns eighteen and is excited to no longer have to live under her parents’ rules. She’s free to delve into her mysteries and detective work. But it doesn’t feel the same with so many unresolved feelings surrounding David and with her friends all deep into college prep. At least there is still one mystery to solve, this one connecting back to a 1970s cult.

I’m not entirely surprised by my not liking this book given I didn’t enjoy the previous two books, but I had still been hopeful. The historical mystery was okay, but it also felt like it included a lot of info-dumping about Watergate, which was barely necessary for the plot for the extent to which it was discussed. 

I’m assuming this is the conclusion to the series, which makes the ending of this book even more disappointing. While Stevie growing away from her teenage self is natural, she chooses the wrong things to hang on to.

Thanks to HarperCollins Children’s Books and NetGalley for providing a free digital ARC of the book.

Likes & Dislikes:

What I liked:

• The historical mystery was intriguing (granted, predictable).

What I didn’t like:

• The characters feel hollow compared to how they felt at the beginning of the series.
• I was hoping for David to have some decent character growth.
• I read this during a road trip where I’d had very little sleep, so I might have genuinely missed something, but I’m so confused by the amount of Watergate discussion.

Afterthoughts:

Even if this isn’t the conclusion to the Truly Devious series, this is where I’ll be ending my journey with it.

Where to buy the book: