The Box in the Woods

The Box in the Woods is the fourth book featuring teen detective Stevie Bell in Maureen Johnson's Truly Devious universe, and the first to send Stevie beyond Ellingham Academy on a standalone mystery. It pairs a classic unsolved summer-camp cold case with Stevie's sharp, anxious, deeply likable investigative voice.

Johnson builds the novel on a dual timeline, cutting between the 1978 murders of four camp counselors at Camp Wonder Falls and Stevie's present-day investigation at the rebranded Sunny Pines, where a true-crime podcast becomes the excuse to reopen the case. The structure lets long-buried small-town secrets surface piece by piece while the danger to Stevie and her friends escalates.

Designed to work both as a continuation for existing fans and an entry point for new readers, The Box in the Woods delivers the twisty plotting, humor, and atmosphere that define the series.