Teaser Tuesday: Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson.

Truly Devious – Katherine Tegen Books

Stevie had no fears of the dead. The living, however, sometimes gave her the creeps.
— Chapter 10

It had the feeling of a strange game, and one that filled Stevie with a low, simmering worry.
Games are not fun if you don’t know you’re playing.
— Chapter 13

Book titles are hard. I don’t say this as an excuse for every bad title ever made but from a sympathetic position. What I love about this title is that it so obviously states its intent. And that it works so well on so many levels for this book. I have disliked the analysis of poems and prose ever since my school days because I think that you kill words once you have to pick them apart, but I could easily write a whole essay on the title of this book. Which I won’t do, no worries, I’m just still quite captivated by all the layers.
I might be a little cross with Maureen for writing this before continuing Shades of London (I really hope there is another book coming) but I understand that if something demands to be written it has to take centre stage (and all the other reasons her writing was delayed – those definitely take precedence). Luckily, this prominent spot is quite deserved. Stevie is a very compelling main character and I immensely enjoyed following her on her investigation. I also liked the dual timelines which don’t exactly interact but intersect and inform each other on a very interesting level, you basically get two stories for the price of one and possibly a third overlay.
The nature of a mystery calls for inconsistencies so I’m not calling on them until I’m certain they aren’t intentional. I am very much looking forward to the continuation and how Stevie deals not with one but two discoveries/developments. And I really hope she solves at least the staircase riddle if not the whole thing, which feels very interconnected.

Are you a mystery and/or crime reader? I’m usually avoiding them unless it’s an author I already know and trust. Share your teasers and preferences in the comments.