Another excellent Stevie Bell installment from Johnson! Loved this next episode from this series. I could have done with less of the relationship between Stevie and her boyfriend (I just want the mystery!), though I know teens will definitely appreciate that aspect. I liked that the mystery seemed to fall into Stevie's lap naturally and there were multiple storylines to follow (relationships, lying to the headmaster, the mystery). Overall great read from Johnson!

This was yet another great installment in the series. I really love this group of characters and the mysteries.

I am a huge fan of the truly devious series, like it’s one of my faves! So when I saw that I could request an ARC I jumped at the chance. I honestly couldn’t believe I got approved. I ended up listening to the audio because I love thr narrator so much.

Stevie is back with the crew, except for David who is studying in London. While everyone is putting in college apps Stevie doesn’t know what to do with herself since there aren’t any mysteries to be solved.

When David invites the crew to London, they all jump on the chance. They have strict orders to stick to their schedule, especially Stevie. But of course a mystery that needs to be solved falls into her hands when David’s friend Izzy introduces them to a double-murder cold case. Stevie can’t resist not solving it and puts everyone else in jeopardy of getting in trouble. But no one is really surprised 🤷🏻‍♀️

I loved this book! I couldn’t stop listening and trying to guess who the murderer was. I was constantly wrong 🤣 But I loved the past and present storyline and exploring everyones friendship more. I love this group of friends and will never get tired of reading them!

If you love the previous books in this series, you will love Nine Liars!!!!! I gave this baby ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love the Truly Devious series and I loved The Box in the Woods...but this one didn't hit for me and it crushed me. I thought the mystery was intriguing but it just fell flat and I really am not invested in the romance aspect of the book series. I acknowledge that I am not the demographic for this book but I think it would be stronger without the romance.

I always manage to forget how much I love this series until I pick up the next installment. This book kept me flying through the pages, especially as it's set in London (my favorite place that I've never been) and had a contemporary (ish) mystery that really kept me guessing.

In the fifth book in this series, Stevie is starting to panic about a lot of things. She's a senior this year, and while all of her friends are filling out college applications, Stevie has no idea what the future's got in store for her...and she doesn't really want to think about it. Her boyfriend, David, is studying abroad in London and invites Stevie and her friends to help solve a mystery from 1995. Stevie, anxious for another puzzle to solve, talks the whole gang into heading to London to work on this mystery, and to see the sights. Stevie hopes, that along the way, her future may become more clear to her.

The only problem I had with the story was that there were nine people involved in the 1995 mystery, and it took me a while to get them all straight. Maureen Johnson, though, is a complete master and was able to flesh out all of the characters as we went and I soon was able to remember who was who. I think the fear that Stevie is dealing with regarding her future was captured beautifully and felt genuine to the reality that a lot of high school seniors face.

Another wonderful installment, and with that cliffhanger, I'm already counting down the days to the next one!

Honestly I was skeptical about keeping this series going for more than three books, but it is working surprisingly well. I’m getting attached to our insecure sleuth and her quirky friends. I did think the plot was a bit contrived, but it kept me interested all the way through. I’m really excited to find out what happens next since there were some hints of what might be coming.

My favorite part of these books is Stevie’s characterization - how she talks, observes the world around her, adapts to growing up, and her Sherlock Holmes-style unveiling of each crime that she solves. Seriously - if I could be friends with Stevie in real life, I would. And Nate! I got so much Stevie and Nate in the last book, but I feel like I barely got time with them together in this one. In fact, I sort of feel like the mystery took a back seat to each of the characters’ personal crises. And David? Fuck that guy. I haven’t liked him since book #4.

Johnson’s twists and turns of the actual mystery is always a fun ride - and I liked this one. I just wish there would have been more active mystery solving throughout the entire plot. Regardless, I’ll still read book #6 - especially because I’m hoping David gets a swift kick in the dick like he deserves.

I always love the feeling of returning to characters I already know and love. Stevie is one of those characters for me - I love that while she’s super smart and solving murders, she’s also an awkward teenager who is figuring out her way through awkward teenage moments. This was a quick read - but there’s a part of the ending that didn’t make sense to me (button). I also wish it hadn’t cut off right where it did. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

I like that this book is more than just a mystery. While we have the standard teen detective elements, Johnson also manages to include a lot more relationship complexity than we typically seen in a genre novel. Both romantic and friendships are complex and not always healthy. A decent series that presents a consistent product.

Nine Liars was a little disjointed from the related books, but I thought the story still stood on it's own and sucked me in from the very beginning.

Maureen Johnson is one of those Authors i will read anything she puts out and adore it. This i loved as much as every other by her, and I'm always eager to dive back into the cast. I love the story she is investigating, and I had fun deciding what happened on that long ago day and who was lying and why. It was fun to revisit the cast I've come to love and can't wait to add a physical copy to my collection

Wow! This book was fantastic. I am honestly shocked to say but I am enjoying these standalone mysteries more than the series itself. And talk about a cliff hanger ending?! I’ll just be over here waiting impatiently for the next book

Another great addition by Maureen Johnson but I must say.. No ma’am, I need another book to explain this insane ending. Come on Stevie!

The case in this one definitely kept me interested throughout the book. Especially compared to some of the previous books which I lost interest in whole reading.

Overall, it was nice to get away to a new city and new case. I really do enjoy Stevie and her friends and how the new case Stevie was trying to solve had to do with really close friends.

It was a easy ready and enjoyable. You got some twist and turns thought out as you tried to figure out who was the murderer, but it all came together at the end.

My only thing that made me give it a 4 star ⭐️ read was the very end. Like I can see that it’s going to set it up for the next book, but I feel like that wasn’t a good direction…definitely threw me off.

Unfortunately this book fell flat for me. I love the Truly Devious series and I was really excited to revisit Stevie, Janelle, Nate, and Vi, but the plot line and characters in this book didn't hit the mark for me.

First, the characters. I love Stevie and he group of friends. Johnson has done a great job crafting them as unique, interesting, well rounded characters but for some reason in this book they were all two dimensional and seemed to only show two emotion, frustration and boredom. Usually Stevie and her friend have such a great dynamic and provide a bit of life and fun to a story that is focused on murder and terrible things but this whole book they lacked all of that charm and charisma from previous books. The best part of the whole book was Stevie's conversation with Nate about his sexuality. Otherwise, every interaction the characters had seem to have no purpose except make you frustrated as the reader. And David, I have no idea what was going on with that character this book. I love that in previous books Stevie is with David but her whole life isn't about him, well this book seemed to take a full 180 on that and all of Stevie's moods were about him, she's constantly droning on about him, and it seemed so out of character for her and really disappointing.

Second, the plot and the murder. It really lacked the pizzaz and complexity of the other books, but mainly I just couldn't believe the premise. As a reader you are supposed to go along and believe that an entire group of friends STAYS friends and in contact with each other after two of their friends are brutally murdered and it's pretty obvious that one of them was the one who did it. And not just that, but the fact that none of them question it for almost twenty years and then one suddenly does and she disappears too. Like none of that was suspicious. I had such a hard time believing that and it made the final reveal really underwhelming.

The book ended on multiple cliffhangers and as much as I loved the first trilogy, I really don't know if I will ever read another book in this series again and I wouldn't recommend this book to fans of the first trilogy even if they want to read more.

3.5🌟 nine liars is the fifth book in the truly devious saga, following stevie bell and her friends on a weeklong study abroad trip in london. there, she meets Izzy, a friend of David’s, who basically hands her another case on a silver platter. back in the 90s, Izzy’s aunt and her theatre troupe went on a trip, where two of their friends were murdered with an axe in what appeared to be a burglary gone wrong. but izzy’s aunt isn't so sure, so stevie takes on the case.

i'm always partial to stories set around theatre groups, for the drama and the closeness that their dynamic provides. however, I did feel like out of books in the series, this mystery wasn’t my favorite. it may have been due to the structure of the book. jumping right into the background on the case was a little hard to do out of context, especially with there being 9 people involved, and because of that, we get little time to actually care about them. also, this may just be a me thing, but i found myself pretty indifferent about the reveal. i still love being in Stevie’s orbit, though. she’s so funny and quirky and smart, and the found family between her and her friends is top tier. specifically her closeness with nate warms my heart. david... smh. i can't wait to read the next one.

Maureen Johnson is such a great author and this stand alone novel is a great example of why. I loved the setting and the feeling of being in this old, creepy house. The shifting timelines made the books super fast paced. Great read!

I enjoyed this book. The plot was well paced and the characters felt fully developed. I would recommend this book to others and am looking forward to other works by this author.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, Katherine Tegen Books for allowing me to read this book! This series is still as good as ever! Still love relationships between the main characters and still love the mysteries and murders that they uncover. Is was spooky, fun, suspense, and relatable! A good 4 ⭐️star read!

I KNOW this book did not just end like that.

This is a nice entry into the saga of Stevie Bell, teen detective. This adventure takes her overseas to visit her long-distance boyfriend David and of course the whole crew has to go with her! While there she hears about a cold case involving a tight-knit group of friends called The Nine and it seems that mysterious disappearances and murder may be happening again...

I really love this series and how we have this super complicated mysteries framing a great coming of age story. This one was particularly stressful for the crew from Ellingham as they are quickly approaching graduation and most of them have absolutely no idea what to do after they graduate. Stevie was particularly impactful for me because of her panic attacks. The senselessness of the triggers and how all it takes is one small comment or moment to put her down for the count for hours. The way she tries to ignore this realtiy because this looming doubt of "I am not as important and significant as my friends" follows her through this book. Add on the confusion and stress about moving forward in her relationship with David and you have a really nice addition into the Stevie Bell lore.

This is a perfect story by no means and I'm not positive I like the murder story being drug along for as long as it was but I understand why that device was used. I look forward to additional books in this series because I think I am sufficiently addicted to Stevie and the Crew.