I've loved the Stevie Bell series since day 1. Some of the love comes from buddy reading the books and theorizing what's going to happen. Having a partner to help you ponder the hints that are dropped through the book adds to the excitement.

That being said, this latest Stevie Bell story, was a little lacking. Overall, it was an enjoyable read and being left with a cliffhanger definitely guarantees that I'm going to pick up the next book but the excitement, the buildup, it just wasn't there until the end - it was slow.

I also understand that this is a YA series but the relationship between Stevie and David has me skimming and moving on. It's tiring reading about their 'will they, won't they' storyline.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the chance to read this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Maureen Johnson continues to spin more stories about teen-detective Stevie Bell. Readers who loved the original Truly Devious trilogy and the other Stevie Bell book, Box in the Woods, will love this standalone, as well. Stevie and company are off on adventure to London to visit her boyfriend David and maybe solve a murder mystery at the same time. Stevie is her same endearing self, and readers will happily follow along with her in step as she unravels the murder of two Cambridge students. If one hasn't read the original series, Johnson fills in some gaps here and there with references (but no spoilers!) to the previous books. This novel could also create some new Stevie-fans who might run to pick up the original trilogy. With mind-bending puzzles and shifty characters to snoop on, Nine Liars will not disappoint any lover of mysteries.

I absolutely adore the Truly Devious series, it's the perfect cozy mystery series. Just as before Nine Liars features the main group - Stevie, David, Nate, Janelle and Vi. They find themselves in England studying abroad for a week and a mystery that needs solving just happens to fall into Stevie's life. Much like the original mystery, this one took place decades ago and is still unsolved with some conflicting information available regarding it.

I was sucked in by this mystery right away and found myself rushing to the end to figure out everything going on. I found myself constantly guessing and trying to figure out exactly what was happening and trying to solve the mystery (which I failed at). Though this book is still a little slower than the rest, once the mystery gets going things start progressing quickly.

The Truly Devious series is so fun, and this time Stevie & Co make their way across the pond to visit beloved David and, naturally, investigate a cold case. This was a quick, fun read that fits well into the series and I can't wait to see what happens next for Stevie.

This was a solid addition to the Truly Devious series. I enjoyed getting a closer, more personal if you into Stevie‘s life. At times it was a little hard to keep up with The Nine, but not enough that it detracted from the story or caused any real confusion. The setting was perfect as well, I’m dying (lol) to visit a manor outside of London now! I cannot wait for the next installment.

Nine Liars was another fantastic addition to the Truly Devious series. As with the others, it featured Stevie, David, Nate, Janelle and Vi. This time they’re headed to sunny England for a week away, staying in London near Stevie’s boyfriend, David. It’s not long until a mystery falls into Stevie’s lap. Decades ago nine friends went away for a holiday get away at the end of the university semester. Only seven of them returned. It was believed a burglar broke in and was fumbled by two members of the group. But then, the burglar killed them, and the rest is history. Or so it was believed. David’s friend, Izzy, niece of one the seven who remained, tells Stevie about the murders, and about the fact that her aunt has her theories. Theories which don’t include a burglar. Once again, Stevie is sucked into a case, left trying to unravel the strings someone very carefully tied together.

Like all the other Truly Devious books, this one sucked me in and didn’t spit me back out until I’d reached the final page. It was as mind twisting, heart wrenching and intriguing as the rest of them. I adore how in these books, even the tiniest little detail can mean the difference between finding the truth and finding another lie. This book was no exception to that. I found myself trying to figure it out, thinking carefully about each member of the remaining seven, removing the ones I thought were innocent from my list. I’m proud to say that I had the murderer pegged from around the fifty percent mark, the process of elimination coming in handy.

I will say, this book felt different from the others. It took quite a while to get into the mystery and because they were only in London for a week, a lot of the scenes felt too rushed or too slow. It focused more on Stevie as a person—and while I don’t personally believe that was a bad thing—I think it meant the mystery suffered a bit. The mystery seemed to take a back seat in this book and while it was as enticing as the other four books, it felt like it needed a bit more.

And don’t get me started on that cliff hanger. Maureen Johnson I’m gonna need book six on my desk by tomorrow morning.

All in all, I enjoyed this very much. I can’t wait for the paperback to come out so I can add it to my collection. I will be eagerly awaiting the sixth book. (Maureen I’m looking at you.)

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Apparently Maureen Johnson has been wanting to write an English country house mystery her whole life.

I have been waiting my whole life to read a Maureen Johnson Country House Mystery™️

Nine Liars did not disappoint.

If you have not read any of the Stevie Bell mysteries yet? You should get on it. They are all fabulous. Each one better than the last.

But Maureen, we need to talk about that ending.

I am feeling a lot of emotions right now. Especially since I’m still holding out hope for Shades of London No. 4…

But if you’re in the market for the perfect British mystery, have I got the book for you.

Lovely read. Always easy and fast paced. I will definitely add this to my classroom library. I look forward to more by this author.

I love that this series can technically be read as standalone books, but in order to know the big mystery you need to be following from the beginning. Definitely a must read for those who love suspense!

Out of every mystery in this entire series so far, I like this one the most. Back in 1995, nine close friends spent a night playing hide-and-seek in an old English manor during a stormy night. The morning after, they discovered that two of them had been murdered brutally in the woodshed of the manor. It was ruled a burglary gone wrong, but one of them had seen something inexplainable that night.

Nine Liars
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: YA Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 12/27/22
Author: Maureen Johnson
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 464
GR: 4.07

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and HarperCollins and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

My Thoughts: This book is part of the Truly Devious series, but can absolutely read as a standalone. There are a lot of characters, hence the title, Nine Liars. At first, it was a bit confusing, but a little while into it, you get used to the characters. The story takes place in the 1990’s and gives a Melrose Place vibe. The characters range from very likable and relatable to not so much. Stevie and David are the main characters, but everyone plays a part in this cold case of whodunit. The plot was delivered well in mysterious layers. The characters, even numerous, were developed to an extent, mysterious, and creative. The author’s writing style was complex, intriguing, and engaging. I recommend picking up this one, as well as the others in the series.

Maureen Johnson nails it every time for me. When I found out this book was coming out I knew I had to read it.

Stevie is a true crime lover like me and always finds herself in the middle of a mystery. This time though it’s a current missing persons cases that has to do with a cold case involving 9 best friends.

I really like what this book did for their friendships. In each book we get more growth which for me is important. Stevie, Nate, Janelle, and Vi are seriously a power house.

I will say I figured out who the murderer was pretty early on which was kind of a bummer for me because I like more of a surprise. I will say I didn’t guess the motive so that was still a good reveal.

Maureen Johnson has a way with the reveal. I always feel like is pretty well paced and somewhat believable.

Now I don’t want to talk to much about Stevie and David but I will say I wish their relationship was a little more prominent in the story.

With the cliffhanger at the end we better be getting another book. Please Miss Johnson give us more. I need to know what happens!

I really enjoyed the change of scenery in this book, who doesn't like a murder mystery that takes place in London? There were ups and downs throughout the book. It was a lot of characters to introduce for just one book and it was a little hard to keep track of and care about them. I did not figure out the mystery, looking back there were clues, but I thought the motivation was really weak.

OKAY WELL… I love this series, I love the characters, and I love the mysteries! NIne Liars was no exception while the group travels to England and alas, another murder mystery falls into their hands. This book has a huge cast of characters and at first, I was really concerned that I would forget everyone getting introduced, but I thought Johnson did a wonderful job of making them identifiable as the story flashes back to the scenes of the crime. I did have some qualms though with the main characters and plot that made this less enjoyable for me- I was not a fan of some of the group dynamics, but something about it felt off.. And don't get me started about the ending because I was ready to FIGHT!!!! As well as, the mystery felt inconclusive at the end, but I think this was the choice because of how the entire book ended, clearly it was setting up book 6 to start off right where this one ends. I am eagerly awaiting the next book and until then I’ll just scream at the way this book ends.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for giving me a copy in exchange for my honest review!

Loved this! The Truly Devious series is one of my favorites and it always delivers! I will read any book in this series if she comes out with more, and I wouldn’t be opposed to rereading them either.

I LOVE the cover. I LOVED the mystery. The nine were messy and loyal. I had no idea who the murderer was until the end. The relationship between Stevie and David and Stevie lying to her friends brought the rating down for me. Everything was great. I had fun. I was present throughout the entire read. I read 25%-100% straight through. I enjoyed being with Stevie and her friends. I love her friendship with Nate. I enjoyed even more reading about the nine and all their drama. I look forward to the next one. Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley to the opportunity to read this in exchange for a review.

3.25 stars

TW: toxic friendships, murder, panic attacks, infidelity, drugs and alcohol.

1995 - Nine Cambridge students go to Merriweather, a huge rich manor in the British countryside to spend a week there as their last hurrah before they go their separate ways in life. The brewing then turned violent storm does not deter the youth from playing a game of hide and seek on the countryhouse grounds, only giving up around 2 am when 2 of them were still missing. They go back inside, drink a rare and expensive bottle of whiskey and pass out. The next morning, the 2 missing students are found... dead.

Present - Stevie is still at Ellingham Academy, where she keeps on finding ways to distract herself from focusing on college applications. Her main distraction is her boyfriend David, who is currently attending college in London. In fact, he calls her (kinda) drunk and tells her to go join him for a week with Nate, Janelle and Vi: they'll make an educational school trip out of it. Somehow, the headmaster Dr Quinn agrees to this [very realistic indeed] and they set off to England.
However, once they reach their destination, Stevie and David's time together is unwittingly boicotted by David's friend, Izzy, whose aunt might know something about a murder that happened when she was young, a murder that was never sold and - therfore - immediately catches Stevie's undivided attention.


This 5th installment in the Truly Devious series was... heartbreakingly disappointing for me.
We know Maureen Johnson can write a mystery book, the murders were indeed intriguing and she can hands down totally pull off the double story line structure. All the rest was an absolute MESS.

First of all, it almost felt more like a romance book with a murdery twist instead of a msytery book with a romantic component running its course in the background.
For the way we have gotten to know Stevie in the past books, solving a murder should have been her main priority; and yet she spends so much time thinking about David and what he thinks and what if he gets tempted by a girl in England and is there something going on between him and Izzy or are they just friends? The time spent on the actual investigation was so little and rushed I felt like the author had completely forgotten all about it, if it weren't for the storyline in the past that kept our focus on the mystery at hand.
Hence, the pacing felt much slower than it should have been for a ya mystery book - and for a Truly Devious book.

Second of all - and this really pissed me off - there was no character development at all.
Actually, there was a lot of character... undevelopment? A regression. A fall from maturity. The lie Stevie tells her best friend a lie that was unacceptable and, even worse, a useless attempt at creating drama - and I say useless because when Janelle found out the truth, Stevie was forgiven pretty much immediately and there was no consequence or fall back whatsoever; which, again, was totally unbelievable because for how we've gotten to know Janelle, she would have not reacted well to such a lie that compromised her academic future. Her utter selfishness caught me off guard and what's worse is tht nobody, not even Janelle, really calls her out on it and this is a very blatant case of toxic friendship; Janelle and her other friends will go along with whatever she wants or does, even though there wasn't any inkling that Stevie would do the same, that she cares for their wellbeings and futures and so on. So yes, very toxic.

Third of all, I had a few issues with queer representation. After 4 books, a character comes out as ace. Normally I'd be so happy and be all like "yes to being yourself and coming out for who you truly are, go you!" and I'd throw confetti and give them a hug. But we didn't see that process of figuring out who you are, we didn't see any clue from that character that they might have been ace, nothing that led to such revelation and, even worse, nothing else followed that coming out. It was an isolated parenthesis that was disconnected from everything else that was happening and had no other references to anything else in the whole book. It irked me because it truly felt like Maureen Johnson was riding a trend: "People now are asking for more asexual representation? Uh, I haven't said anything romantic about that character in the previous books, let's make them ace!" and... that's just wrong. And it's not the point of having queer rep just to have it.

Also, the author fed Janelle a line that might have given us a clue as to Vi's biological sex? And Vi identifies as nonbinary. I don't identify as nonbinary (they/them), so I'll pass my judgement to the enby community for this specific issue but... to me, it felt a bit wrong.


If I hadn't been listening to the audiobook, finishing it would have been much more of a struggle; I still had to suffer through what I mentioned above, but this way it was much more manageble
Also, that ending? What was the reason to leave us with that ending? It felt sudden in very negative way, out of the blue and rushed, serving no purpose other than having the readers ask for another book in the series just to have that ending undone.
I was expecting to love Nine Liars like the rest of the books in the series and that did not happen, so I am very disappointed. And, unfortunately, hesitant to pick up the next one - because that ending was only a marketing plug for the next one, which pisses me off even more.

I enjoyed this new installment in the Truly Devious series! Stevie is back and still on her game, this time in London!

I enjoyed both timelines of this, but I do wish we had a *little* more in 1995. I loved the angle the book took/how Stevie solved the crime, this was a cool method!

I can’t say more without giving away important pieces, but if you enjoyed the other TD, especially A Box in the Woods, you’ll like this too!

I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

Stevie Bell & Company con their way into a school-sanctioned trip to England where they become embroiled in an unsolved murder case from the mid-90s. As always, following Stevie's thought process as she absorbs details to find clues is satisfying, and she kept me guessing until the end. While enjoyable, the 5th volume of Truly, Devious feels overstuffed compared to the first four. The b0ok begins with a long introduction to the eponymous nine players in a university sketch comedy group. The personalities and group dynamics are gradually revealed, but it took a while to differentiate each of these new characters. {Note: I had an easier time listening to this in audio where the narrator's voices made each character more distinct. A friend who read an ebook copy she didn't really get a grasp on some of The Nine.] Also, a weeklong trip was too short a period for all the mystery-solving, teen romantic drama, sightseeing, and fretting over college applications. All that being said, I will be making grabby hands for book 6.

While this book felt a little more like collegiate drama rather than a mystery sometimes, after five books we are invested in these characters and it didn't matter one bit. Love Stevie so much--she has had a wonderful arc. The cliffhanger crushed my soul however, can't wait for book 6!