Why Listen to This Audiobook?
A girl enrolls at a murder school specifically to solve the murder — and Kate Rudd makes that obsession feel completely rational.
- Great if you want: dual-timeline YA mystery with a locked-school setting
- Listening experience: cozy-creepy slow burn — puzzle pieces, not jump scares
- Narration: Rudd captures Stevie's anxious, true-crime-brain energy perfectly
- Skip if: you need a resolved mystery — book 1 ends open
About This Audiobook
Stevie Bell arrives at Vermont's elite Ellingham Academy with more than academic ambitions on her mind. The prestigious boarding school sits at the center of a decades-old mystery: the unsolved kidnapping of the founder's family, marked only by a chilling riddle signed "Truly Devious." While navigating demanding coursework and eccentric classmates, Stevie throws herself into investigating the cold case. Her amateur detective work takes an urgent turn when new crimes echo the academy's dark past, forcing her to connect historical threads with present dangers.
Kate Rudd delivers a nuanced performance that captures both Stevie's obsessive determination and her teenage vulnerability. Her vocal work distinguishes each character clearly while maintaining the story's mounting tension through clever pacing shifts between past and present timelines. Rudd's narration particularly shines during Stevie's internal monologues, conveying the protagonist's analytical mind without losing emotional resonance. The audio format enhances the mystery's atmospheric quality, allowing listeners to absorb clues and red herrings naturally while Rudd guides them through Johnson's intricate plotting with steady confidence.
