Books like The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious Book 2)

The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious Book 2) by Maureen Johnson reads as suspenseful, intriguing. These 12 books share its genome — matched by how they actually read, not just their shelf label.

What The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious Book 2) is like to read

A gripping sequel deepening a YA mystery investigation at an elite academy, balancing procedural tension with intimate relationships and identity questions as Stevie confronts escalating personal danger tied to her amateur sleuthing. Best for: readers seeking character-driven mystery with boarding school intrigue, puzzle-solving, and coming-of-age stakes; fans of Maureen Johnson's suspenseful yet emotionally grounded style.

The hand on the wall

Maureen Johnson · 2020

A high-stakes mystery thriller where amateur detective Stevie Bell confronts the culmination of her investigation into the Ellingham case while isolated by a blizzard, balancing ur

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Truly Devious

Maureen Johnson · 2018

A boarding-school mystery braided with a cold-case kidnapping from the 1930s — puzzle-forward with academy atmosphere and a teen sleuth chasing a nearly century-old riddle.

mildly eerieYAcliffhanger

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

Holly Jackson · 2019

A propulsive true-crime-flavored YA mystery told partly through Pip's project logs, interview transcripts, and texts — puzzle-forward, twist-stacked, and easy to binge in a sitting.

creepy, not goryYA

Nothing More to Tell

Karen M. McManus · 2022

A teen true-crime fan's TV internship reopens a teacher's unsolved murder, unraveling secrets that implicate people close to her and force uncomfortable reckonings with the past.

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THE ESCAPE GAME

Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss · 2025

A reality-TV escape-room competition curdles into a murder investigation as teen contestants race puzzles and a killer's trail at once.

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Killer Instinct

Jennifer Lynn Barnes · 2014

A dark, fast-paced thriller following a teen profiler recruited into an elite FBI program to hunt serial killers.

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Genuine fraud

E. Lockhart · 2017

A backward-unfolding cat-and-mouse story of identity theft and betrayal between two young women, building dread as the reader learns the truth in reverse.

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