What makes a stellar mystery triumph where others fail? It happens when adventure, suspense, and logic combine with wit and curiosity. Albert Einstein encouraged people to raise questions because curiosity is fundamental to creativity and critical thinking. Successful detectives are those who reflect, question, and challenge the status quo. Mystery as a genre includes suspects, red herrings, code-breaking, deductive reasoning, and problem-solving as elemental to the story structure. Horror is often intermixed because a crime (murderous or not) is committed. Many of these titles also have eco-lit themes, as climate change continues to show up in the plot or subplot.

YA writer Lois Duncan is known for pointing out that there is a three-part formula in every successful mystery: relatable characters, insurmountable goals, and overcoming increasingly difficult odds. The main difference between middle grade and adult mysteries is that tween leads need to overcome obstacles without the help of adult intervention. It takes an outlier or an oddball to view the evidence differently than the average Mary or Joe. Many of the characters have a particular vulnerability from feeling left out, overlooked, or being without the guidance of parents or support of peers. However, YA author Malinda Lo said in a 2017 Horn Book interview, “Traditional murder mysteries are interesting because they’re ostensibly about a horrible thing—murder—but underneath that, they’re about restoring order to a messed-up world.” These 15 titles are entertaining capers that more than fit that bill. The game is afoot!

Chapter Books

Butler, Dori Hillestad. King and Kayla and the Escape Artist. illus. by Nancy Meyers. (King and Kayla: Bk. 11). Peachtree. 2025. ISBN 9781682637005.
Gr 1-3–Pooch King and his human, Kayla, visit Dog Days Day Care only to find that pup friend Houdini dares the dogs to solve his escape trick. Humans help by examining the fence for holes and pointing out that the gate was latched. King deduces that after assessing clues, such as scent, he must catch Houdini in the act. Can King entrap Houdini with the right toys or treats and uncover his escape method? Kayla helps prevent future disappearances by installing rollers on top of fences. Minimal text makes for a great beginning reader for emergent learners. Graduate readers of Eric Hill’s “Spot the Dog” series will enjoy solving this gentle mystery with the charming duo.

DiCamillo, Kate. Mercy Watson Is Missing. illus. by Chris Van Dusen. (Mercy Watson: Bk. 7). Candlewick. 2023. ISBN 9781536210231.
Gr 1-3–When Mrs. Watson discovers that beloved pig Mercy is missing, she uses all her town helpers to search, including Private Investigator Percival Smidgely. Neighbors Stella and Horace, convinced that PI Smidgely isn’t a proper detective (based on his spelling errors and fake mustache), decide to form their own detective agency. Mercy manages to evade kidnappers and is lured to safety with the delectable smell of warm toast and butter. DiCamillo throws classic mystery tropes, a few Easter eggs, and plenty of creativity into this book that will certainly inspire critical thinking.

Green, John Patrick. InvestiGators: Class Action. illus. by John Patrick Green. (InvestiGators: Bk. 8).First Second. 2024. ISBN 978125084990.
Gr 1-3–Mango and Brash are gators working with team S.U.I.T. (Special Undercover Investigation Teams), whose latest assignment is to go undercover, back to their own middle school, and crack a conspiracy to steal mascot costumes from every school in the area. Green includes puns and idioms such as “moles” and “wild goose chase,” as well as misleading information, then uses science to solve the case with hair samples. Some kids might miss the adult humor as the gators discuss the baggage from their own school experience, but “Dog Man” fans will enjoy this detective duo tracking down missing mascots.

Preusser, Heather. Hedgehog Whodunit. illus. by Gal Weizman. (Hedgehog Whodunit: Bk. 1).Andrews McMeel. 2024. ISBN 9781524894009.
Gr 1-3–Someone changed the signs at the zoo, and the panda is loose. Detective Hitch the hedgehog and partner Vinnie the rat are on the case! Packed with idioms, interspersed with real facts and bold vocabulary, this chapter book introduces kids to beloved characteristics of the mystery genre. Preusser explains how readers can identify clues and label wrong actions, such as selfishness or vandalism, for social-emotional learning. This will be a hit for fans of the film Madagascar or Melanie Watt’s Scaredy Squirrel.

Winkler, Henry & Lin Oliver. Detective Duck and the Case of the Missing Tadpole. illus. by Dan Santat. (Detective Duck: Bk. 2). Abrams. 2024. ISBN 9781419766817.
Gr 1-3–Franny the frog closed her cafe to search for her missing son, Tad. Willow, the duck detective, uses deductive reasoning to come to logical conclusions based on facts. Meanwhile, the pond animals stumble onto larger environmental problems that require immediate attention. Winkler and Oliver weave humor and heart into a coming-of-age story set in a pond about a lost tadpole growing into a frog.

Middle Grade

Bourne, Shakira. Beware the Heartman. Scholastic. 2024. ISBN 9781338783599.
Gr 5 Up–A little magic and horror combined with Caribbean folklore make this a cautionary tale about the perils of judging without all the facts. Set on the island of Barbados, 12-year-old Josephine (Jo) solves the mystery of missing children based on old lore of a boogeyman called the Heartman. Readers will be immersed in a world of cricket, breadfruit, and sugarcane fields. When Jo’s neurodivergent friend Ahkai gets accepted at a different school and her dad goes away on a much-needed vacation with his girlfriend, Jo starts to get creeped out by spooky stories. Most readers will appreciate that Jo’s single dad is ready with the supplies in preparation for her first period. Bourne inspires more research into folklore and paves the way for a sequel.

Cotter, Charis. Mystery of the Haunted Dance Hall. Tundra. 2025.ISBN 9781774885550.
Gr 5 Up–When Mom must work, 12-year-old Bee (Phoebe), who has anxiety and claustrophobia and is sensitive to sound, gets sent to sleepaway camp for the first time. She feels vulnerable and alone. Bee meets Zippy, a fellow target of bullies. They team up with Felicity to solve the mystery of the wandering hawks—the 15-year-old campers who are oddly tired every morning, and their flashlights have dead batteries every night. The wandering hawks canoe off to dance and meet boys lured by magic. What appears to be an open-and-shut case soon turns deadly as a ghost torments the camp staff. In this ghostly version of Grimm’s Twelve Dancing Princesses, summer campers address mental health and work with their strengths to solve a century-old mystery of a devastating tragedy.

De Leon, Aya. Untraceable. Candlewick. 2023. ISBN 9781536223750.
Gr 6 Up–In this companion title to Undercover Latina, 15-year-old Amani learns that her mother and father were keeping their spy careers a secret. Amani’s parents work for the Factory, a nonviolent nongovernmental network to help people of color. Amani is told that Factory operatives, such as her mom and dad, were swapped with a Homeland Security database containing terrorists by an internal leak. When Amani mistakenly reveals her true identity, a system of operatives, reminiscent of the Underground Railroad, helps her escape and complete her mission. Even though Untraceable is technically a standalone, it would be helpful if readers have read the previous book to better understand the world of the Factory. This is an engaging tale of family espionage for fans of Ally Carter’s “Gallagher Girls” series.

Korman, Gordon. Snoop. Scholastic. 2025. ISBN 9781546126089.
Gr 5 Up–In a modern-day tween take on Hitchcock’s Rear Window, 12-year-old Martin is out of commission with a broken leg after his brother, Carter, crashed into him skiing. Bored with virtual homeschool, Martin uses drones and hacks into police surveillance cameras around town, spotting endangered animals including a red panda, which is not commonly found in North Carolina. Best friend Ethan and love interest Lacey join the case as Martin’s boredom digs up real-life issues. Korman’s latest is perfect for fans of Carl Hiaasen or Stuart Gibbs’s “FunJungle” series, or those with a passion for protecting endangered animals.

Lynne, Kelly. The Secret Language of Birds. Delacorte. 2024. ISBN 9781524770273.
Gr 5 Up–Nina is a birdwatching aficionado who gets lost in her five-kid family. Aunt Audrey invites Nina to the summer camp she runs in rural Texas. After a secret walk to the haunted infirmary with new pals, the self-labeled oddballs think they spot a ghost, but Nina knows better. The ghost is a genuine pair of endangered whooping cranes. The bird species has not been spotted in the area in over 100 years; there is also a mysterious female bird Nina discovers that cannot be identified. Nina yearns to “leave a fossil,” or make a positive impact, distinguishing herself only to realize the importance of team efforts in conservation. Science educators will appreciate the introduction to ornithologists John Audubon and Florence Merriam.

Munda, Rosaria. The Mean Girl Mission. (Confessions of a Junior Spy: Bk 2).Feiwel & Friends. Jan. 2026. ISBN 9781250363831.
Gr 5 Up–Bea (Beatrice) returns with spy mom, chef dad, and best friend and fellow spy-kid Tommy to finally leave the Pangeon Hotel for her first solo mission. Friend Chantal thinks “mean girl,” AKA Mabel, is part of an international team of assassins known as the Arctic Assassins, going undercover at her school. Gifted with a special set of skills and armed with knives and a Kevlar bra, Bea is a fish out of water socially at school. After infiltrating a sleepover, Bea learns more about herself and her friends than she planned. In this installment that feels like The Incredibles without the supernatural component, Bea returns to help her friend infiltrate nemesis spies at school and prepare for her solo spy mission.

Patterson, James & Keir Graff. MK’s Detective Club: The Poison Puzzle. (MK’s Detective Club. Bk. 1). Little, Brown/JIMMY Patterson. 2024.ISBN 9780316412339.
Gr 5 Up–Minerva Keen, a 12-year-old resident of the Arcanum apartment building in Chicago, detects a plot to poison neighbors. Accompanied by her brother, Heck, and new pal Santos, Minerva puts her observation skills to the test. While her parents are away in Australia, Minerva is left with her absent-minded professor aunt, and she soon butts into the police investigation. Like Kay Thompson’s Eloise, inquisitive Minerva pretty much has the run of her building, but her genuine interest in people makes her a charming role model for tweens. This title paves the way for the next in the series, since readers are not sure why neighbors were harboring exotic poisonous animals with the intent to harm. Fans of media like Only Murders in the Building and Harriet the Spy will enjoy the start of this series.

Russell, Ally. Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave. Delacorte. 2025. ISBN 9780593896914.
Gr 5 Up–Mystery is used to being an oddity. She is a 13-year-old Puerto Rican girl, aptly named by her adopted aunt Lucy after being abandoned at the cemetery where Lucy is a funeral director. Mystery has unusual abilities, such as smelling ghosts, and soon uncovers a grave-robbing scandal with loyal friend Garrett. Garrett teaches Mystery to use rational journalism with the five Ws (who, what, where, why, and when) to prevent the ghostly demonic vampire Baron from reemerging. Can Mystery save Aunt Lucy’s cemetery by conning a magical terror, or will she become sidetracked searching for her birth mother? This is a horror fantasy within a mystery about finding one’s family and healing a town.

Savaryn, Lorelei. Night Train. Viking. 2024. ISBN 9780593524183.
Gr 5 Up–Twin sisters Nat and Maddie have their share of stressors: their family just moved to a new home that their parents are overhauling for their home renovation YouTube channel; they are healing from their beloved, ghost-hunting Nana’s loss; and now the twins have inherited her ability to see ghosts. To top it off, every year, the town of Hush reenacts a horrific train wreck. Maddie can see the ghost of Daisy, who is somehow connected to the disaster. Maddie digs into the past to realize that the narrator of a story is not always blameless, and the twins uncover magical curses that lead to missing children. A little magic and horror entwine as these twins use their powers to rewrite history with the truth.

Thummler, Brenna. Gumshoe. HarperAlley. Jan. 2026. ISBN 9780063335288.
Gr 6 Up–Teen runaways Whip, Pepsy, and Beanie follow mail carrier Susanna to make up the Gumshoe Gang, intent on locating the infamous Two Gum Tilly, a legendary mail outlaw. Willa enjoys her solitude and dreams of becoming a mail carrier since writing letters does not involve talking. When Willa’s anxiety causes her to rescind a letter she intended to give to her mailman, she gets mistaked for Two Gum Tilly and runs away. Now it’s up to Willa and the gang to nab the real Two Gum and clear Willa’s name. Thummler creates a rollicking story out of real-life mail theft. This graphic novel bounces back in time, following a ragtag group of runaways determined to find who has been stealing birthday cards and why.

Laura Dooley-Taylor received her M.L.I.S. from Dominican University and is a librarian at Lake Zurich Middle School North, Hawthorn Woods, IL.