Mystery and Suspense for Teens

Abrahams, Peter. Down The Rabbit Hole : An Echo Falls Mystery. 2005. (YA Mystery Abrah.P)

In the first of the series, Ingrid must figure out who killed Cracked-Up Katie so that she doesn’t get implicated when her shoes are found at the crime scene. Alice in Wonderland, the start of a romance, and family trouble all play a role. The next two in the series: Behind the Curtain and Into the Dark pick up where Down the Rabbit Hole ends. (Grade 6-up)

Abrahams, Peter. Reality Check. 2009. (YA Mystery Abrah.P)

After a knee injury destroys sixteen-year-old Cody's college hopes, he drops out of high school and gets a job in his small Montana town, but when his ex-girlfriend disappears from her Vermont boarding school, Cody travels cross-country to join the search.

Arnold, Ted. Rat Life. 2007. (YA Mystery Arnol.T)

After developing an unusual friendship with a young Vietnam War veteran in 1972, fourteen-year-old Todd discovers his writing talent and solves a murder mystery.

Brooks, Kevin. Martyn Pig : A Novel. 2002. (YA Fiction Brook.K)

What do you do when your father dies? Tell the police or hid the body? Martyn makes his choice and that choice leads to more lies and more secrets. The twists and turns keep coming until Martyn really doesn’t know what to do. (Grade 8-up)

Dowd, Siobhan. The London Eye Mystery. 2007. (YA Mystery Dowd.S)

Siblings Ted and Kat go with their cousin Salim to ride the London Eye, when they are offered a free ticket, Salim takes it, and Ted and Kat watch him as he gets on the ride and the pod goes around, but when the pod opens, Salim is nowhere to be found – he’s disappeared into thin air and now it’s up to Ted and Kat to figure out what happened. (Grade 6-up)

Donnelly, Jennifer. A Northern Light. 2003. (YA Fiction Donne.J)

In 1906, sixteen-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her father and fiancé, takes a job at a summer inn where she discovers the truth about the death of a guest. Based on a true story. (High School)

Feinstein, John. Last Shot : A Final Four Mystery. 2005. (YA Mystery Feins.J)

Steven and Susan win a contest to cover the college basketball final four as journalists. However, what they uncover is a blackmail plot against a star point guard. Can they get the truth, the story, and help justice prevail? Check out the next two books in the series: Vanishing Act and Cover-Up. (Grade 5-up)

Ferraiolo, Jack. The Big Splash. 2008. (YA Mystery Ferra.J)

Matt Stevens, an average middle schooler with a glib tongue and a knack for solving crimes, uncovers a mystery while working with "the organization," a mafia-like syndicate run by seventh-grader Vincent "Mr. Biggs" Biggio, specializing in forged hall passes, test-copying rings, black market candy selling, and taking out hits with water guns.

Ferguson, Alane. The Christopher Killer : A Forensic Mystery. 2006. (YA Mystery Fergu.A)

All Cameryn, the daughter of the town’s county coroner, wants is to be her father’s assistant, but her first autopsy is of the 4th victim of the Christopher Killer, who also happened to be her friend. Now determined to solve the crime, Cameryn must battle, the killer, a psychic, and the medical examiner before time runs out for the next victim. Part of a series. (Grade 8-up)

Giles, Gail. Dead Girls Don't Write Letters. 2003. (YA Fiction Giles.G)

Despite her sister’s death and her parents’ indifference, Sunny has it all under control until they receive a letter from her dead sister, Jazz. The ending will have you questioning all your assumptions and dying to read the book all over again. (Grade 7-up)

Giles, Gail. What Happened To Cass McBride? : A Novel. 2006. (YA Fiction Giles.G)

Kyle’s younger brother commits suicide and he blames Cass McBride. To get his revenge, he kidnaps and buries her alive. It’s now a race against time - will Kyle say where she is before her air supply runs out? (Grade 9-up)

Green, John. Paper Towns. 2008. (YA Fiction Green.J)

One month before graduating from his Central Florida high school, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen basks in the predictable boringness of his life until the beautiful and exciting Margo Roth Spiegelman, Q's neighbor and classmate, takes him on a midnight adventure and then mysteriously disappears.

Henderson, Lauren. Kiss Me Kill Me. 2008. (YA Mystery Hende.L)

Longing to be part of the in-crowd at her exclusive London school, orphaned, sixteen-year-old Scarlett, a trained gymnast, eagerly accepts an invitation to a party whose disastrous outcome changes her life forever.

Herrick, Steven. Cold Skin. 2009. (YA Fiction Herri.S)

In a rural Australian coal mining town shortly after World War II, teenaged Eddie makes a startling discovery when he investigates the murder of a local high school girl.

Henry, April. Shock Point. 2006. (YA Fiction Henry.A)

Cassie is kidnapped and sent to a boot camp in Mexico for troubled teens. Now she must learn how to follow their rules in order to survive, while also trying to expose her stepfather’s lies about an experimental drug that he has been prescribing. (Grade 7-up)

Hoobler, Dorothy. In Darkness, Death. 2004. (YA Mystery Hoobl.D)

In eighteenth-century Japan, young Seikei gets involved with a ninja as he helps Judge Ooka, his foster father, investigate the murder of a samurai. Part of a series. (Grade 6-up)

Howe, Norma. Blue Avenger Cracks The Code. 2000. (YA Fiction Howe.N)

In his new identity as Blue Avenger, sixteen-year-old David visits Venice, Italy, and continues to pursue various crusades, including trying to solve the mystery of who really wrote Shakespeare's works. Part of a series. (Grade 7-up)

Jaffe, Michele. Bad Kitty. 2006. (YA Mystery Jaffe.M)

While vacationing with her family in Las Vegas, seventeen-year-old Jasmine stumbles upon a murder mystery that she attempts to solve with the help of her friends, recently arrived from California.

Lackey, Mercedes. Sacred Ground. 1994. (Science Fiction Lacke.M)

Native American activists are blamed for violence when fragments of human bone and Indian artifacts are found on the site of a new shopping mall. (High School)

McCall Smth, Alexander. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. 1998. (Mystery Mccal.A)

This is the first novel in a series that takes place in Botswana, where the delightfully cunning Precious Ramotswe sets up her detective agency in a small storefront in Gaborone. She is hired to track down a missing husband, uncover a con man, and follow a wayward daughter. (High School)

McDonald, Joyce. Shades Of Simon Gray. 2001. (YA Fiction Mcdon.J)

Seventeen-year-old Simon lies in a coma, finding his space and time overlapping with that of a man who was lynched over 200 years ago, while a member of the cheating ring he has been helping wonders if their actions have caused the plagues assaulting their New Jersey town. (Grade 7-up)

McNamee, Graham. Acceleration. 2003. (YA Mystery Mcnam.G)

Stuck working in the Lost and Found of the Toronto Transit Authority for the summer, seventeen-year-old Duncan finds the diary of a serial killer and sets out to stop him. (Grade 8-up)

Plum-Ucci, Carol. The Night My Sister Went Missing. 2006. (YA Fiction Plumu.C)

A gun goes off during a party and Casey, Kurt’s sister, disappears into the water. As the night wears on and there is still no sign of her, Kurt must figure out what happened and why. (Grade 8-up)

Shusterman, Neal. Full Tilt : A Novel. 2003. (YA Fiction Shust.N)

When 16-year-old Blake goes to a mysterious, by-invitation-only carnival, he somehow knows that it could save his comatose brother, but soon learns that much more is at stake if he fails to meet the challenge presented there by the beautiful Cassandra. (Grade 6-up)

Thompson, Kate. Creature Of The Night. 2009. (YA Fiction Thomp.K)

Bobby lives a reckless life smoking, drinking, and stealing cars in Dublin. So his mother moves the family to the country. But Bobby suspects their cottage might not be as quaint as it seems. And spooky details of the history of their little cottage gradually turn Bobby into a detective of night creatures real and imagined.

Updale, Eleanor. Montmorency : Thief, Liar, Gentleman?. 2004. (YA Fiction Updal.E)

In Victorian London, after his life is saved by a young physician, a thief utilizes the knowledge he gains in prison and from the scientific lectures he attends as the the physician’s case study exhibit to create a new, highly successful, double life for himself. (Grade 6-up)

Vande Velde, Vivian. Never Trust A Dead Man. 1999. (YA Fiction Vande.V)

Wrongfully convicted of murder and punished by being sealed in the tomb with the dead man, 17-year-old Selwyn enlists the help of a witch and the resurrected victim to find the true killer. (Grade 6-up)

Werlin, Nancy. Black Mirror : A Novel. 2001. (YA Mystery Werli.N)

Convinced her brother's death was murder rather than suicide, 16-year-old Frances begins her own investigation into suspicious student activities at her boarding school. (Grade 7-up)

Werlin, Nancy. Double Helix. 2004. (YA Science Fiction Werli.N)

Eighteen-year-old Eli discovers a shocking secret about his life and his family while working for a Nobel Prize-winning scientist whose specialty is genetic engineering. (Grade 8-up)

Winspear, Jacqueline. Maisie Dobbs : A Novel. 2003. (Mystery Winsp.J)

In post World War I London, Maisie Dobbs takes her first case as a private investigator and experiences flashbacks to her modest upbringing and doomed wartime romance. This unique historical mystery is the first in a proposed series. (High School)

Wright, Rachel. You've Got Blackmail. 2009. (YA Fiction Wrigh.R)

When she discovers that her loathsome English teacher is being threatened by an unknown blackmailer, Loz gets caught up in the mystery, with consequences both comical and truly dangerous.

Wynne-Jones, Tim. The Boy In The Burning House. 2000. (YA Mystery Wynne.T)

Trying to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance from their rural Canadian community, fourteen-year-old Jim gets help from the disturbed Ruth Rose, who suspects her stepfather, a local pastor. (Grade 6-up)

Wynne-Jones, Tim. The Uninvited. 2009. (YA Mystery Wynne.T)

After a disturbing freshman year at New York University, Mimi is happy to get away to her father's remote Canadian cottage only to discover a stranger living there who has never heard of her or her father and who is convinced that Mimi is responsible for leaving sinister tokens around the property.

Zusak, Markus. I Am The Messenger. 2002. (YA Fiction Zusak.M)

Updated: August 2009