This week is Mystery Week! Library staff Brianna and Miranda compiled some of their favorite mysteries below. Whether you like cozy mysteries, crazy thrillers, or something in between, there is a recommendation here for you!
Middle Grade
Undercover Latina by Aya de Leon
Andréa Hernández-Baldoquín is part of a family of spies that work for The Factory, an organization with its own set of values that works outside of government limits to uphold those values. Andréa must go undercover to befriend the estranged son of a dangerous white nationalist who threatens national security. She must avoid speaking Spanish, maintain her cover, and complete her mission all while balancing school. Although the stakes for Andréa are much higher than a typical 14-year-old, Andréa goes through what a lot of kids of color experience. She is a spy, but she is also still figuring out who she is outside of that and how her identity fits into all of that.
This spy story is perfect for upper middle grade readers. Miranda especially loved that the author was inspired by her favorite spy novels growing up, The Gallagher Girls Series.
The 39 Clues by Various Authors
When Amy and Dan Cahill’s rich and eccentric aunt dies, a family scavenger hunt that spans the globe is triggered. It seems that all of the players in the game have been training for this moment their entire life, except for the orphaned Amy and Dan who are thrown into the competition with just their aunt’s pampered cat, Saladin, and their nanny, Nellie Gomez. What is everyone chasing? No one quite knows. What is known is that the Cahill family- and all its branches are some of the most powerful figures in history. Throughout the series, Amy and Dan find themselves in peril on nearly every continent, deciphering clues and combing through world- and family- history.
The really exciting part of this series is that each installment is written by a different middle grade author. Rick Riordan kicks off the series, laying a solid foundation of characters and plot that is carried on by other greats such as Margaret Peterson Haddix, Gordon Korman, and more! Even though you can see the style of each author, they make a clean and cohesive story all together. If your kid is looking for a fun sibling adventure that is way less melancholic than A Series of Unfortunate Events, this series is perfect!
Something Upstairs by Avi
After Kenny Huldorf’s family moves into a 1789 row house, Kenny meets the ghost of Caleb, an enslaved 16-year-old. Visiting the local library, Kenny finds that– according to contemporary records– Caleb killed himself in the attic room of Kenny’s house. Caleb denies these claims and, from there, embroils Kenny in a centuries-old mystery that could leave them both trapped in the past forever.
Reading this for the first time in elementary school, this book left an impression on Brianna. Reading the book again years later, Brianna remained impressed. While written for children, the themes of this mystery are compelling even to adult readers. Avi does an excellent job of discussing issues of the past in an appropriate manner, and the mystery of exactly what happened to Caleb so many decades ago will stump the reader until the thrilling conclusion. Brianna recommends this for children interested in a ghost story, a mystery, or simply a book that’s impossible to put down.
Young Adult
The Legacies by Jessica Goodman
The Legacies is basically Gossip Girl plus murder. If you can make it into The Legacy Club in New York City, you will be set for life. Members are rich and well-connected and always look out for one another. In order to make it into The Legacy Club, high school seniors must survive a week of activities and The Legacy Ball. Everyone has secrets they will do anything to keep from going public, but only one person will stoop to killing. There are the usual places from New York’s most prestigious high schools, but then there is a wild card; who is she, and how did she get a coveted invitation?
As someone who loves Gossip Girl and a good mystery, this book was tailor-made for Miranda. She highly recommends it if you like messy, rich people drama.
My Killer Family Reunion by Dinesh Thiru
It is Jayshree’s family reunion, and she knows everyone will just forget that she exists. For the most part, Jayshree doesn’t mind fading into the background of her large Indian American family. There is a running joke in her family about how they will kill their very rich grandma. This joke is hilarious until someone actually tries to kill Grand Mom. Jayshree teams up with her cousins to figure out who would actually have motive to kill Grand Mom.
This book is funny, heartwarming, and has a wonderful coming-of-age arc. Miranda really appreciated Jayshree’s large family because they reminded her of her large family- minus the dark jokes about Grand Mom’s money. If you have a large family, you will see those dynamics well reflected in the pages of this book.
Adult
Don’t Cross Mo Ellery by Birdie Horne
This book is a coming-of-age story wrapped in a mystery. When Mo Ellery loses her job and her boyfriend all within 30 minutes, she knows she needs to make an immediate move. She finds a place and a new job as a crossing guard. She immediately runs into characters like the man with three show class poodles who speeds past her every day, or the old lady who refuses to let Mo help her cross the street. When the man with the poodles dies in a mysterious car wreck in her crosswalk, Mo is roped into helping investigate his death and watching his poodles. She is not convinced it is murder until the second body drops. At this point, Mo is convinced not only is there a killer out there, but she is their next victim.
This book is unique in that the person coming-of-age is not a teenager but is 29 years old. She was established but now must reconfigure her life. Miranda appreciated the humor and heart of this book and the reminder that you can start over at any age.
The Bangalore Detectives Club by Harini Nagendra
Set in 1920s Bangalore, this is the first installment of the cozy, historical mystery series, Bangalore Detectives Club. Kaveri moves from her home to Bangalore with her doctor husband, Ramu. Kaveri is resigned to a quiet life as a doctor’s wife when, one night at a party, a dead body is discovered. The police are set to pin the murder on a poor woman with little resources to defend herself so Kaveri steps in. Kaveri is headstrong, fierce, and loves math. Because she is new to Bangalore, she has a small circle of women that she knows, and she draws on their knowledge of the city and their wits to solve the crime.
There are many wonderful characters in this series. Though it is set in the 1920s, when women had few protected, legal rights, this series really highlights the impact women had on life in Bangalore. These women used their position in society to fly under the radar and solve mysteries for those who didn’t have the resources to defend themselves if someone decided they were guilty. Because we are in India in the 1920s during British colonial rule, we see many of the injustices and hardships the British inflicted before the revolution. India wouldn’t gain independence until long after the end of this series, but throughout the series, we see the beginnings of the revolution starting to spread through the city of Bangalore.
If you like historical fiction or cozy mysteries, Miranda highly recommends this book. It is set a century ago, but Kaveri and Ramu feel like a modern couple in the support Ramu gives his wife. This series is also just a fun and cozy romp through the streets of Bangalore.
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady– ah, lady of a certain age–who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her son is up to. Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing–a dead man in the middle of her tea shop.
A lighthearted mystery with a heart of gold, this mystery has it all: an interesting cast of characters, a likeable and witty protagonist, and a mystery that will surprise readers! Brianna particularly enjoyed the way Vera’s tea shop features in this story as a character in its own right. The worldbuilding is rich and invites the reader to linger awhile— apt as this is the first book in a series.
You Shouldn’t Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose
This book is almost two genres in one. We start with what feels like a sweet romance until it flips on its head to the most breakneck thriller. Grace just wants a vacation from her stressful job, so she books a cabin in a small town in Wyoming where she meets the handsome Calvin. There is no cell service in the cabin, but they have each other for company. That is, until things take a turn for the worse. A woman from the area had previously gone missing, and things just aren’t adding up in a way Grace can no longer ignore. Will she survive this break from the city?
Jeneva Rose is the queen of thrillers and plot twists. We get both points of view throughout the book, and Miranda would argue that both characters are unreliable narrators, but both for different reasons. Miranda chose this book of Jeneva Rose’s for mystery week because it’s the one that gave her the most whiplash while reading. It started out pretty slowly, but when the thriller parts picked up, she couldn’t put it down.
Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket
This semi-autobiographical book is Snicket’s latest novel that follows him through a day that began when he found a note that read “You’ve had poison for breakfast.” Where did the note come from? Who wrote it? What kind of poison? How long until its effects take hold? How does one cook a perfect egg? All of these questions and more are answered in true Snicket fashion- so in the most loquacious and roundabout way possible- in this novella.
Miranda recommends going in pretty much blind on this book. All you really need to know is if you loved A Series of Unfortunate Events growing up and now face existential crises, this book is a balm.
A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Collette
Bronwyn Crewse, also known as Win, has just graduated from business school and is returning home to run her family’s ice cream parlor. She plans to make some much-needed changes to restore the family business to its former glory. But a series of delays put her plans on ice … literally. The opening day coincides with the first snowfall of the winter, and to make matters worse, Win finds a dead man in the snow! When the dead man turns out to be a long-time nemesis of the Crewse family, Win’s dad becomes the main suspect. Can Win run her business and clear her father’s name?
Local author Collette delights readers with this cozy mystery set in Ohio! Brianna read this last year and enjoyed every word. While the fun cover drew her in, the story and its characters kept Brianna turning page after page. She recommends this book for anyone looking for a mystery where the ending is sweet and justice is served.
I Can See You by Karen Rose
When Eve Wilson’s face was scarred by a vicious assault years ago, she escaped to the online realm where she could choose the face she allowed people to see. Now a graduate student, moonlighting as a bartender, Eve researches the addictive powers of online communities. When her test subjects begin turning up dead of apparent suicide, Eve doesn’t know where to turn. Homicide detective Noah Webster is one of the few people who believes the victims are connected murders. As Eve and Noah chase a killer who is always one step ahead of them, together they try to overcome the tragedies of their pasts and learn to trust again– but soon discover that danger is much closer than they think.
While veering more towards a thriller than strictly a mystery, Brianna couldn’t resist including this in her list of recommendations. While there’s a lovely romantic plot in this novel, the focus is more often than not on catching a killer. It takes Eve’s intelligence and determination, along with Noah’s experience as a detective, to unearth the truth before it’s too late.
Brianna is an avid Karen Rose fan and can’t recommend the mix of romance, suspense, and smart plotting enough. One thing is sure—anyone who reads this book will be engrossed until the truth is revealed!
Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park
When North Korean spymaster Doha Kim is mysteriously killed in Oxford, his protege, Yohan Kim, chases the only breadcrumb given to him in Doha’s last breath: “Soju Club, Dr. Ryu.” In the meantime, a Korean American CIA agent, Yunah Choi, races to salvage her investigation of the North Korean spy cell in the aftermath of the assassination. At the center of it all is the Soju Club, the only Korean restaurant in Oxford, owned by Jihoon Lim, an immigrant from Seoul in search of a new life after suffering a tragedy. As different factions move in with their own agendas, their fates become entangled, resulting in a bitter struggle that will determine whose truth will triumph.
Brianna was very excited to learn that this book was being published in the States last year! There aren’t too many Korean mysteries available, and this one had a fresh perspective that reminded her—at first, at least—of movies like Kingsman. Brianna enjoyed this book for the mystery at the core of it but also because of the other themes the novel includes, such as identity and cultural diasporas.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. She’s barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark. But Kya is not what they say. Abandoned at age ten, she has survived on her own in the marsh that she calls home. A born naturalist, she takes life lessons from the land– but while she could have lived in solitude forever, the time comes when Kya yearns for more. Eventually, Kya opens herself up to a new and startling world– until the unthinkable happens. . .
Brianna read this book when it was first released in 2018, and the ending has stayed with her since. Part mystery, part environmental commentary, this novel is heartrending. Through it all, the question of what happened to Chase Andrews remains in the forefront, and the ending— while perhaps not shocking— propels the reader to continue asking questions long after they finish the last page.
