Twisty Young Adult Mysteries and Thrillers
Sometimes you find a mystery and sometimes it finds you. These young adult reads—contemporary and historical—offer intrigue and thrills as young women are drawn into solving crimes, revealing secrets, and unraveling mysteries.
Firekeeper's Daughter
by Angeline Boulley
Daunis, who is part Ojibwe, defers attending the University of Michigan to care for her mother and reluctantly becomes involved in the investigation of a series of drug-related deaths.
Good Girl, Bad Blood
by Holly Jackson
After solving the murder case together, Ravi Singh helped Pip create a podcast that soon went viral, but they both swear off sleuthing. When Jamie Reynolds goes missing on the sixth anniversary of the deaths of Andie Bell and Sal Singh, however, Pip feels it's too big of a coincidence to ignore. With the spotlight on her, can she still follow the clues and uncover even more sinister depths to her hometown?
Grown
by Tiffany D. Jackson
When legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots Enchanted Jones at an audition, her dreams of being a famous singer take flight. Until Enchanted wakes up with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night. Who killed Korey Fields? Before there was a dead body, Enchanted's dreams had turned into a nightmare. Because behind Korey's charm and star power was a controlling dark side. Now he's dead, the police are at the door, and all signs point to Enchanted.
Two Can Keep a Secret
by Karen M. McManus
While true-crime aficionado Ellery and her twin brother are staying with their grandmother in a Vermont community known for murder, a new friend goes missing and Ellery may be next.
A Good Girl's Guide To Murder
by Holly Jackson
As her senior capstone project, Pippa Fitz-Amobi is determined to find the real killer in a closed, local murder case, but not everyone wants her meddling in the past.
The Forest of Stolen Girls
by June Hur
In 1426 in Joseon, a year after her father vanishes while investigating the disappearance of thirteen girls, eighteen-year-old Min Hwani returns to the island of Jeju to pick up his trail with the help of her estranged sister.
Elatsoe
by Darcie Little Badger; illustrations by Rovina Cai
Elatsoe lives in an alternate contemporary America shaped by the ancestral magics and knowledge of its Indigenous and immigrant groups. She can raise the spirits of dead animals—most importantly, her ghost dog Kirby. When her beloved cousin dies, all signs point to a car crash, but his ghost tells her otherwise: He was murdered.
The Red Palace
by June Hur
While investigating a series of grisly murders, eighteen-year-old palace nurse Hyeon navigates royal and political intrigue and becomes entangled with a young police inspector.
The Box in The Woods
by Maureen Johnson
Stevie Bell just managed to solve the mystery at Ellingham Academy. Then she gets a message from the owner of Sunny Pines—formerly known as Camp Wonder Falls, the site of the infamous Box in the Woods murders. The new camp owner wants Stevie to help him work on a true-crime podcast about the unsolved case. Going undercover as a camp counselor, Stevie learns that something evil still lurks at the camp—and The Box in the Woods is willing to make room for more victims.
A Study in Charlotte: A Charlotte Holmes Novel
by Brittany Cavallaro
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson descendants, Charlotte and Jamie, students at a Connecticut boarding school, team up to solve a murder mystery.
The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time
by Mark Haddon
Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.
Monday's Not Coming
by Tiffany D. Jackson
When her friend Monday Charles goes missing and Monday's mother refuses to give her a straight answer, Claudia digs into her disappearance.
The Things She's Seen
by Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina
Nothing has been the same for Beth Teller since the day she died. Her dad, a detective, was the only one able to see and hear her since the accident, but he is drowning in grief. But why is Isobel Catching able to see Beth, too? She was found wandering near the scene of a gruesome fire at a home for troubled youth that left an unidentifiable body behind. As Beth and her detective father work to unravel the mystery, they find a shocking and heartbreaking story lurking beneath the surface of a small Australian town. Told in two voices, this novel weaves together themes of grief, colonial history, violence, love, and family.
The Takedown
by Corrie Wang
In this near-future mystery, Kyla Cheng, the smartest, hottest, most popular student at her Brooklyn high school, gets taken down a peg by a faked sex tape that goes viral.
Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.