Check out some great mystery books!

By: Mrs. DembowskiCopyright 2010

A Mystery story….• usually has characters trying to solve a problem or “mystery”•sometimes the characters involved in the story are called “detectives”•hints or “clues” are given to help in solving the mystery

Here are some book titles we have in our library….

that could be called “Mysteries”...

Two bright young people have strange things begin to happen around them. Bit by bit, clues accumulate. Smart and savvy, Petra and Calder put the pieces together and a pattern emerges or does it? Can they trust anyone as they get closer to a solution? Danger begins to be their companion as they try to solve the mystery and prevent the theft if the valuable Vermeer painting.Hint: Don’t forget to use Brett Helquist’s illustrations with their hidden clues to help you solve the mystery.

When Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats, cockroaches coexist uneasily with humans. This world is on the brink of war, and Gregor's arrival is no accident. A prophecy foretells that Gregor has a role to play in the Underland's uncertain future. Gregor wants no part of it -- until he realizes it's the only way to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance.

Reluctantly, Gregor embarks on a dangerous adventure that will change both him and the Underland forever.

Other books in this series...

Inquisitive twelve-year-old Alexa Daley is spending another summer in the walled town of Bridewell.

This year, she is set on solving the mystery of what lies beyond the walls. Legend says the walls were built to keep out an unnamed evil that lurks in the forests and The Dark Hills.

But what exactly is it that the townspeople are so afraid of?

As Alexa begins to unravel the truth, pushing beyond the protective barrier she's lived behind all her life, she discovers a strange and ancient enchantment - and exposes a danger that could destroy everything she holds dear.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark…How would you like to be woken up by the sound of a ghost walking up the stairs toward your room? I wouldn't, but reading about it is fun. If you are a enthusiastic reader you might never get a chance to put it down. This book is full of fantasy and legends that have been passed down for years, but some of them are from recent times. My personal favorite story is The Window. In this story a girl living with her brothers sees a creature that looks like a man stand up in the moonlight. Megan doesn't think it will return and goes back to sleep. Then later in the night the creature returns and closer, Megan wants to run but is afraid it will break in before she could escape. She goes back to sleep again. At about midnight Megan hears a scratching at her window, she runs but….. you will have to read the rest to find out what happens.

39 Clues series...

THIS JUST IN! Amy and Dan Cahill were spotted on a train, hot on the trail of one of 39 Clues hidden around the world. BUT WAIT! Police report a break-in at an elite hotel, and the suspects ALSO sound suspiciously like Amy and Dan. UPDATE! Amy and Dan have been seen in a car . . . no, in a speedboat chase . . . and HOLD EVERYTHING! They're being chased by an angry mob?!? When there's a Clue on the line, anything can happen.

“Disney World is an armpit compared to Montana,” he announces. Roy's family moves a lot so he's used to the new-kid drill - and to bullies like Dana Matherson. And anyway, it's because of Dana that Roy gets to see the mysterious running boy - who runs away from the school bus and who has no books, no backpack and, most oddly, no shoes. Sensing a mystery Roy starts to trail the runner - a chase that will introduce him to many weird Floridian creatures: potty-trained alligators, some cute burrowing owls, a fake-fart champion, a sinister pancake PR man and some snakes with mysteriously sparkly tails. Suddenly life in Florida is looking up!

Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets.But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy.A strange drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

This book explores what happens on a mysterious floor between twelve and fourteen, and this time it's a portal to the bad old days of privateers and witch hunts.

Lured by a weird message on their answering machine, Buddy and his older sister Liz make separate quantum leaps (via elevator) three hundred years into the past, and join their ancestors on a dangerous but funny adventure.

Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place-he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery citizens, Bod has learned the old customs of his guardians' time as well as their timely ghostly teachings - like the ability to Fade. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? Read this Newbery winner and find out!

How about a good ghost story??

This is the story about a secret. but it also contains a secret story. When adventurous detectives, Cass, an ever-vigilant survivalist, and Max-Ernest, a boy driven by logic, discover the Symphony of Smells, a box filled with smelly vials of colorful ingredients, they accidentally stumble upon a mystery surrounding a dead magician's diary and the hunt for immortality.Filled with word games, anagrams, and featuring a mysterious narrator, this is a book that won't stay secret for long.

Marvin lives with his family under the kitchen sink in the Pompadays' apartment. He is very much a beetle. James Pompaday lives with his family in New York City and he is very much an eleven-year-old boy.

After James gets a pen-and-ink set for his birthday, Marvin surprises him by creating an elaborate miniature drawing. James gets all the credit for the picture and before these unlikely friends know it they are caught up in a staged art heist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that could help recover a famous drawing.

But James can't go through with the plan without Marvin's help. And that's where things get really complicated (and interesting!).

This fast-paced mystery that will keep you won’t be able to put down!

This is another Herculeah Jones mystery. In this episode, Herculeah Jones buys a coat at a used clothing store. She discovers a note in the lining that made her believe the person who used to own the coat was murdered. Herculeah is not a person to forget such things and always needs to search out the answers. After sneaking around the dead lady's house, she is almost ran over by a car. Someone does not want her to find her answer!

Martin and his little brother Peter like the little hilltop cabin where they move after Dad loses his job--until they begin to hear eerie laughter in their room at night. It's the ghost of Tom Buffle, who used to live there. He’s lonely, and looking for companionship, but the boys, especially Peter, are too scared to oblige.

Detective stories

can be very interesting to read….

Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim board the London Eye. But after half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off - except Salim.

Where could he have gone? How on earth could he have disappeared into thin air? Ted and his older sister, Kat, become sleuthing partners, since the police are having no luck. Despite their difficult relationship, they overcome their differences to follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin.

And ultimately it comes down to Ted, whose brain works in its own very unique way, to find the key to the mystery. This is an unput-downable spine-tingling thriller - a race against time.

Sammy Keyes is awesome. She's not at all another Nancy Drew copy; she's so much more believable and likable. Feisty, curious, and not always obedient or well-behaved.

The mystery itself is great, too! The clues are subtle enough to make it interesting, and not too far out or complicated to be make it unbelievable.

Once you pick up this book, you won't be able to get enough of Sammy!

Hardy Boys Mysteries

ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN TO THE RESCUE!!

Whenever ten-year-old Leroy (nicknamed "Encyclopedia") Brown's father, Chief of Police of Idaville, had a difficult case, Encyclopedia always managed to solve it at the dinner table. So, he decided to open his own detective agency.

Jeremy is playing hide and seek when he comes face to face with a hairy beast on its hind legs. He realizes that he’s staring into the eyes of a werewolf! Of course, none of his friends believe him. Until they hear a howl, a howl like nothing they've ever heard before.The next day a new librarian shows up with icy blue eyes. When they ask for books about werewolves he acts very peculiar. Jeremy realizes something terrifying, there's a werewolf loose in Madison, Wisconsin!!!

There are also mystery “series” books…..that we can examine.

Hank the CowdogSomeone has been raiding Sally May's garbage barrels! Hank knows the crime is the work of a notorious gang of raccoons, but in a tragic case of mistaken identity, the Head of Ranch Security is himself forced to take the heat. Even more trouble lies ahead. Rip and Snort, the good-for-nothing coyote brothers, are planning to pull an even bigger job. Not only is Hank powerless to stop them, he's forced to fight on the side of evil--and must contend with terrifying forces!

Chet Gecko Mysteries

Chet Gecko is a sleuth who also also loves to be an artist. He is caught drawing in class and is sent to the principal's office for discipline. However, something is strange about the principal’s behavior. Chet and his sidekick Natalie, a mockingbird, soon discover that he is an impostor who is plotting to turn Emerson Hicky Elementary into a vocational school for crime. Can they save the school in time? Read and find out!

Jigsaw JonesSecond-grade detective Jigsaw Jones and his partner, Mila, have an eerie case to wrap up

when a mummy is spotted at the class Halloween party.

NOWLet’s line up quietly so we can check out books

today!