2.4/1 Absent Author ­ Roy, Ron. Dink writes to his favorite author, mystery writer Wallis Wallace, and invites him to visit Green Lawn. Wonder of wonders, Wallace says yes! In fact, the famous writer says that the only way he won't come is if he's kidnapped. But when the big day comes, Wallis Wallace is nowhere to be found. The police think he just missed his plane, but Dink knows better. It's up to Dink and his two best friends, Josh and Ruth Rose, to find Wallace--before it's too late!

5.3/6 Babysitting is a Dangerous Job ­ Roberts, Willo Davis. A baby sitter and her three willful charges make a formidable team to outwit their surprised kidnappers.

4.2/2 Bunnicula: A Rabbit ­tale of Mystery ­ Howe, Deborah and James. Chester the cat tries to warn his human family that their rabbit must be a vampire.

4.8/3 Bunnicula Strikes Again! ­ Howe, James and Deborah. When Bunnicula the rabbit starts acting strangely, the Monroe dogs and cat renew their suspicions that he is a vampire.

5.4/6 Chasing Vermeer - Balliett, Blue. When strange and seemingly unrelated events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal.

4.8/5 Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen ­ Anderson, M. T. Sequel to Whales on Stilts. Looking forward to a vacation, Katie, Lily, and Jasper attach their flying Gyroscopic Sky Suite to the Moose Tongue Lodge and Resort, where they mingle with other child heroes found in books, and where they become embroiled in a mystery involving lederhosen-clothed quintuplets and a screaming ventriloquist.

5.1/13 The Cradle Will Fall ­ Clark, Mary Higgins. When Kate DiMaio, a young attorney, sees someone putting the body of a woman in a car at the hospital and decides to investigate, she uncovers a medical professional who murders all his botched cases.

4.9/4 Dead Man in Indian Creek ­ Hahn, Mary Downing. When Matt and Parker learn the body they found in Indian Creek is a drug-related death, they fear Parker's mother may be involved.

5.3/6 Demon in the Teahouse ­ Hoobler, Dorothy and Thomas. In eighteenth-century Japan, fourteen-year-old Seikei, a merchant's son in training to be a samurai, helps his patron investigate a series of murders and arson in the capital city of Edo, each of which is associated in some way with a popular geisha.

4.3/10 Down the Rabbit Hole ­ Abrahams, Peter. Like her idol Sherlock Holmes, eighth grader Ingrid Levin-Hill uses her intellect to solve a murder case in her home town of Echo Falls.

5.8/5 Dragon: Hound of Honor ­ Edwards,Julie Andrews. In medieval France, an Irish wolfhound helps solve the murder of his master, the beloved son of the Count de Montdidier and leader of the Royal Bodyguard in the court of Charles V.

6.4/7 Egypt Game ­ Snyder, Zilpha Keatley. The first time Melanie Ross meets April Hall, she's not sure they'll have anything in common. But she soon discovers that they both love anything to do with ancient Egypt. When they stumble upon a deserted storage yard behind the A-Z Antiques and Curio Shop, Melanie and April decide it's the perfect spot for Egypt Game.
Before long there are six Egyptians instead of two. After school and on weekends they all meet to wear costumes, hold ceremonies, and work on their secret code. Everyone thinks it's just a game, until strange things begin happening to the players. Has the Egypt Game gone too far?

4.7/5 From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler ­ Konigsburg, E. L.Claudia decided to run away to make her parents appreciate her. She took her brother, and they went to live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Once the fun of settling in was over, she had two problems: she felt just the same, and she wanted to feel different; and she found a statue that was so beautiful that she couldn't go home until she knew who had made it. Even the experts didn't know that. The statue's former owner was Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, and without her help, Claudia might never be able to go home.

5.1/7 Ghost in the Tokaido Inn ­ Hoobler, Dorothy and Thomas. While attempting to solve the mystery of a stolen jewel, Seikei, a merchant's son who longs to be a samurai, joins a group of kabuki actors in eighteenth-century Japan.

4.2/9 Half-Moon Investigations ­ Colfer, Eoin. Twleve-year-old private investigator Fletcher Moon, nicknamed "Half Moon" because of his shortness, must track down a conspiracy or be framed for a crime he did not commit.

4.9/8 House on the Gulf ­ Haddix, Margaret Peterson. A sixteen-year-old boy arranges a house sitting job for the summer, but he starts acting strangely after his family moves in, and his sister begins to suspect they are not supposed to be there.

4.6/9 How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found ­ Nickerson, Sara. With a swimming medal, the key to a mansion, and a comic book about a half-man/half-rat as her only clues, a twelve-year-old girl seeks the true story of her father's mysterious death four years earlier near an island in the Pacific Northwest.

5.4/14 I'll Be Seeing You ­ Clark, Mary Higgins. Meghan Collins, newly hired TV reporter, makes a startling discovery while on assignment at a large metropolitan hospital. An unidentified young woman dying of a knife wound is rushed into the emergency ward, and Meghan finds herself staring down at a person who could be her double. She is thrust into an investigation that not only involves finding out the identity of the dead woman, but also uncovering the details of her father's puzzling death 10 months earlier. No trace of his body or car was ever found. To complicate things further, Meghan's next assignment reveals some questionable procedures at a fertility clinic in regard to in vitro fertilization of identical twins. Clark masterfully fits all the pieces together, delivering an expertly written, gripping mystery

3.9/0.5 Ink Drinker ­ Sanvoisin, Eric. A boy who hates books discovers an ink-drinking vampire in his father's bookshop and follows him to his underground vault.

4.8/9 Last Shot: a Final Four Mystery ­ Feinstein, John. After winning a basketball reporting contest, eighth graders Stevie and Susan Carol are sent to cover the Final Four tournament, where they discover that a talented player is being blackmailed into throwing the final game. Steven Thomas is one of two lucky winners of the U.S. Basketball Writer's Association's contest for aspiring journalists. His prize? A trip to New Orleans and a coveted press pass for the Final Four. It's a basketball junkie's dream come true! But the games going on behind the scenes between the coaches, the players, the media, the money-men, and the fans turn out to be even more fiercely competitive than those on the court. Steven and his fellow winner, Susan Carol Anderson, are nosing around the Superdome and overhear what sounds like a threat to throw the championship game. Now they have just 48 hours to figure out who is blackmailing one of MSU's star players - and why.

6.3/13 Let Me Call You Sweetheart - Clark, Mary Higgins. The latest from the Clark suspense factory has a spunky New Jersey prosecutor, Kerry McGrath, as its heroine in danger. Kerry has taken an interest in a 10-year-old murder case, in which Skip Reardon had been found guilty of slaying his beautiful wife, Suzanne, and has since been pleading his innocence from his jail cell. When Kerry's small daughter, Robin, goes to a New York plastic surgeon after a car crash, it is apparent that Dr. Smith, who was Suzanne's father, is weird. He seems to be fashioning the faces of young women to resemble his dead daughter?and it was his testimony that sent Skip to jail. Kerry's interest in the case (and her parallel interest in Skip's good-guy lawyer) may harm her chances of a judgeship, and it also draws the ominous attention of another possible suspect, James Weeks, a wealthy real-estate magnate with rumored mob connections. Then there's elegant, tasteful art burglar Jason Arnott, who had also known Suzanne.... As usual, Clark's plot, unfolded in dozens of short chapters, is convoluted, full of red herrings and finally wrapped up with a villain out of left field.

5.1/6 Lost Bullet ­ Rose, Malcolm. Recently qualified as a forensic investigator, Luke Harding is assigned to the slums of London, where he and Malc investigate a doctor's murder. They find a bullet wound to her head, but rain has washed away the bulletand all other clues. As more innocent doctors die, Luke's sleuthing leads him to a mysterious cult called The Visionaries. With no time to lose, Luke must infiltrate the sect and find the culprit before the bizarre shooting spree becomes an all-out massacre.

5.6/11 The Lottery Winner ­ Clark, Mary Higgins. The Meehans, who first appeared in Clark's Weep No More, My Lady, have struck it rich in the lottery. No longer do they slave away at housecleaning (Alvirah) and plumbing (Willy). Their days are spent pursuing the hedonistic pleasures of the idle rich, although, to their credit, Alvirah and Willy haven't lost touch with their roots. Alvirah seems to have a "talent" for murder, both for being in the general vicinity when one occurs and for uncloaking the villain before anyone else.

3.3/1 A Mammoth Mix-up ­ Levy- Elizabeth. Brian and his younger sister Penny become involved in a mystery at the science museum where they are working on a woolly mammoth display for a science fair.

4.9/5 The Missing Manatee ­ DeFelice, Cynthia. While coping with his parents' separation, eleven-year-old Skeet spends most of Spring Break in his skiff on a Florida river, where he finds a manatee shot to death and begins looking for the killer.

7.4/14 Playmaker ­ Cheaney, J. B. While working as an apprentice in a London theater company in 1597, fourteen-year-old Richard uncovers a mystery involving the disappearance of his father and a traitorous plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth.

5.3/13 Remember Me ­ Clark, Mary Higgins. Just what is the mysterious presence that seems to haunt Menley Nichols and baby Hannah in their spectacular rented Cape Cod mansion? Menley is still trying to recover from the horror of her two-year-old son Bobby's death on the railroad crossing. Lawyer husband Adam is too busy dashing to and from New York, and defending a local hunk suspected of doing away with his wealthy bride, to be much help. And so the presence moves in on Menley with eerie middle-of-the-night sound effects and rocking cradles. There are several plots going on at once, which are miraculously blended and resolved in the finale.

5.1/4 Room One: a Mystery or Two ­ Clements, Andrew. Ted Hammond, the only sixth grader in his small Nebraska town's one-room schoolhouse, searches for clues to the disappearance of a homeless family. Ted Hammond loves a good mystery, and in the spring of his fifth-grade year, he's working on a big one. How can his school in the little town of Plattsford stay open next year if there are going to be only five students? Out here on the Great Plains in western Nebraska, everyone understands that if you lose the school, you lose the town. But the mystery that has Ted's full attention at the moment is about that face, the face he sees in the upper window of the Andersons' house as he rides past on his paper route. The Andersons moved away two years ago, and their old farmhouse is empty, boarded up tight. At least it's supposed to be. A shrinking school in a dying town. A face in the window of an empty house. At first these facts don't seem to be related. But Ted Hammond learns that in a very small town, there's no such thing as an isolated event. And the solution of one mystery is often the beginning of another.

4.6/8 Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary ­ VanDraanen, Wendelin. While celebrating the New Year with a friend, Sammy encounters a mystery involving an elderly neighbor, a pioneer cabin, and a century-old family feud.

4.9/9 Sammy Keyes and the Hollywood Mummy ­ Van Draanen, Wendelin. A Hollywood actress, who had been competing with Sammy's mother for an important role, is murdered, but thirteen-year-old Sammy and her friend Marissa are on the case.

4.6/6 Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief ­ VanDraanen, Wendelin. Thirteen-year-old Sammy's penchant for speaking her mind gets her in trouble when she involves herself in the investigation of a robbery at the "seedy" hotel across the street from the seniors' building where she is living with her grandmother.

4.0/9 Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen ­ VanDraanen, Wendelin. When cats begin to mysteriously disappear in Santa Martina, thirteen-year-old friends Sammy and Holly start snooping around town to find out what is happening.

4.4/7 Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf ­ VanDraanen, Wendelin. After a dog she is watching disappears from a city parade and the owner receives a ransom note, thirteen-year-old Sammay must use her detective skill to solve the mystery.

4.0/9 Sammy Keyes and the Search for Snake Eyes ­ VanDraanen, Wendelin. When thirteen-year-old Sammy finds herself with an abandoned baby on her hands, she sets out to find the young mother, who may belong to a gang, and accidentally jeopardizes her position on the softball team.

5.2/8 Sammy Keyes and the Sisters of Mercy ­ VanDraanen, Wendelin. Sammy continues to make life with her grandmother interesting as she tries to discover who is stealing from St. Mary's church, befriends a homeless girl, and plays in a softball tournament against a bitter rival.

5.1/7 Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man ­ VanDraanen, Wendelin. On Halloween night, Sammy finds Frankenstein tied to a chair with his head twisted around. When she starts to investigate what really happened Halloween night, she's amazed at how many people have something to hide.

4.2/5 Shadows on the Sea ­ Harlow, Joan Hiatt. In 1942, fourteen-year-old Jill goes to stay with her grandmother on the coast of Maine, where she is introduced to the often gossipy nature of small-town life, and discovers that the war is closer than she thought. The U.S. is at war with Germany. Fourteen-year-old Jill Winter's mother is traveling to Newfoundland and must pass through the treacherous North Atlantic, where German submarines -- U-boats -- stalk like wolves. Jill's father, a famous pop singer, is on tour, so Jill is sent to Winter Haven, Maine, to stay with Nana. Quarry, a local boy, says that "gossip ain't never been so good," and Jill soon discovers he's right -- Winter Haven is full of secrets and rumors. It seems everyone has something to hide -- even Nana! Jill doesn't know whom to trust, and she's worried for her mother's safety. And things get even worse when she finds a wounded carrier pigeon with a coded message attached to its leg. Jill is determined to get to the bottom of all these mysteries, but when she uncovers the biggest secret of all, she finds herself in grave danger -- and must run for her life!

4.0/6 Shakespeare's Secret ­ Broach, Elise. Named after a character in a Shakespeare play, misfit sixth-grader Hero becomes interested in exploring this unusual connection because of a valuable diamond supposedly hidden in her new house, an intriguing neighbor, and the unexpected attention of the most popular boy in school.

5.5/9 Soon Be Free ­ Ruby, Lois. Sequel to "Steal Away Home." Thirteen-year-old Dana investigates a mystery involving the old Kansas house that her parents have turned into a bed and breakfast business; in a parallel story, a Quaker boy living in the house in 1857 sets out to help some fugitive slaves to freedom.

5.5/7 Steal Away Home ­ Ruby, Lois. In two parallel stories, a Quaker family in Kansas in the late 1850s operates a station on the Underground Railroad, while almost 150 years later, twelve-year-old Dana moves into the same house and finds the skeleton of a black woman who helped the
Quakers.

4.8/10 Vanishing Act: Mystery at the U. S. Open ­ Feinstein, John. Eighth-grade sports reporters Susan Carol and Stevie reunite at the U.S. Open tennis championships where they investigate the mysterious disappearance of a top Russian player.

5.2/7 View from the Cherry Tree ­ Roberts, Willo Davis. When he tries to tell his family that he thinks there has been a murder, they are too busy with his sister's wedding to care. If he's not careful, Rob may be the mysterious murderer's next victim.

6.7/13 Weep No More, My Lady ­ Clark, Mary Higgins. Lovely young Elizabeth Lange goes to the California spa, where her beloved sister plunged from the balcony of her penthouse, to investigate the death.

5.3/8 Westing Game ­ Raskin, Ellen. The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance.

5.7/13 While My Pretty One Sleeps ­ Clark, Mary Higgins. Gossip columnist Ethel Lambston knew everything about everybody who was somebody---so there were more than enough suspects in her murder. But for Neeve Kearny, owner of an expensive Madison Avenue boutique, the killing of one of her best customers had eerie echoes of another death that occurred many years earlier---the murder of her own mother. Suddenly, Neeve is plunged into the mystery of Ethel Lambston's murder, following a trail that leads from the glittering pleasure palaces of New York's rich and beautiful to the Mafia underworld. In the tradition of Mary Higgins Clark's staggering bestsellers, Neeve Kearny is a woman determined to find the truth, caught in a swirl of money and romance---and stalked by a killer who's closer than she could ever dream...

5.7/7 The Wright 3 ­ Balliett, Blue. In the midst of a series of unexplained accidents and mysterious coincidences, sixth-graders Calder, Petra, and Tommy lead their classmates in an attempt to keep Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Robie House from being demolished.

See also:
Hardy Boys Series
Nancy Drew Series