MYSTERY
more than a who-dunnit
Queen of the Tiles
by Hanna Alkaf
YA FIC ALKAF
Najwa’s best friend, Trina, collapsed during a Scrabble competition. Najwa doesn’t want to return back to Scrabble, but a year after Trina’s death, she attends a tournament to reclaim Trina’s title - Queen of the Tiles. Mysteriously, Trina’s Instagram is active again. And the posts are cryptic. Najwa and her other friends at the tournament decide to investigate not only the posts, but Trina’s death, or, possible murder.
The Inheritance Games
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
YA FIC BARNES
Avery doesn’t have it easy. Her mom died, her dad is gone, and she lives with her half sister. One day, Avery gets an invitation to Texas, to the reading of billionaire Tobias Hawthorne’s will. The problem is, she doesn’t know who Tobias Hawthorne is. At the reading, Avery is left Tobias’ entire inheritance. She must move into the Hawthorne house and uncover puzzles left by Tobias to understand just why this inheritance was left to her.
Promise Boys
by Nick Brooks
YA FIC BROOKS
Principal Kenneth Moore is dead. He was shot in his office during a basketball game. The police have now honed in on three boys at Urban Promise Prep School - Trey, Ramón, and J.B. - as the suspects. They all had some pretty tough arguments with Principal Moore before his death. The boys must come together to figure out who killed Principal Moore and clear their names. Will they be able to put aside their differences to get a chance at a normal life?
How She Died, How I Lived
by Mary Crockett
YA FIC CROCKETT
Kyle Paxson texts 5 girls to hang out one night in July. Only one girl, Jamie, responds. Kyle brutally murders Jamie. A year after the murder, the other 4 girls who did not respond to Kyle, have to testify at his sentencing. The book’s narrator, an unnamed victim, is handling survivor’s guilt, while also growing closer to Jamie’s boyfriend, Charlie. Can love still exist in a world of violence and fear?
Pretty Dead Queens
by Alexa Donne
YA FIC DONNE
After her mom dies, 18-year-old Cecelia moves in with her Grandma, Maura, in a small seaside town in Northern California. Maura is quite famous - she’s a bestselling author of mystery novels, and her most popular book was inspired by the murder of her best friend, Caroline, who was homecoming queen in 1970. History repeats itself when this time, Cecelia’s friend is found murdered the same way as Caroline. Will Cecelia solve this copy-cat killing?
The Black Queen
by Jumata Emill
YA FIC EMILL
Nova Albright is gorgeous, kind, and a shoo-in to be Lovett High’s first Black homecoming queen. Except now, she’s dead. Murdered the night of the coronation. Tinsley McArthur was supposed to be queen. She’s white, wealthy, and being the homecoming queen is her legacy. Her grandmother, mother, and sister were once the queen. Duchess Simmons, Nova’s best friend, is convinced that Tinsley has something to do with Nova’s murder. She will do anything it takes to expose Tinsley and prove she is guilty.
She’s too Pretty to Burn
by Wendy Heard
YA FIC HEARD
Veronica and Nico are best friends. They’re artists. They spend all of their time together, until Mick joins in. Veronica and Mick are inseparable and then bad things begin to happen. This novel will have you on the edge of your seat, glued to the pages.
Hide and Shriek
by Alison Hughes
YA FIC HUGHES
Emily, Tess, Cam, and Dylan decide to ignore their town’s new curfew during their Friday-night game of hide-and-seek. While down by the river, they see something they definitely shouldn’t have. When the teens get discovered by the perpetrators, they are hunted through the dark streets and back alleys. They will have to use all their hide-and-seek skills to save each other. Who knew that hide-and-seek could turn so deadly?
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
by Holly Jackson
YA FIC JACKSON
Everyone thinks that Sal Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago. Her body was never found, but Sal sent a confession text to his father and then died by suicide. Pippa Fitz-Amobi is the only person who believes Sal was innocent - and she’s going to use her senior project to prove it. Will Pip find the answer that will set Sal’s reputation free?
Easy Prey
by Catherine Lo
YA FIC LO
Jenna Bradley’s life was turned upside-down when nude photos of her went viral on her ex-boyfriend’s Twitter. Troy, her ex, got away with it unscathed. But Jenna lights his car on fire and gets a bad reputation. When her senior law seminar teacher, Miss Bailey, partners her with Troy’s best friend and cousin, Jenna is not happy. Nude photos of Miss Bailey are released online and Jenna and her group partners are the first suspects.
Anatomy
by Dana Schwartz
YA FIC SCHWARTZ
Hazel wants to be a surgeon. Unfortunately, she lives in 19th century Scotland, and women are not allowed to be surgeons. She plans to study in secret and pass her examinations. Her only problem, is that she needs to work with cadavers - and she doesn’t have access to them. Jack, a resurrection man, agrees to work with Hazel, bringing her dead bodies to work on. Hazel and Jack discover a secret about the dead bodies, and must try to figure out why they’re missing so many organs...
Sadie
by Courtney Summers
YA FIC SUMMERS
Sadie has had a bad life. Her mom is drug-addicted and abandoned her, she’s constantly mocked for her stutter, and she was abused throughout her childhood. Finally, the last straw is when her sister, Mattie, is found dead in a field. Sadie decides to pick up and leave, and go on her way to find Mattie’s killer. When Sadie goes missing, a popular true crime podcast get’s wind of the one missing and one dead sister and begins to investigate. What will happen to Sadie, and will she find Mattie’s killer?