The Ultimate Guide to YA Mysteries – Part 2

YA Mysteries – Anticipated Pre-Releases

I feel this is a pretty decent anticipated list for me – two new authors, two by Holly Jackson (even if one is a short story!), and four by other authors I liked a lot. I highly suspect I’ll read these soon after I get copies 😀

Lock the Doors – Vincent Ralph – 4th February

Tom’s family have moved into their dream home. But pretty soon he starts to notice that something is very wrong – there are strange messages written on the wall and locks on the bedroom doors. On the OUTSIDE. The previous owners have moved just across the road and they seem like the perfect family. Their daughter Amy is beautiful and enigmatic but Tom is sure she’s got something to hide. And he isn’t going to stop until he finds the truth behind those locked doors…

Will their dream home become a nightmare?

Kill Joy – Holly Jackson – 4th March (World Book Day short)

Pippa Fitz-Amobi is not in the mood for her friend’s murder mystery party. Especially one that involves 1920’s fancy dress and pretending that their town, Little Kilton, is an island called Joy. But when the game begins, Pip finds herself drawn into the make-believe world of intrigue, deception and murder. But as Pip plays detective, teasing out the identity of the killer clue-by-clue, the murder of the fictional Reginald Remy isn’t the only case on her mind… Find out where it all began for Pip in this prequel to the best-selling A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and Good Girl, Bad Blood.

Ace of Spades – Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé – 10th June

An incendiary and utterly compelling thriller with a shocking twist that delves deep into the heart of institutionalized racism, from an exceptional new YA voice. Welcome to Niveus Private Academy, where money paves the hallways, and the students are never less than perfect. Until now. Because anonymous texter, Aces, is bringing two students’ dark secrets to light. Talented musician Devon buries himself in rehearsals, but he can’t escape the spotlight when his private photos go public. Head girl Chiamaka isn’t afraid to get what she wants, but soon everyone will know the price she has paid for power. Someone is out to get them both. Someone who holds all the aces. And they’re planning much more than a high-school game…

The Box in the Woods – Maureen Johnson – 15th June

Stevie Bell did it. She solved the greatest unsolved mystery of the century. So, what now? Figuring it all out – the truth behind Truly Devious and what exactly happened in the Ellingham Affair – has granted Stevie Bell a bit of celebrity in the true crime community. So she’s not surprised when she gets an email from the man who owns Camp Bounty Lake (now called Camp Wonder Falls), the site of the infamous “Box in the Woods” murders from the 1970s.

Weird things are happening at the camp again, although nothing as sinister as before. No murders, no bodies posed by the mysterious figure they called The Doll Collector. But there is a threatening message chalked across a wall. And a box has appeared, with three grisly dolls inside it. Stevie accepts a job as a camp counselor so she can figure out what’s going on. She recruits her friends from Ellingham – Nate, Janelle, and Vi – to become counselors, too, and even Germaine Batt turns up. Not long after they arrive, the owner of the camp dies in a suspicious hiking accident. Once again, Stevie will have to solve a cold case from the past before a killer catches up with her in the present.

How we Fall Apart – Katie Zhao – 3rd August

In a YA thriller that is Crazy Rich Asians meets One of Us is Lying, students at an elite prep school are forced to confront their secrets when their ex-best friend turns up dead. Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top ranked junior at Sinclair Prep, goes missing, and then is found dead. Nancy is even more shocked when word starts to spread that she and her friends – Krystal, Akil, and Alexander – are the prime suspects, thanks to “The Proctor,” someone anonymously incriminating them via the school’s social media app. They all used to be Jamie’s closest friends, and she knew each of their deepest, darkest secrets. Now, somehow The Proctor knows them, too. The four must uncover the true killer before The Proctor exposes more than they can bear and costs them more than they can afford, like Nancy’s full scholarship. Soon, Nancy suspects that her friends may be keeping secrets from her, too.

As Good as Dead – Holly Jackson – 5th August

Pip Fitz-Amobi is haunted by the way her last investigation ended. Soon she’ll be leaving for Cambridge University but then another case finds her… and this time it’s all about Pip. 

Pip is used to online death threats, but there’s one that catches her eye, someone who keeps asking: who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears? And it’s not just online. Pip has a stalker who knows where she lives. The police refuse to act and then Pip finds connections between her stalker and a local serial killer. The killer has been in prison for six years, but Pip suspects that the wrong man is behind bars. As the deadly game plays out, Pip realises that everything in Little Kilton is finally coming full circle. If Pip doesn’t find the answers, this time she will be the one who disappears…

The Hawthorne Legacy – Jennifer Lynn Barnes – 16th September

The Inheritance Games ended with a bombshell, and now heiress Avery Grambs has to pick up the pieces and find the man who might hold the answers to all of her questions – including why Tobias Hawthorne left his entire fortune to Avery, a virtual stranger, rather than to his own daughters or grandsons.

Thanks to a DNA test, Avery knows that she’s not a Hawthorne by blood, but clues pile up hinting at a deeper connection to the family than she had ever imagined. As the mystery grows and the plot thickens, Grayson and Jameson, the enigmatic and magnetic Hawthorne grandsons, continue to pull Avery in different directions. And there are threats lurking around every corner, as adversaries emerge who will stop at nothing to see Avery out of the picture – by any means necessary.

You’ll be the Death of me – Karen McManus – 1st December

YA murder mystery meets Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, about three estranged friends who skip school and get caught up in a crime they can’t solve without exposing their secrets.

Other YA Mysteries I Need to Read

Some of these are more recent than others, but I think they all sound pretty excellent, and I hope that I will one day get to read them all! I am extra hyped for Wink Poppy Midnight, as I have enjoyed two other of her books, and Catfishing on CatNet, as my book club love it!

Books pictured are:

Last One to Die by Cynthia Murphy, The Girl Who… by Andreina Cordani, None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney, Clique Bait by Ann Valett, Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer, All the Pretty Things by Emily Arsenault, They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman, Little Monsters by Kara Thomas, People Like Us by Dana Mele, Hideous Beauty by Willian Hussey, Holding Court by K.C. Held, and Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke.

Have you read any of these? Or have I missed some of your favourites? Let me know!