Tag Archives: Murder

YA – Beth is Dead

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Bernet, Katie. Beth is Dead. Sarah Barley Books, 2026. 978-1-665-98869-8. $19.99. 386 p. Grades 7-12.

This modern Little Women-inspired novel follows the March sisters (college freshman Meg, high school senior Jo, and 15-year-old Amy) as they try to figure out who murdered their 17-year-old sister, Meg. Told in multiple perspectives from all four sisters then and now, this fast-paced thriller tells a story where everyone is a suspect. The story begins with their bestselling author father leaving after he publishes a controversial book in which he tells the coming-of-age story about his daughters – violating their privacy and infuriating the family as well as fans of his books, and leaving Beth dead at the end of the novel. When Beth actually is found dead on New Year’s Eve after a party, everyone (including the sisters) is a suspect including Meg’s piano-teaching boyfriend, Beth’s quiet boyfriend Henry Hummel, party host Sallie Gardiner, and Laurie, Jo’s best friend and neighbor to the March’s. The alternating chapters explain personalities and relationships and motives as the story is fleshed out and becomes more clear as the book hurtles to the end.  

THOUGHTS: Students do not need to be familiar with Little Women in order to enjoy and appreciate this fun, suspenseful murder mystery.  Readers who are familiar with the original classic will enjoy the author’s ability to keep the sisters’ character traits and ambitions true to the story and will also recognize names of minor characters from Louisa May Alcott’s book.

Mystery

YA – I Don’t Wish You Well

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Emill, Jumata. I Don’t Wish You Well. Delacorte Press, 2026. 978-0-593-81102-3. $19.99. 384 p. Grades 9-12.

This fast-paced, suspenseful thriller focuses on the small town of Moss Pointe, Louisiana – five years ago four star football players were murdered by a Trojan mask-wearing killer in what was dubbed “the Trojan murders.”  The killer was identified as Deuce Beales who was found after he committed suicide – it was thought he killed the players in an attempt to hide his sexual identity after they discovered he was gay and bullied him for it in a “boys will be boys” homophobic football culture. Fast forward to present day and Pryce Cummings has just finished his freshman year at the historically Black Whitmore University. An aspiring journalist, Pryce stumbles across what he thinks may be evidence that Deuce didn’t actually kill the four boys and gets approval from his school advisor to look into the case over the summer in the hopes of creating a podcast when he returns to school in the fall. Excited to look further into the murders and relieved to have a reason to go back to the hometown he’s avoided since embracing his sexuality while at college, Pryce teams up with Izzy, Deuce’s ex-boyfriend in an effort to discover the truth. But will uncovering the truth stir up secrets and danger that are better left buried?  

THOUGHTS: This book was exciting, engaging, and suspenseful – it will appeal to a wide variety of readers, and the interspersed podcast interviews added an additional interesting format. The book was able to skillfully address several different complex topics including race, sexuality, religion, and the toxic football culture sometimes prevalent in the south. The mystery was a good one, and readers will be reading to the end to figure out who committed the Trojan murders. 

Mystery

YA – Murder Between Friends

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Lawson, Liz. Murder Between Friends.  Delacorte Press, 2025. 978-0-593-30103-6. $19.99. 384 p. Grades 9-12.

A fast-paced, quick read that will keep mystery and suspense fans engaged throughout the whole book. Grace, Ally, and Henry all grew up together and were best friends – until their English teacher was murdered and Grace’s witness testimony helped convict Henry’s brother Jake of murder. Two years after the trial Jake is released from prison due to a mistrial, and the whole town is angry and scared – except for Ally and Henry, two of the only people who maintain Jake’s innocence. Now that Jake is back, Grace starts to second guess what she saw the night of the murder and convinces Ally and Henry to let her help them try to prove Jake’s innocence.  Together the three of them reluctantly team up and the amateur sleuths start to uncover dangerous secrets about some of their classmates and community members – will they be able to find enough evidence to prove Jake is innocent of the murder before it’s too late?       

THOUGHTS: This is a fun, quick mystery that will satisfy mystery and thriller fans. The chapters alternate between the viewpoints of Grace, Ally, and Henry, and the mystery is well developed and engaging. Ally is a budding investigative journalist who strives to fill her dead father’s footsteps and the dialog between the teens is believable although not deep. A good choice to add to a mystery collection.

Mystery

YA – You are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder

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Johnson, Maureen. You are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder. Illustrated by Jay Cooper. Ten Speed Press, 2025. 978-0-593-83601-9. $19.99. 128 p. Grades 9-12.

This unique, interactive mystery is set in London in 1933. A famous American novelist is stabbed with an ice pick during a society gathering at the townhouse of poet Ambrose Belvoir, but no one even noticed he had been killed. He had been sitting with everyone all evening; no one noticed a thing, and everyone insisted no one had approached the author all evening. The Chief Inspector of the Metropolitan Police is stumped and brings the case to Scotland Yard in the hopes they will help them solve it. The seven people in attendance that evening had all received mysterious poison-pen letters summoning them to Mr. Belvoir’s townhouse. The anonymous author of the letters claimed to have secrets on all of the recipients and promised to “reveal all” if they showed up at a particular time. The unique format of the book includes transcripts of interviews with all of the suspects; black and red drawings of the crime scene and suspects; and a scrapbook of floor plans, newspaper clippings, and pictorial descriptions of the evidence. The answer to the case is included in a red envelope at the end of the book.  

THOUGHTS: The format of this book is what makes it a quick, fun read. Although it is considered to be an adult graphic novel, it is an appealing choice for YA.  The red and black color scheme of the book sets the murder mystery tone, and readers will enjoy looking at the pictures and the maps as they try to figure out the mystery. I don’t think the mystery actually can be solved by looking at the pictures, but it’s a good addition to the story.

Mystery
Graphic Novel

For mystery and crime enthusiasts who believe that they would make excellent detectives, this book is a chance to put their skills to the test. Our story takes place in London, 1933. Seven people recently received poison pen letters summoning them to a posh townhome at a very specific time. The last guests to arrive are the police who discover that one of the guests, American novelist Roy Peterson, has been murdered. Readers are invited to examine the full police file including illustrated photos, maps, news clippings, and interviews with suspects and neighbors. A sealed red envelope in the back of the book holds the truth about what happened this fateful evening.

THOUGHTS: This book is so much fun to explore. Aspiring gumshoes will pore over each file in this dossier and may still be surprised by the contents of the sealed red envelope that tells the real story of how the murderer pulled off this amazing caper. The cartoonish illustrations appear simple, drawn in only black, gray, and red, but they hold plenty of critical details to observe. While it is a murder mystery, mentioning drug use and sex, the tongue-in-cheek humor and cast of absurd characters creates a lighter mood for readers to enjoy. 

Mystery

YA – Sisters in the Wind

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Boulley, Angeline. Sisters in the Wind.  Macmillan, 2025. 978-1-250-32853-3. 368 p. $19.99. Grades 9-12.

With her third book, Angeline Boulley establishes herself as an author who writes page-turning thrillers with fully-developed characters who provide eye-opening information on subjects significant to the Native American community. A companion piece to Boulley’s other books, this work is set in Michigan in the years between The Firekeeper’s Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed. The plot flips between the past and the present as the main character, Lucy Dolce Smith, mends from injuries from a targeted explosion and recalls her life first, with a devoted single father and then with a series of foster homes. Though Lucy’s father kept her Native American heritage from her and said nothing of her biological mother, a Potawanomi attorney and former FBI agent, John (Jamie) Jameson comes to her rescue. Daunis, a good friend of Lucy’s dead aunt, joins Jamie in protecting Lucy as she recuperates. The story builds as Lucy becomes aware that her life is threatened by an unknown person while Jamie and Daunis work to clear her culpability for the explosion. As time progresses, Lucy grows close to the two young Native American adults. She helps Jamie in his organization Raven Way to research the impact of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), and the readers learn about the injustices foisted upon Native American families and their children. She also has time to reflect on her past, dealing with her father’s illness and losing him at a young age, and the good and bad experiences she had at different foster placements. A coming of age story in each detail, Sisters in the Wind, explores Lucy’s ambivalence in meeting her birthmother and deciding what her next move should be. The reader follows her maturity in the various foster homes, in particular, her pregnancy at Hoppy Farm. Past and present meet in dramatic turns as secrets become revealed and pieces of the puzzle fit together. Boulley’s newest book is a compelling read.

THOUGHTS: Though the ideal grades are 9 to 12, my 7th and 8th grade mature readers are devouring this book. Boulley intends to dispense information on ICWA and expose the wrongdoings of Native American boarding schools, which can get a bit polemic but underscores a central idea of the book. A few paragraphs describe a sexual encounter delicately. Lucy is straight forward describing the bodily changes pregnancy and birth bring. Teen pregnancy is part of the story, inferring sexual intercourse. A son in foster family deals drugs and molests his younger sister and attempts to molest Lucy, but she puts him off and tells on him. In one foster home, some of the teens smoke weed and drink. All these elements do not deter from an authentic, suspenseful yet heart-wrenching story. Loved it!

Realistic Fiction

YA – The Raven Boys: The Graphic Novel

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Stiefvater, Maggie. The Raven Boys: The Graphic Novel. Adapted by Stephanie Williams. Illustrated by Sas Milledge and Abel Ko. Viking Books for Young Readers, 2025. 978-0-593-62117-2. $17.99. 247 p. Grades 9-12.

Blue is the daughter of a psychic in Henrietta, Virginia. She generally stays away from Aglionby, the prep school for privileged boys, but fate has other plans for her. She keeps crossing paths with a group led by Gansey, a boy on a Quixotic quest to find the grave of a Welsh king. They discover ghosts, dream worlds, and places where time forgot while they must evade villains who also seek the ancient king and are willing to kill anyone who gets in their way.

THOUGHTS: The Raven Boys: The Graphic Novel is faithful to the original, or at least part of it. Much of the original prose story was left out, and that left me, as a fan of the original, disoriented at first. The boys were, at first, almost indistinguishable from one another, save bookish Gansey in his glasses. I missed the details and the lore of the original, but Stiefvater’s characters shine through the translation to the visual format and are just as endearing. I was won over by the artistic depictions of the supernatural, including a ghostly reveal and a herd of stags stampeding to save the crew. This is a great start for readers who might find the length of the original series daunting, and of course for fans who can’t get enough of the Raven Cycle.

Graphic Novel
Fantasy

YA – The Dysfunctional Family’s Guide to Murder

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Emery, Kate. The Dysfunctional Family’s Guide to Murder. Alfred A. Knopf, 2025. 979-8-217-03016-3. 262 p. $19.60. Grades 8-12.

Ruth is a fourteen-year-old and has just spent the Christmas holiday with her father and extended family in rural Western Australia. On the morning that they plan to head back home to Perth, they find GG, Ruth’s step-grandmother, dead, presumably by homicide. Ruth, who fancies herself an amateur sleuth from listening to all those true crime podcasts and reading Agatha Christie, sets out to solve the mystery. She ends up uncovering several family secrets along the way with the help of her sidekick, Dylan, the son of one of her aunties. As Ruth and Dylan put the pieces of the puzzle together, the truth about the murder is revealed along with the spilling of secrets about family members who all were trying to hide different portions of the past. 

THOUGHTS: This is a humorous whodunit with a snarky, witty, and smart protagonist in Ruth. Ruth is the first person narrator of the story and sometimes directly addresses the reader with clues and her thought processes for solving the murder. Fans of lighthearted whodunits will enjoy solving the puzzle of GG’s demise. 

Realistic Fiction

YA – The House Saphir

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Meyer, Marissa. The House Saphir. Feiwel & Friends, 2025. 978-1-250-32095-7. 432 p. $19.99. 9-12.

Sisters Mallory and Anaïs Fontaine are eking out a living as frauds, even though they do possess some real magic. It’s just easier to offer made up tarot readings and sell fake trinkets. But when they try to pull off the ultimate con when hired to rid the House Safir of the ghost of brutal murderer Count Bastien Saphir, they are in way over their heads. It doesn’t help that the ghost’s great-great grandson Armand is distractingly handsome and kind, and that the victims of Bastien are trapped in purgatory unless the sisters succeed. Oh, and also maybe Count Bastien also wants to kill them too? No pressure.

THOUGHTS: Complete with monsters, romance, a little gore, and endearing characters, this book is a winner. It’s a romantasy with ghosts, absolutely perfect for the spooky season. The twists and turns are unexpected, and the central female characters, living and spectre, are highly relatable. Enthusiastically recommended!

Fantasy

Mallory Fontain and her sister Anaïs are from a long line of witches, but they exaggerate their abilities for financial gain. Mallory has the ability to see witches and uses her gift by giving illegal tours of the decaying house of Count Bastien Saphir (known as Le Bleu) who killed three of his wives. The ghost of his first wife even helps to frighten the guests. Anaïs tells fortunes and sells counterfeit magical artifacts. The sisters don’t possess half the magic that Armand, the great-great grandson of Le Bleu, needs to rid his house of the malevolent ghost that is terrorizing his staff, but he offers the sisters a great deal of money, which they desperately need. They take the job but when there is a murder, they realize how dangerous this game is, and  Mallory realizes that she may be falling for a murderer. 

THOUGHTS: This book is a retelling of Bluebeard in the way that Meyer’s Cinder is a retelling of Cinderella. I’m not sure that my students know who Bluebeard is, but they will enjoy the dark gothic tale as well as the romance. The ghosts of the wives along with monster hunters Constantino and Fitcher provide supernatural comic relief. This supernatural YA murder mystery is dark and twisty. 

Fantasy

YA – Keep Your Friends Close

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Murphy, Cynthia. Keep Your Friends Close. Delacorte Press. 2025. 978-0-593-80578-7. 384 p. Grades 7 – 12. 

It seems everything is falling apart for Chloe Roberts, and it’s only the first day back at her prestigious English boarding school for low income students. She’s already reeling from having lost the position of head girl, and all the perks that come with it. Her boyfriend dumps her before she can even unpack, and she’s been put in a room with kids who are far outside of her social circle and who are, in her mind, a little strange. At least she’s still part of the Jewel and Bones club, a society that will connect her with a sponsor and the university future of her dreams. But before long, students begin mysteriously dying, and Chloe realizes she is on the list of who might be next to go. Is a strange benefactor of the school behind the murders? Is it her nemesis who is out to get her? Chloe has to find out what is happening before she too is silenced. 

THOUGHTS: Once one suspends reality a bit, this is a very fun story. It’s a true thriller that will have readers guessing until the final reveal. The kids are very relatable, and the dark academia vibes are impeccable. A very satisfying read for spooky season!

Mystery 

YA – The Whisperings

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Sutherland, Joel A. The Whisperings. Tundra, 2025. 978-1-774-88101-9. 305 p. $17.99. Grades 9-12.

The nomadic Guest family have settled in a dilapidated Victorian house owned by the equally decrepit Mrs. Cracknell in Burlington, Vermont. For thirteen years, seventeen-year-old Joana and her fourteen year old brother, Peter, have followed their father around the state, trying to escape the painful memory of their mother’s murder at the hands of their deranged Uncle Roman. Now, in this cozy town, the trio finds some semblance of normalcy in their basement apartment in Mrs. M’s home. Joana catches the eye of her classmate, Willem, and joins the rugby team; Peter finds a friend in Ash; and Mr. Guest keeps himself busy making repairs on the house. Joana, though, has overheard her father in a verbal battle with no one in his room; she names it the Whisperings. When Joana recuperates after a fall from a cliff, she becomes privy to the Whisperings also. Since the family has moved in, odd things have been happening. Legend has it that the Keil family was murdered by their father before killing himself. Joana is visited by the imploring children ghosts and lured by the parents. Gross insects invade the basement apartment at night. A secret room that threatens to pluck Joana into oblivion is revealed. When Mr. Guest gets injured falling off a shaken ladder, Joana and Peter seek out their original home, where their mother was murdered. Like the old television show, The Ghost Whisperer, Joana sees ghosts and brings them to the other side. Joana releases her mother from her nightly reenactment. This success prompts Joana to use the same method in freeing the ghosts at the basement apartment. With her friends, she engages in a tryst with the ghosts to uncover the true murderers of the Keil family. Author Joel A. Sutherland takes readers hungry for a gothic horror story on a wild ride. Bloody eyes, mysterious footprints, clawing hands, and even death await the reader. Though the plot has many spooky episodes, the dialogue among the family members and the teens sounds like realistic, often humorous, banter. Ash’s older sister, Triss, is the typical mean girl, while Willem provides an appealing romantic touch. The ending hints at a sequel as Joana–now in a more settled life–realizes she still bears the gift of Whisperings.

THOUGHTS: Like the book, Frozen Charlotte, this one should come with a warning: not for the faint of heart. I believe The Whisperings received a starred review in School Library Journal because the reviewer knew this book would be in high demand. Anything guaranteed to scare the pants off a reader will be swept off the shelves. I think the ending dragged a bit, and Sutherland keeps the ghost going even after the finale, but I doubt that will make a difference to those seeking authors who write in the same vein as R.L. Stine. Occasional foul language probably and teenage protagonists–not to mention the constant scariness of blood curdling descriptions–bump this book up to high school level. 

Mystery
Fantasy (Horror)