What Are You Looking For?

This is a fast-moving horror adventure built around a familiar childhood game becoming strange and threatening. Its unusual file-based presentation adds mystery, while the friendship between Adam and Sol gives the frightening situation an emotional centre.

A puzzle-led mystery for readers who enjoy secrets, shifting timelines and an atmospheric setting. Marlowe’s self-deprecating humour and developing relationship with Akilah sit alongside family tragedy, present-day danger and questions about how the past shapes the present.

A lively mystery about belonging somewhere new: Poppy’s unusual circus upbringing meets boarding-school traditions, while friendship and investigation draw her into a dangerous case involving an Egyptian ruby.

Expect a fast-moving, twisty mystery shaped by creepy folklore, family conflict and uncertainty about what Ava can trust. Its strongest features are atmosphere, suspense and clues that invite readers to solve the case alongside her.

A tense mystery centred on a missing teenager, changing friendships and a return intended to bring closure. Readers piece together clues alongside Millie through a layered account of secrets and uncertainty.

This offers a contained lunar mystery with clues, suspects, suspense and humour. Its appeal lies in Dash’s investigation, the unusual space setting and the contrast between boredom, danger and intellectual challenge.

This is a personal investigation into relatives who vanished during the Holocaust. Rosen follows clues, disappointments and discoveries, while poems and family materials give emotional and historical shape to what happened.

A short, visually expressive story about a newcomer, suspicion and the possibility of belonging. Its emotional centre is the contrast between what the animals assume and what they learn about the stranger’s past.

A playful supernatural mystery about reputation, friendship and suspicion, with a popular witch at its centre. It offers magical-school atmosphere, social drama, a murder investigation and romantic tension rather than a purely cosy school story.

A visually rich introduction to detective fiction, offering a contained mystery, recurring animal friends and clues for readers to inspect. It combines suspense about a theft and suspected parents with humour, friendship and collaborative problem-solving.

A brisk historical mystery follows Lily and Tom from their travelling life into a more dangerous search involving a carved treasure, a new friendship and hidden family secrets. Its accessible prose and illustrations may suit readers who enjoy adventure but prefer shorter chapter books.

Choose this for a reader who enjoys classic mysteries, deduction and a slightly spooky atmosphere. Its strongest appeal is the Holmes-and-Watson partnership, carefully constructed investigation and influential detective-fiction pattern.

This is an immersive historical novel voiced as Claudius’s autobiography, offering intrigue, psychological characterisation and a close-feeling reconstruction of the ancient past rather than neutral history.

A fast-moving, puzzle-led thriller built around a week of threats. It offers suspense, clues, red herrings and questions about why people conceal painful truths, with grief and past events shaping Kay’s return.

Expect a fast-moving, atmospheric slasher mystery built around teenage friendship, investigation and uncertainty about whether a haunting is real. The central appeal is suspense and clue-following rather than realistic crime analysis.

A fast-moving mystery about a child trying to clear her father’s name, with computer crime, family pressure and danger. Victoria’s intelligence, courage and persistence drive the investigation.

This is a mystery about a boy facing an unfair punishment and trying to understand a suspicious institution. The curse adds a generational dimension, while the buried secret gives Stanley a reason to question what he is told.