Fifteen Mysteries --a Round up of Reviews

I love mysteries.  Here are fifteen I have read and reviewed here on Artistry of Education (just in case you missed some.)

The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham

Heist Society by  Ally Carter


Enola Holmes series by Nancy Springer

The Midnight Tunnel by Angie Frazier

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage 

The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin

13 Suspicious Incidents by Lemony Snicket

Room One: A Mystery or Two by Andrew Clements

The Mystery of the Third Lucretia by Susan Runholt

The Candymakers by Wendy Mass

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein 

Brixton Brothers series by Mac Barnett

No Place Like Holmes by Jason Lethcoe

The Case of the Missing Moonstone by Jordan Strafford


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The Case of the Missing Moonstone by Jordan Stratford

If Ada Byron Lovelace and Mary Shelley met as girls and formed a detective agency, they would have formed the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency.  Jordan Stratford introduces the reader to these two women from history and changes their stories to write this first book in a series.  In the first book, Ada and Mary must risk their lives while solving a case of the missing jewel.

At the end of the book, the author notes what was true about the connections between the first female computer programmer and the first science fiction novelist.   I appreciated the background information and it made me wanted to learn more about these women and their famous families.





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No Place Like Holmes by Jason Lethcoe

I love mysteries and am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan.  (My stepdaughter and I visited the museum at 221 Baker Street first out of everything in London.)  When I saw this book for middle grade students, I had to check it out.

Griffin goes to stay with his detective uncle who happens to live next to Sherlock Holmes.  His uncle is struggling with his business and unhappy to have his nephew around.  Griffin is much more observant and compassionate than his uncle and when they get involved with a mystery, Griffin has the opportunity to win his uncle over.

I recommend this book to middle grade readers who love mysteries.
 



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Brixton Brothers Series by Mac Barnett

The Brixton Brothers aren't really brothers.  In fact only one of them, Steve Brixton, is obsessed with being a detective.  He constantly reads the Bailey Brother books, studying their techniques to use in his own practice.  By copying his fictional heroes, he becomes a famous detective while still in the seventh grade.

I love mysteries and found these entertaining.




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Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

I've read several books for the upper elementary age group that have puzzles interwoven through the story:  Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman and the Winston Breen books by Eric Berlin.  My students enjoy them.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library is in the same category.  Luigi Lemoncello remodels and reopens the town library and invites twelve kids to a sleepover party at the library.  So begins a contest to find the way out of the library.  

Here is a tool called Elements and Events for readers to create a summary of the book.

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The Candymakers by Wendy Mass

Four children are chosen to compete in a candy making contest.  Logan is the candymaker's son and hoping to succeed him.  Miles has had trauma in his past and is allergic to rowboats and pink.  Daisy has a sweet personality and is unusually strong.  Phillip is always writing in his secret notebook.  Each section of the book is told by a different contestant's perspective.

If you like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Gollywhopper Games, and Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, you will like The Candymakers.



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The Mystery of the Third Lucretia by Susan Runholt

The mystery begins when Lucas notices a man copying a Rembrandt painting at a museum in Minneapolis and then again in the National Gallery in London.  Lucas and her friend Kari find it suspicious, that the man is defensive when he discover them observing him.

When a Rembrandt painting is "discovered" in Amsterdam, the girls suspect it's a forgery and they decide to investigate.



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Room One: A Mystery or Two by Andrew Clements

Plattsford, Nebraska is a small town that is about to lose its school.  Ted Hammond is worried that with only five students next year, the town won't be able to afford a school and the town will disappear.

One day on his paper route, Ted sees a face in the window of a house that is supposed to be abandoned.  This is just the type of mystery, he is excited to solve.

I liked that the way that Ted solved the mystery was realistic for a boy his age.  I recommend this book to students who like realistic fiction or mysteries.

 

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13 Suspicious Incidents by Lemony Snicket

Lemony Snicket meets Encyclopedia Brown.  While I was growing up, I enjoyed reading Encyclopedia Brown books where I could read the short mystery and try to solve it before checking the back of the book for the answer.  Lemony Snicket presents a book like this, although there were more answers in the back than there were mysteries and I had a feeling I was missing something.  I know there are multiple layers to Lemony Snicket's work.

I completely enjoyed this book and would recommend it to mystery lovers of all ages.


  
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The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin

 Winston Breen loves solving puzzles and stumping others with them.  When his sister Katie finds some mysterious strips of wood in an old wooden box, Winston can't help himself.  He must get involved.  Soon it becomes clear that others with impure motives are interested in these wooden strips.  Will Winston solve the puzzles ahead of the villains?

I also read the second book in this series.  Winston and his friends spend a weekend at a famous piano player's mansion.  The pianist sets up puzzle weekends to entertain his friends.  Soon, Winston is faced with a real mystery when items begin to disappear.

  

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Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

I read Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage after watching two of my fourth graders devour this and the second book in the series.  (I often get great book finds from my students.)

Miss Moses LoBeau washed into Tupelo Landing, NC in a hurricane eleven years ago.  She sends messages in bottles along the same river to find her mother. 

(Click here if you want a Message in a Bottle themed writing assignment.)

Mo gets involved in a series of mysteries in her town while trying to reconnect with family.  I love a good mystery and I loved the characters in this small town. 




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The Midnight Tunnel by Angie Frazier

I love mysteries and this new series by Angie Frazier looks promising.  Suzanna Snow idolizes her Uncle Bruce Snow who is a famous Boston detective.  She keeps a notebook with observations and hopes to be a detective herself someday.  When a young guest is missing from the hotel Suzanna's parents run, Bruce Snow is called in to investigate.  How can Suzanna's observations be taken seriously?


 I can't wait to read the second book in the series.  Click here for a free printable form for students to track their changes in thinking while they read.

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Enola Holmes Series by Nancy Springer

I love the original Sherlock Holmes Series by Conan Doyle.  When my stepdaughter and I went to London last summer, Baker Street was high on our list of places to visit.

This year I discovered that Sherlock Holmes had a little sister who has similar gifts.  If you love mysteries and strong teen female characters, I recommend you read this series.  I appreciated the attention to detail in the setting and characters from the original books.

Click here to get a free printable form for students to keep track of their changes in thinking.  Perfect for mysteries.

 

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Heist Society by Ally Carter

The Heist Society series is written by the same author as the Gallagher Girls series.  Middle school girls who read I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd have to Kill You will like this series. 

Kat wants to leave the family business: art theft.  She keeps getting caught up in it anyway.  In the first book, her father is accused of stealing from a mobster and Kat is forced to find the artwork and steal it back.

I found myself guessing about what each of the characters were up to.  Here is a free printable worksheet for students to keep track of their changes in thinking

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Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham

I love to read a good mystery and I was excited to discover this series that I can recommend to my students.  Unless you just came out of a Rip Van Winkle like slumber, you know that John Grisham writes for adults.  I enjoyed this series, because he explains the legal system in terms my fourth, fifth and sixth graders will understand.  The suspense is appropriate for this age group.  What I appreciated the most is that the main character talks with his parents when faced with challenges.  It doesn't take away from his ability to solve the problems.

If you want to discuss this book with your students, here is a free worksheet for students to track their changes in thinking as they read the books.

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The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd

I love to visit the settings of books I have enjoyed reading.  Many fiction books have real places as settings, so when I planned my visit to London, I wanted to make sure that I saw the London Eye.  I didn't take the time to travel on it.

In the London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd, Ted and Kat’s cousin Salim disappears after entering the London Eye, a large Ferris wheel along the River Thames.  The children feel led to investigate despite police involvement.  Ted has Asperger's, yet it is his different way of thinking that solves the mystery.
 

I have several friends who are raising children with special needs.  Each year I have students who don’t fit in with their peers.  I now have a book whose hero is like them. The part I liked the best was the main character’s different ability was what helped him see what actually happened.

Update: June 2014.  Ted has to change his mind about how and why his cousin disappeared.  As I read it to my class this year, my students changed their minds about the story as we went along and collected more evidence. I created a graphic organizer to help collect evidence and track changes in our thinking about the story. Click here for a free download.


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