Mystery and Horror Titles for Middle and High School

Reviewed by Chris Gustafson, Whitman Middle School, Seattle School District

• Colfer, Eoin Half-Moon Investigations

Though only in 7^th grade, Fletcher “Half” Moon had completed an internet detective course using an assumed identity and is eager to put his new skills to work. He’s put on retainer by April, who wants him to find out who stole her lock of celebrity hair, but before he can make much progress on the case, his detective badge is stolen – and he’s sure the culprit is Red Sharkey, teen-aged son of a notorious local crime family. Fletcher has already shown off his skills by implicating Red’s younger brother, Herod, in a school-yard theft. But Red is the kid in the family who wants to go straight, so he and Fletcher form an unlikely partnership when Fletcher is accused of a crime he didn’t commit. Colfer’s trademark humor, intriguing characters, and complex plots work well in this mystery – if it’s the first of a series, more will be welcome.

• Jaffe, Michele Bad Kitty

A guilty-pleasure mystery book in the tradition of Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls that made me laugh out loud. Teen Jasmine is on vacation in Las Vegas with her dad, amazingly wonderful step-mom Sherri!, annoying cousin Alyson and Alyson’s joined-at-the-hip buddy Veronique, just hoping to have a good time and to finish her summer homework – a journal of meaningful reflections that she’s been putting off. The plot is convoluted, the large cast of characters only barely sketched in, but Jasmine’s strong, funny voice carries through a crush on a guy who may be a murderer and the fashion intervention of her faithful friends who join her when they think she’s in danger – and not just of picking the wrong outfit. Fans of Zoey Dean’s novels who are assigned to read a mystery will eat this one up.

• Abrahams, Peter Behind the Curtain

The second in the “Echo Falls” mystery series. Role model Sherlock Holmes would advise her to focus on the pattern of details, and there’s no shortage of issues for eighth grader Ingrid to try to puzzle out. Suddenly crankier freshman brother Ty is bulking up for football, but why is he obsessed with weight lifting, and why does he have so many pimples on his back? Ingrid’s usually calm father is way more stressed about work - does the recent hiring of a woman to serve as his co-vice president have anything to do with it? Grampy’s farm is the last one within the city limits, there are no animals there anymore, and there’s been pressure on him to sell, but who has tipped off the city so that his taxes are ruinously raised? And who kidnaps Ingrid on her way to the MathFest? Featuring a large cast of interesting characters including sort of boyfriend Joey, and Joey’s savvy police chief dad.

• Hautman, Pete and Mary Logue Snatched

The first of the “Bloodwater Mysteries.” Junior Roni takes her job as a reporter for her school newspaper seriously, and when ice queen classmate Alicia is assaulted, Roni’s pushy questioning results in a tussle with Alicia, landing Roni in the principal’s office. There she meets freshman Brian, who is waiting to be seen for creating a stink bomb in chemistry class. They encounter each other the next day on the way to Alicia’s house, where Roni is headed to apologize to Alicia. Brian wants to talk to Alicia’s brother Ted, who’s in some of his classes, since he’s heard from his detective mom that Alica has been kidnapped. Roni is determined to find out what happened to Alicia and she pulls Brian along, investigating a community of hippies on a nearby island, Alicia’s birth day, and her creepy step-father. Roni and Brian form an engagingly awkward partnership, and the supporting characters, from Roni’s assistant to the mayor mother to suspect Driftwood Doug are multi-faceted. Dialogue is a Hautman strength and it’s well done here.

• de la Cruz, Melissa Blue Bloods

Horror meets The A-List! Schuyler is a student at an exclusive NYC high school where she doesn’t quite fit in to the various sport/social groups, led by Jack and Mimi, beautiful people twins who rule the school. There are plenty of descriptions of clothing brands and more than I wanted to know about interior decorating but de la Cruz does a pretty good job of creating and managing a set of distinct characters who are all descendents of the original colonists at Roanoke and are all a particular type of vampire called Blue Bloods. The chapters are interspersed with journal entries purported to be from a colonist ancestor and there’s considerable backstory about how the vampires came to be and their ultimate goals, but the real attraction here is Schuyler – her steady friendship with best friend Oliver which is complicated by her attraction to Jack which is complicated by his intense emotional connection to his sister Mimi. Then there’s Schuyler’s mom, in a coma since she was born, and her icy guardian-grandmother who are all a part of the vampire story which unfolds when Schuyler is invited to join their front organization as a junior member; it’s an exclusive charity called The New York Blood Bank. The pace heats up in the second half of the book and it can be hard to keep track of events, but girls who love chick lit will be watching for the sequel. Probably best for 8^th grade.

• Stahler Jr., David Doppelganger

Nameless, pushed out of the home by his mother, knowing only that doppelgangers kill humans and shape-shift to become their victim, our narrator takes on the life of high schooler Chris when Chris bullies him and is strangled. New Chris warily and cautiously picks up the strands of Old Chris’s life and finds that lots of it isn’t pretty. Chris’s dad abuses little sister Echo, mom is terrified and passive, and even though New Chris is totally smitten with Old Chris’s lovely cheerleader girlfriend Amber, it’s obvious that their relationship has been extremely rocky. New Chris works hard to get up to speed on Old Chris’s life, trying to figure out how football works since Old Chris was a star linebacker. Just as New Chris is discovering ways to redeem some of Old Chris’s poor choices, a she doppelganger appears in the body of his favorite teacher, demanding that Chris couple with her, a biological doppelganger imperative that he must struggle to resist. And because he is a novice doppelganger, Chris lacks the skill and concentration to hold on to his new form for long; his skin begins to itch and redden in preparation for separating from him. Stahler grapples with big questions here: what does it mean to be human? Are we our brother’s keepers? Action, drama, and gruesomeness keep the reader turning pages. Excellent suspense/horror for grades eight and up.