If you – or the teen in your life – can’t get enough of mystery stories, I have assembled: Best YA Mystery Books to read. Whether you like diabolical puzzles, gory CSI-style stories, or more literary mysteries – I have you covered! Best YA Mystery Books to Read is updated regularly to add new titles. The latest update was in May 2025!
Best YA Mystery Books to Read
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Table of Contents:
Best YA Mystery Books Featuring Girl Detectives
Best YA Mystery Books By Authors of Color
Best YA Mysteries for Science Nerds and Fans of CSI
Best YA Coming of Age Mysteries
Best Sherlock Holmes Inspired YA Mysteries
Twistiest YA Mysteries to Read
Best YA Mysteries Featuring Girl Detectives
For fans of Nancy Drew (either old-school Nancy or the new and updated Nancy Drew on the CW, here’s a list of young adult mysteries featuring intrepid girl detectives.
The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson (2024)
Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished.
But the case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. . And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.
With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .
Check out my Discussion of The Reappearance of Rachel Price!
The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson (2022)
Inspired by Dame Agatha Christie’s mysterious disappearance, this mystery features two high school girls who team up to solve the murder of a classmate.
Alice just got dumped and disappeared for five days. Now, another one of her ex’s girlfriends has vanished: Alice’s ex–best friend. Iris is Alice’s tutor. She has her own reasons for wanting to disappear.
These girls need to solve the crime and Alice has exactly what they need—the complete works of Agatha Christie.
You can find my full review of The Agathas here. I loved this one. It had the homage to Agatha in Alice’s disappearance for five days – you can read more about Agatha Christie’s disappearance here. But The Agathas also had so many Veronica Mars vibes. I also reviewed the sequel, The Night in Question, here.
Murder on a School Night by Kate Weston (2023)
Kerry big plans for her first high school party—like not going. All she wanted to do was stay home in the safety of retro rom-coms and her strict retainer schedule. Instead her BFF, fiercely outgoing mystery-fanatic Annie, has roped her into going to the party to investigate who’s cyberbullying Heather, the most popular girl in school.
But when two students turns up dead, Annie and Kerry have to sol ve the case
This was hilarious fun, kind of like a cross between the movies Heathers and Booksmart.
Check out my review here!
The Black Queen by Jumata Emill (2023)
Nova, he first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High is dead, murdered on the night of her coronation. Tinsley was supposed to be queen. Not only is she beautiful, wealthy, and white, her grandmother, her mother, and even her sister wore the crown before her.
Duchess, Nova’s best friend, is the daughter first Black police captain in Lovett. Duchess is convinced that Tinsley killed Nova and is privileged enough to think she can get away with it. Duchess is determined to prove Tinsley’s guilt. And to do that, she’ll have to get close to her.
I thought The Black Queen was a great mystery, an insightful look at race relations at a high school, and the story of a very unlikely friendship. My full review of The Black Queen is here on YA All Day.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson (2020-2021)
Pip needs a senior project to get into college, so she sets out to prove that a notorious local murder isn’t what it seems. This thrilling trilogy gets even darker as it goes!
Pippa starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth?
You can read my review of Good Girls Guide to Murder. Or I have a spoiler free review of the Good Girl’s Guide to Mystery Series. This book also appears on my list of Thrilling Books With Podcast Elements!
I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick (2020)
A girl takes a summer nanny job and discovers that she bears a striking resemblance to a missing girl. She, along with a student podcaster, investigate.
But when the missing girl is found, Anna is charged with manslaughter. But Anna’s confession is riddled with holes, and Martina Green, teen host of the Missing Zoe podcast, isn’t satisfied. Did Anna really kill Zoe? And if not, can Martina’s podcast uncover the truth?
This one is also on my list of books with podcast elements. Also, you can find Kit Frick’s second YA mystery, Very Bad People (reviewed here) , on my best YA Dark Academia List
God Smites and Other Muslim Girl Problems by Ishara Teen (2017)
A good Muslim girl goes for a secret walk in the woods with her crush and they stumble on a dead body.
Asiya defies her parents to go for a walk in the woods with Michael. But her tiny transgression turns into a big problem when they stumble on a dead body. Michael covers for Asiya, then goes missing himself.
Asiya is almost sure Michael is innocent.But how will she, a girl with the strictest parents ever, prove anything?
Shade Me series by Jennifer Brown (2016)
A girl with synesthesia gets drawn into a murder.
Nikki does not see the world like everyone else. In her eyes, happiness is pink, sadness is a mixture of brown and green, and lies are gray.
One night a mysterious call lights her phone up bright orange—the color of emergencies. The local hospital need Nikki to identify a Jane Doe who is barely hanging on to life after a horrible attack.
The victim is Peyton Hollis, a popular girl from Nikki’s school who Nikki hardly knows. One thing is clear: Someone wants Peyton dead. But why? And why was Nikki’s cell the only number in Peyton’s phone?
This is Our Story by Ashley Elston (2016)
Five boys went hunting but only four came back. Kate uses her internship at the DA’s office to investigate.
As Kate gets dangerously close to the truth, it becomes clear that the early morning accident might not have been an accident at all—and if Kate doesn’t uncover the true killer, more than one life could be on the line…including her own.
Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham (2015)
Scarlet runs her own detective agency and agrees to take on a case of a suicide that might be murder.
Meet Scarlett, a smart, sarcastic, kick-butt, Muslim American heroine, ready to take on crime in her hometown of Las Almas.
When a new case finds the private eye caught up in a centuries-old battle of evil genies and ancient curses, Scarlett discovers that her own family secrets may have more to do with the situation than she thinks — and that cracking the case could lead to solving her father’s murder.
Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock (2012)
Yes, this is a werewolf book, but also a story about a girl trying to solve her best friend’s murder. It has a lot of Veronica Mars vibes.
Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was murdered.
Mac is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf.
Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy’s murder herself.
The Body Finder series by Kimberly Derting (2010)
This YA mystery series is a little bit paranormal, featuring a girl who can sense the dead … and a surprisingly steamy romance.
Sixteen-year-old Violet is hiding two secrets. The first is her confusing new feelings for her childhood best friend Jay. The second is her unusual ability to sense the dead…and the people who killed them.
When a serial killer begins terrorizing her small town, Violet realizes she may be the only person who can stop him.
Best YA Mystery Books By Authors of Color
Talented authors of color have entered the YA Mystery and Thriller space, bringing welcome new perspectives on the genre. They raise issues white privilege in Campus Mysteries and Missing White Girl Syndrome in True Crime Inspired mysteries. Here are some of the best!
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson (2018)
Claudia’s friend is missing and she’s the only one who seems worried.Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable, more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried.
When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong.As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday.
How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?
Wander in the Dark by Jumata Emill (2024)
A campus mystery plus family secrets plus the experience of a Black teen with the criminal justice system makes this twisty thriller impossible to put down!
Amir Trudeau only goes to his half brother Marcel’s birthday party because of Chloe Danvers. In the final hours of Mardi Gras, she asks him to take her home. Her parents are away and she doesn’t want to be alone.
When Amir wakes up, Chloe is dead—stabbed while he was passed out on the couch downstairs—and Amir becomes the only suspect. Parents will go to any lengths to protect their children, and in a city as old as New Orleans, the right family connections can bury even the ugliest truths.
Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (2024)
Sade Hussein is the new girl at an elite boarding school.What she doesn’t expect though is for her roommate Elizabeth to disappear after Sade’s first night. Or for people to think she had something to do with it.
The more Sade investigates, the more she realizes there’s more to Alfred Nobel Academy and its students than she realized. Secrets lurk around every corner and beneath every surface…secrets that rival even her own.
Best YA Mystery Books for Fans of CSI
Can’t get enough of forensics and police or FBI procedurals? Here’s a list of YA Mystery Books that feature a lot of science in their crime solving!
None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney (2020) – LOVED this YA serial killer book set in the 80s.
n 1982, two teenagers—serial killer survivor Emma Lewis and US Marshal candidate Travis Bell—are recruited by the FBI to interview convicted juvenile killers and provide insight and advice on cold cases.
Working against the clock, they must turn to one of the country’s most notorious incarcerated murderers for help: teenage sociopath Simon Gutmunsson.
Despite Travis’s objections, Emma becomes the conduit between Simon and the FBI team. But while Simon seems to be giving them the information they need to save lives, he’s an expert manipulator playing a very long game…and he has his sights set on Emma.
You can read my review here. If you loved Silence of the Lambs or Mindhunter, I HIGHLY recommend this one!
To Catch a Killer by Sheryl Scarborough (2017)
A girl tries to solve a cold case – her own mother’s murder.
As a toddler, Erin survived for three days alongside the corpse of her murdered mother, and the case—which remains unsolved—fascinated a nation.
Fourteen years later, Erin is once again at the center of a brutal homicide when she finds the body of her biology teacher.
When questioned by the police, Erin tells almost the whole truth, but never voices her suspicions that her mother’s killer has struck again, but when all the evidence starts to point the authorities straight to Erin, she turns to her longtime crush (and fellow suspect) Journey Michaels to help her crack the case before it’s too late.
The Naturals series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (2013)
The FBI secretly assembles a team of teens with extra-sensory powers.
Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Then the FBI come knocking: they’ve begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.
When a new killer strikes, danger looms closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.
I Hunt Killers series by Barry Lyga (2012)
The son of a notorious serial killer teams up with police in this edgy YA thriller.
Jasper “Jazz” Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.
But he’s also the son of the world’s most infamous serial killer.
Best YA Coming of Age Mysteries
These non-traditional mysteries are more about the fact that life – and other people’s motivations and decisions – can be the greatest mystery of all.
Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehring (2016) – Flynn’s girlfriend is missing. To find her, he’ll have to face some secrets he’s been keeping.
Sadie by Courtney Summers (2018) – a podcast chronicles the story of two sisters: Mattie, who was murdered and Sadie, who disappears.
The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos (2016) – a girl tries to find her mystery writer father, who’s gone missing.
Far From You by Tess Sharp (2014) – Sophie’s best friend was killed and she needs to find out why
She is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick (2013) – a blind girl and her young brother travel from London to New York to find their missing father.
Looking for Alaska by John Green (2005) – a group of boarding school kids search for their missing friend.
Also:
Paper Towns by John Green (2008) – Margo is missing and her neighbor Quentin knows he can find her.
Best Sherlock Holmes Inspired YA Mysteries
Who’s a more iconic detective than Sherlock Holmes? These Holmes-inspired books are often gender flipped and will keep you guessing!
A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes series) by Brittany Cavallaro (2016)
Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson team up to solve mysteries.
From the moment they meet, there’s a tense energy between them, and they seem more destined to be rivals than anything else. But when a student at their school dies under suspicious circumstances, r, Jamie can no longer afford to keep his distance. Jamie and Charlotte are being framed for murder, and only Charlotte can clear their names. But danger is mounting and nowhere is safe—and the only people they can trust are each other.
Lock & Mori by Heather W. Petty (2015)
This diabolical book focuses on Holmes and Moriarty and is told from the point of view of Moriarty (who in this book happens to be a teenage girl!)
FACT: Someone has been murdered in London’s Regent’s Park. The police have no leads.
FACT: Lock has challenged Mori to solve the case before he does. Challenge accepted.
FACT: Despite agreeing to Lock’s one rule—they must share every clue with each other—Mori is keeping secrets.
OBSERVATION: Sometimes you can’t trust the people closest to you with matters of the heart. And after this case, Mori may never trust Lock again.
Every Breath (Every series) by Ellie Marney (2013)
One of my absolute favorite YA mystery series of all time!!!! These gritty and suspenseful books feature Rachel Watts and James Mycroft and take place in Australia.
Rachel Watts has just moved to Melbourne from the country, but the city is the last place she wants to be. James Mycroft is her neighbour, an intriguingly troubled seventeen-year-old who’s also a genius with a passion for forensics.
Rachel finds herself unable to resist Mycroft when he wants her help investigating a murder. He’s even harder to resist when he’s up close and personal – and on the hunt for a cold-blooded killer.
When Rachel and Mycroft follows the murderer’s trail, they find themselves in the lion’s den – literally. A trip to the zoo will never have quite the same meaning again…
Best YA Historical Mysteries
The Killing Code by Ellie Marney (2022)
It’s 1943 and World War II is raging in Europe and on the Pacific front.
Kit Sutherland has a secret she needs to hide, so is grateful to be recruited as a codebreaker.
But Kit is shocked to discover that government girls are being brutally murdered, and when Kit stumbles onto a bloody homicide scene, she is drawn into the hunt for the killer.
The Silver Blonde by Elizabeth Ross (2021)
Hollywood, 1946. The war is over, and eighteen-year-old Clara Berg spends her days shelving reels as a vault girl at Silver Pacific Studios, with all her dreams pinned on getting a break in film editing.
But when she returns a reel of film to storage one night, Clara stumbles across the lifeless body of a woman in Vault 5. The costume, the makeup, the ash-blond hair are unmistakable–it has to be Babe Bannon, A-list star. And it looks like murder.
The Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson (2018-2021)
A group of contemporary boarding school students try to solve a notorious mystery set in the early twentieth century.
Shortly after The Ellingham Academy opened a century ago, the founder’s wife and daughter were kidnapped.
True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case.
Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy.
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco (2016)
In late 19th century England, Audrey secretly studies forensic medicine and hunts a killer.
Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born into a life of wealth and privilege but often slips away to her uncle’s laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine.
When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.
These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly (2015)
Jo Montfort is beautiful and rich, and soon she’ll graduate from finishing school and be married off to a wealthy bachelor. But Jo secretly dreams of becoming a newspaper reporter like the trailblazing Nellie Bly. Then tragedy strikes: Jo’s father is found dead.
The more Jo uncovers about her father’s death, the more her suspicions grow.
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (2012)
A heartbreaking mystery set against the backdrop of World War II.
In 1943, a British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends.
When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she’s sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane.
The Diviners series by Libba Bray (2012)
Creepy mystery set in 1920’s Manhattan!
In 1926, Evie leaves her boring old hometown and is shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City.
Evie worries her uncle will discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.
The Girl is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines (2011)
Think Veronica Mars set in the 1940s.
It’s the Fall of 1942 and Iris’s world is rapidly changing. Her Pop is back from the war with a missing leg, limiting his ability to do the physically grueling part of his detective work.
Iris is dying to help, especially when she discovers that one of Pop’s cases involves a boy at her school. Now, instead of sitting at home watching Deanna Durbin movies, Iris is sneaking out of the house, double crossing her friends, and dancing at the Savoy till all hours of the night. There’s certainly never a dull moment in the private eye business.
Best YA Mysteries With Shocking Twists
One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus (2017)
A locked room mystery featuring a group of kids in detention. When one of them is murdered, they try to figure out who did it.
Pay close attention and you might solve this.
Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas (2013)
This ripped from the headlines book is SO twisty.
It’s Spring Break of senior year. Anna, her boyfriend Tate, her best friend Elise, and a few other close friends are off on a debaucherous trip to Aruba that promises to be the time of their lives. But when Elise is found brutally murdered, Anna finds herself trapped in a country not her own, fighting against vile and contemptuous accusations.
Hope you’ve enjoyed Best YA Mystery Books to Read and I hope you’ll tell me your favorites in comments!