After being in school libraries for more than seventeen years, the question I hear from middle grade students more than any other—and lately, I’m hearing it nonstop—is, “Do you have any good mysteries?”
And middle grade readers mean a real mystery. Something with bite. They’ve outgrown tracking down a missing football trophy, figuring out who nabbed the teacher’s answer key, or solving where the class hamster disappeared to this time.
But before we go any further, let’s define “middle grade.”
Middle grade is not middle school. It encompasses some middle school and some elementary. It’s the “middle” of K – 12, so we’re talking fourth to seventh grade (generally, ages eight to twelve). And these readers crave stories with weight. They want whodunits with real consequences. A high-stakes theft, a kidnapping, or better yet, a murder. They want…a cozy.
Cozy mysteries aren’t necessarily defined by a ridged set of rules but are typically lighter in tone than your traditional murder mystery. The reader is spared gory details or extreme suspenseful moments. And they are free of profanity and explicit sexual content.
The detective is an amateur sleuth who solves crime using their wits and local knowledge. Think Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael, or Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Whimsy.
Usually, but not always, a cozy takes place in a small-town setting, or at least a closed environment. And while the main character is usually a little bit more serious, the secondary characters can often be quirky, memorable, and a lot of fun.
But why does this matter? Because increasingly more middle grade and young adult readers are asking for these stories. The cozy is a rising genre in both adult and kid spaces. And while I do love to get lost in the classics by Christie, Peters, or Sayers, some of my favorite cozy mysteries are for the middle grade and young adult audiences. I’d love to share a few with you.
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Taryn Souders, Secrets of the Broken House
Scooby-Doo meets Psych in this funny small town southern murder mystery. Tucker Stephens, a sharp-eyed kid known for noticing everything, along with his friends Clemmie and Sadie, help the town’s most cantankerous resident, Ms. Geraldine Guss, sort through her antiques before her house condemned.
When the trio discovers Miss Geraldine’s body at the bottom of her broken staircase the next day, it’s obvious to Tucker that this was no simple accident. Together, they uncover hidden motives, long-buried truths, and the realization that their small town isn’t as safe as they once believed it to be.
Sheila Turnage, Three Times Lucky
Another small-town murder mystery full of laughs. (It was also a Newbery honor book.) Three Times Lucky follows Mo LoBeau, a fast-talking sixth grader who was found as a baby during a hurricane and now helps run a café in tiny Tupelo Landing, South Carolina with her guardian, Miss Lana.
When a mysterious murder rocks their small town, Mo and her best friend Dale launch their own detective agency—whether the adults want them to or not. As secrets unravel and danger closes in, Mo discovers more about family, friendship, and the truth behind her own stormy past.
Mackenzie Reed, The Wilde Trials
Chloe Gatti will do whatever it takes to win her elite boarding school’s annual competition, the Wilde Trials. In the two weeks leading up to graduation from Wilde Academy, a dozen seniors are chosen to compete in a series of seven ultimate physical and mental tests, and the winner will take home over half a million dollars—money that Chloe needs to help her sick sister.
But the competition is fierce and includes her brooding ex-boyfriend, Hayes Stratford, whose brother was the only student to die during the trials a few years ago. When someone starts blackmailing Chloe during the competition, she’s forced to strike a deal with Hayes—if he helps her discover who is sabotaging her, she’ll help him solve the mystery his brother left behind.
With a life-changing prize looming over her head and her buried feelings for Hayes rising to the surface, Chloe will have to decide what’s really worth fighting for.
Elizabeth C. Bunce, Premeditated Myrtle
Myrtle Hardcastle, a spicy, twelve-year old, Victorian young lady stumbles across the body of her odd elderly neighbor. Wit and humorous sidenotes run throughout the mystery as Myrtle and her governess, despite her father’s objections, investigates and proves her neighbor did not die of natural causes. This is the first in the Myrtle Hardcastle series and my favorite of them!
Nancy Springer, The Enola Holmes series
Want more Victorian mysteries? Try Enola Holmes. This series follows the brilliant and fiercely independent younger sister of Sherlock Holmes.
After her mother’s mysterious disappearance, Enola goes undercover in clever disguises, using her sharp mind and resourcefulness to track missing people and uncover hidden plots. Throughout the series, she discovers her own identity and power while challenging society’s expectations at every turn.
Alan Bradley, The Flavia de Luce series
What’s not to love about an eleven-year-old chemistry prodigy with a passion for poisons, who solves murders and uncover secrets in her 1950s English village? Flavia possesses a sharp wit, scientific know-how, and a knack for finding trouble. Each mystery [the first in the series being The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie] blends dark humor, danger, and as she uncovers truths far bigger than she first expects.
Mary E. Roach, Better Left Buried
Lucy Preston just wants to go on vacation. But being the daughter of a famous private detective means that sometimes, your beach vacay goes off the rails a bit. Lucy and her mom find a body at an abandoned amusement park. As her mom is swept into top-secret detective stuff, Lucy sets out to investigate her mom’s mysterious connection with this town. L
ucy’s snooping sets her on a collision course with Audrey Nelson, the mysterious girl on the motorcycle who was there the night they found the body. Lucy has questions, and Audrey has answers, but there’s this tiny problem: Lucy’s mom is investigating Audrey’s mom…for murder.
Alternating between Lucy and Audrey’s point of view, and filled with suspense as secrets are spilled, Better Left Buried is sure to leave readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page.
Lauren Munoz, Suddenly a Murder
This is a locked room murder mystery that takes place at a mansion getaway during a 1920s themed party. While this book isn’t quite a cozy, it contains several “cozy” elements. The tone is a bit darker and there are actual professionals trying to solve it, but it takes place in a closed setting (the mansion), has a set cast of suspects, and it’s not gory or graphic.
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