Detective stories
Follow clues, unravel mysteries and uncover secrets with these engaging detective stories.
These stories are ideal for adventure loving, puzzle solving, unnecessarily inquisitive older children.
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Ottoline and the Yellow Cat
Author: Chris Riddell
Interest level: 7+
Reading age: 7+
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Ottoline and the Yellow Cat
Author: Chris Riddell
Interest level: 7+
Reading age: 7+
Ottoline is good at solving mysteries, in part due to her eavesdropping habit and in part because of her qualification as a mistre…
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Skulduggery Pleasant
Author: Derek Landy
Interest level: 11+
Reading age: 11+
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Skulduggery Pleasant
Author: Derek Landy
Interest level: 11+
Reading age: 11+
Meet Skulduggery Pleasant, skeleton detective, fighting to save the world from wizard-gone-to-the-dark-side, Nefarian Serpine.
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Stormbreaker
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Interest level: 13+
Reading age: 12+
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Stormbreaker
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Interest level: 13+
Reading age: 12+
Fourteen-year-old Alex Rider finds his life turned upside down on discovering that his late uncle wasn't a mild-mannered banker, b…
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Dead Man's Cove
Author: Lauren St John
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
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Dead Man's Cove
Author: Lauren St John
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
When mysterious uncle Calvin rescues Laura Marlin from her gloomy life in an orphanage, she can't believe her luck! But she soon r…
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Ruby Redfort: Look Into My Eyes
Author: Lauren Child
Interest level: 12+
Reading age: 12+
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Ruby Redfort: Look Into My Eyes
Author: Lauren Child
Interest level: 12+
Reading age: 12+
Blessed with an extraordinary talent for spotting things which others seldom notice, 13-year-old Ruby lands an undercover job as a…
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Five on a Treasure Island
Author: Enid Blyton
Interest level: 7+
Reading age: 9+
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Five on a Treasure Island
Author: Enid Blyton
Interest level: 7+
Reading age: 9+
Meet Enid Blyton's most famous characters - Julian, Dick, Anne, George and of course the ever-loyal Timmy the dog - for the first …
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Operation Bunny
Author: Sally Gardner Illustrator: David Roberts
Interest level: 7+
Reading age: 7+
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Operation Bunny
Author: Sally Gardner Illustrator: David Roberts
Interest level: 7+
Reading age: 7+
In the first case for the Fairy Detective Agency, Wings and Co, resourceful heroine Emily Vole must defeat the dastardly fairy-sna…
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The Young Magicians and the Thieves’ Almanac
Author: Nick Mohammed
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
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The Young Magicians and the Thieves’ Almanac
Author: Nick Mohammed
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
Comedian and real-life magician Nick Mohammed weaves together an action-packed and laugh-filled adventure, while at the same writi…
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Mariella Mystery: The Ghostly Guinea Pig
Author: Kate Pankhurst
Interest level: 7+
Reading age: 7+
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Mariella Mystery: The Ghostly Guinea Pig
Author: Kate Pankhurst
Interest level: 7+
Reading age: 7+
Mariella Mystery is a totally amazing girl detective, aged nine and a bit - and this is her top secret detective journal.
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Emil and the Detectives
Author: Erich Kästner
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
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Emil and the Detectives
Author: Erich Kästner
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
Ten-year-old Emil is excited to be taking the train to Berlin on his own for the first time - but he doesn't like the look of his …
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The London Eye Mystery
Author: Siobhan Dowd
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
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The London Eye Mystery
Author: Siobhan Dowd
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
Ted likes the weather, he also likes statistics and routine but his life is thrown into disarray when his Aunt Gloria and cousin S…
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Murder Most Unladylike
Author: Robin Stevens
Interest level: 10+
Reading age: 10+
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Murder Most Unladylike
Author: Robin Stevens
Interest level: 10+
Reading age: 10+
There's been a rather shocking murder at Deepdean School for Girls - but luckily, young detectives Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are …
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Kid Sherlock
Author: Justin Phillips Illustrator: Sean Gregory Miller and Lesley Atlansky
Interest level: 7-11
Reading age: 7+
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Kid Sherlock
Author: Justin Phillips Illustrator: Sean Gregory Miller and Lesley Atlansky
Interest level: 7-11
Reading age: 7+
Loosely based on the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, this sharp and witty comic is a great introduction for youngsters into the wor…
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Kat Wolfe Investigates
Author: Lauren St John
Interest level: 10-12
Reading age: 10+
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Kat Wolfe Investigates
Author: Lauren St John
Interest level: 10-12
Reading age: 10+
Kat Wolfe loves her new home in idyllic Bluebell Bay, especially as it comes with a resident wildcat. But when she starts pe…
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The Murderer’s Ape
Author: Jakob Wegelius Translator: Peter Graves
Interest level: 8+
Reading age: 10+
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The Murderer’s Ape
Author: Jakob Wegelius Translator: Peter Graves
Interest level: 8+
Reading age: 10+
Sally Jones is an engineer and loyal friend to Captain Koskela. She’s also an ape. When Koskela is falsely accused of murder,…
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Codebusters
Author: Dan Metcalf Illustrator: Gary Cherrington
Interest level: 7-10
Reading age: 7-9
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Codebusters
Author: Dan Metcalf Illustrator: Gary Cherrington
Interest level: 7-10
Reading age: 7-9
This pacey illustrated chapter book for confident young readers highlights the importance of friendship and remaining true to your…
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The Midnight Peacock
Author: Katherine Woodfine
Interest level: 10-12
Reading age: 10-12
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The Midnight Peacock
Author: Katherine Woodfine
Interest level: 10-12
Reading age: 10-12
In book four of The Sinclair’s Mysteries, Sophie and Lil’s fledgling detective agency is making ripples across London. A tigh…
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The Great Shelby Holmes: Girl Detective
Author: Elizabeth Eulberg Illustrator: Matt Robertson
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 10+
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The Great Shelby Holmes: Girl Detective
Author: Elizabeth Eulberg Illustrator: Matt Robertson
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 10+
Detective genius, Shelby Holmes, may be small but she comes up trumps when the police are flummoxed by a 'dognapping' in a wealthy…
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The Goldfish Boy
Author: Lisa Thompson
Interest level: 9-12
Reading age: 9+
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The Goldfish Boy
Author: Lisa Thompson
Interest level: 9-12
Reading age: 9+
Matthew has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Can he help an investigation into the abduction of a child, perhaps without even leavin…
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Blood Fever
Author: Charlie Higson
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
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Blood Fever
Author: Charlie Higson
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
A sinister and secret society seems to be operating at Eton, while in the Mediterranean a young girl and her tutor are taken capti…
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