Detective stories

The Young Magicians and the Thieves’ Almanac

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.

  • Skulduggery Pleasant

    Author: Derek Landy

    Interest level: 11+

    Reading age: 11+

    Flip
  • 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.

    ; Flip
  • Stormbreaker

    Author: Anthony Horowitz

    Interest level: 13+

    Reading age: 12+

    Flip
  • 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…

    ; Flip
  • Dead Man's Cove

    Author: Lauren St John

    Interest level: 9+

    Reading age: 9+

    Flip
  • 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…

    ; Flip
  • Operation Bunny

    Author: Sally Gardner Illustrator: David Roberts

    Interest level: 7+

    Reading age: 7+

    Flip
  • 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…

    ; Flip
  • Wild Boy

    Author: Rob Lloyd Jones

    Interest level: 9+

    Reading age: 9+

    Flip
  • Wild Boy

    Author: Rob Lloyd Jones

    Interest level: 9+

    Reading age: 9+

    In 1840s London, Wild Boy leads a miserable life in a travelling freak show. Treated as a monster and excluded from society, he de…

    ; Flip
  • Kid Sherlock

    Author: Justin Phillips Illustrator: Sean Gregory Miller and Lesley Atlansky

    Interest level: 7-11

    Reading age: 7+

    Flip
  • 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…

    ; Flip
  • Kat Wolfe Investigates

    Author: Lauren St John

    Interest level: 10-12

    Reading age: 10+

    Flip
  • 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…

    ; Flip
  • The Murderer’s Ape

    Author: Jakob Wegelius Translator: Peter Graves

    Interest level: 8+

    Reading age: 10+

    Flip
  • 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,…

    ; Flip
  • Codebusters

    Author: Dan Metcalf Illustrator: Gary Cherrington

    Interest level: 7-10

    Reading age: 7-9

    Flip
  • 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…

    ; Flip
  • The Midnight Peacock

    Author: Katherine Woodfine

    Interest level: 10-12

    Reading age: 10-12

    Flip
  • 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…

    ; Flip
  • The Goldfish Boy

    Author: Lisa Thompson

    Interest level: 9-12

    Reading age: 9+

    Flip
  • 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…

    ; Flip
  • Blood Fever

    Author: Charlie Higson

    Interest level: 9+

    Reading age: 9+

    Flip
  • 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…

    ; Flip