Hi everyone! My daughter is turning 12 and I would like to give her books as part of the present. She likes Stuart Gibbs series about animal mysteries and spy school. Can anyone recommend anything similar? Like detective books or thrillers for her age?
by bad_russian_girl
11 Comments
when i was her age i was reading EJ-12 and Bureau of Mysteries 🙂
Nancy Drew!
Try Dick Francis, especially his early books.
Agatha Christie’s *The Secret Adversary* would be a great choice. I think there are 3 or 4 in the series.
At that age the two mystery thriller series I was obsessed with was the Frightmares series by Peg Kehret and The Saddle Club series.
The first is a series with two female protagonists whose desire to help animals leads them into scary situations that give her parents proverbial frightmares. As a kid, I love that animal welfare was a central theme and my parents liked that the books acknowledged that the adventures the girls got up to would be terrifying in real life.
The Saddle Club was all about horses. It had coming of age themes but frequently mysteries and adventures as well.
The Homer Kelly mysteries by Jane Langton are a neat mix of mystery and New England history. I don’t think there’s anything too graphic, but I didn’t like Emily Dickinson is Dead (there’s a weird amount of fat shaming). They’re fairly lighthearted overall though.
Legend of Beka Cooper A series by Tamora Pierce
What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski
The Westing Game. It’s not recent but really stands up.
I started reading mysteries around that age and loved Agatha Christie and the Cat Who series by Lillian Jackson Braun. A pair of cats help their owner solve mysteries.
This was back in the mid nineties though, I’m sure there are so many more options now
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B000APBZN6
**A Murder for Her Majesty** by Beth Hilgartner
**Walk Two Moons** by Sharon Creech
**How to Disappear Completely and Never be Found** by Sara Nickerson