Best Crime and Mystery Book Series for 5 and 6 Year Olds

Best Crime and Mystery Book Series for 5 and 6 Year Olds

As parents, guardians and teachers, a big part of our focus is spent on supporting little ones on their reading journey during the delicate ages of 5 and 6. This can look very different from child to child: some like being read to, others like reading aloud, and some dive straight into reading on their own! 

We've noticed that the best way to support them during this phase is introducing them to book series. Children love coming back to the same familiar characters, just like they're friends, and often times the books become a tad bit more challenging as the series progress, mirroring your little one's growth.

So, what series should you start with? 

So many kids this age love a fun mystery, with humorous elements, links to history or even animal characters! Scroll down below for our top mystery series recommendations for this age range.

Toppsta
2025-03-28
Best Crime and Mystery Book Series for 5 and 6 Year Olds
Book pages Princess in Black Series

Princess in Black Series

With brilliant full-colour illustrations, this is a great first step after picture books or for newly independent readers, featuring a perfect princess who is actually ... an undercover hero! Saving the world from horrible monsters day in, day out may not be your ordinary princess duties, but Princess Magnolia is always up for a challenge and is ready to switch into her superhero outfit at the first ring of her inconvenient monster alarm. This is a funny, action-packed series for young readers who like their princesses not only prim and perfect, but also dressed in black! 

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Book pages Hugh Dunnit Series

Hugh Dunnit Series

Hugh Dunnit is a great first chapter book series for children aged 5+, written by the bestselling author Guy Bass and illustrated in black-and-white throughout by Lee Cosgrove. If you love puns, dogs and funny characters, this is the comic book series you might need. We love its brilliant illustrations throughout, the short extent of the stories (each book is only 80 pages), the hilarious writing, jokes, puns and all the adventure that the young protagonist Hugh Dunnit gets up to in the hope of solving crimes! If you have a reluctant reader on your hands, we think this series will show them just how fun books can be. 

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Book pages Lizzie and Lucky Series

Lizzie and Lucky Series

A sweet girl and dog detective duo make up the Lizzie and Lucky early chapter book series. Lizzie is a young deaf girl with one big wish: to have her very own puppy. So when she sees one being taken away, she must get down to the dog-snatching mystery herself. This is how she meets Lucky, and once they find each other they realise they've yet got many more mysteries to solve together. The books are brimming with black-and-white illustrations throughout and are super accessible for young readers. 

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Book pages kitty's midnight adventures Series

kitty's midnight adventures Series

If your child loves cats, this is the perfect black-and-white illustrated chapter book series about a little girl who goes on midnight adventures with her trusty feline friends. Some of us have used this series for bedtime reading and others have left their little readers to get on with the books independently. Either way, we've found it impossible not to fall in love Kitty, the little girl in this story who loves cats. Throughout the books, Kitty is learning about her own superpowers, as well as just how courageous she is.

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Book pages News Hounds Series

News Hounds Series

A wonderfully fun and cosy chapter book series where the pups run the town! In a messy human's world, even in small quiet towns where we wouldn't expect much to happen, our pets have a lot more to do than we think! Join the dogs of a small village called Puddle as they rescue pups, make dinosaur discoveries and deal with HUGE herds of COWS! A charming and hilarious series about the things dogs get up to when their humans aren't looking.

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Book pages Fabio the World's Greatest Flamingo Detective Series

Fabio the World's Greatest Flamingo Detective Series

In a small town on the banks of Lake Laloozee lives the world’s greatest flamingo detective, together with a bunch of other hilarious animals. His name is Fabio and he’s very, very clever. Thanks to his giraffe associate Gilbert, he solves a new mystery in each book, no matter how hard (and giggle inducing) it may be to crack the case! Fabio the World's Greatest Flamingo Detective is one of our top series to support young children as they make their first steps toward independent reading.


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Book pages Dotty Detective Series

Dotty Detective Series

The Dotty Detective books by author/ illustrator Clara Vuillamy are sweet, illustrated chapter books about friendship and mysteries to solve. Dorothy Constance Mae Louise, or Dot as she prefers to be called, loves fiendish puzzles, super-sour apple sherbets and running. Along with her best friend Beans and her dog McClusky, she forms the Join the Dots detective club. The books are made up of short diary entries, including clues, selfies and Dotty’s thoughts and observations. You can read the series in any order. 

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Book pages Violet Investigates Series

Violet Investigates Series

Looking to get your little one into reading? Well, this is the series for you: illustrated two-colour chapter books for newly independent readers packed with mystery, history and adventure! The series follows Young Violet Remi-Robinson, an only child who has a talent for solving mysteries. In each book, she gets to the bottom of a new case, which often involves travelling to new places with her parents or the strange neighbours and family who visit her home. From finding hidden treasures to uncovering smugglers, there is no challenge too big for Violet. 


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Book pages Maisie Hitchins Series

Maisie Hitchins Series

This fun and light-hearted chapter book series about a young girl living in Victorian London is written by the much-loved Holly Webb and illustrated throughout by the brilliant Marion Lindsay. Maisie Hitchins lives in her grandmother's boarding house. She so longs for adventure and idolizes the famous detective Gilbert Carrington, following his every case. Together with her faithful pup Eddie, Maisie is determined to follow even the slightest scent of a mystery, and in each book in this series set in Victorian London, she gets to the bottom of a new exciting case. 


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Picture Books
Toppsta
2025-03-28
Best Crime and Mystery Book Series for 5 and 6 Year Olds
More to Explore

Detective Stanley by Hannah Tunnicliffe and Erica Harrison (Flying Eye Books)

Toppsta
2025-03-28
Best Crime and Mystery Book Series for 5 and 6 Year Olds

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