Mysteries & Thrillers for Teens

Toppsta - Childrens Books – Reviews

There’s nothing quite like a gripping thriller that keeps you up reading past your bedtime!

Finding good mystery books for teens doesn’t need to be a challenge – there are loads of addictive teen thriller books out there, from high school mysteries to junior detectives, all packed with twists, intrigue and excitement.

We have put together a list of our favourite young adult mystery books – a mix of bestselling thrillers and hidden gems, standalones and series.

Check out our thrilling must-reads below.

And discover more great reads on our other book lists too:

Best Mysteries & Detective Books for Kids
10 Best Dystopian Books
10 Modern Classics for Teens

Georgina Atwell

Toppsta

2021-03-17

2020-08-10

Mysteries & Thrillers for Teens

The Magpie Society: One for Sorrow

A STUDENT FOUND DEAD ON THE BEACH.

A WEB OF UNANSWERED QUESTIONS.

SOMEONE POISED TO STRIKE AGAIN.

Illumen Hall is a boarding school of tradition and achievement.

But tragedy strikes when the body of a student is discovered on the beach - and on her back is an elaborate tattoo of a magpie.

For new student Audrey, it is just another strange and unsettling thing about her new surroundings, along with the secrets the school seems to hide and its weird obsession with magpies. For her roommate Ivy, the death of her friend Lola is just one thing she desperately wants to get past - and having a new student asking questions and cluttering up her personal space is not helping a bit.

But the two girls are forced into an unlikely alliance when a mysterious podcast airs, with one sinister headline:

I KNOW WHO KILLED LOLA. AND ONE OF YOU IS NEXT.

Told from two alternating view-points, this is the first book in a modern gothic thriller series that will have you gripped like no other book this year. Welcome to the Magpie Society, your new YA obsession . . .

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One Of Us Is Lying

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

Five students go to detention. Only four leave alive.

Yale hopeful Bronwyn has never publicly broken a rule.

Sports star Cooper only knows what he's doing in the baseball diamond.

Bad boy Nate is one misstep away from a life of crime.

Prom queen Addy is holding together the cracks in her perfect life.

And outsider Simon , creator of the notorious gossip app at Bayview High, won't ever talk about any of them again.

He dies 24 hours before he could post their deepest secrets online. Investigators conclude it's no accident. All of them are suspects.

Everyone has secrets, right?
What really matters is how far you'll go to protect them.

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A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

The New York Times No.1 bestselling YA crime thriller that everyone is talking about!

THE WINNER OF THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS' CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE 2020

'A fiendishly-plotted mystery that kept me guessing until the very end.' - Laura Purcell, bestselling author of The Silent Companions

A debut YA crime thriller as addictive as Serial as compelling as Riverdale and as page-turning as One of Us Is Lying

The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.

But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the crime, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth ... ?

Perfect for fans of One of Us Is Lying , Gone Girl, We Were Liars and Riverdale

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We Were Liars

A Zoella Bookclub title 2016 1. Read this book. 2. On reaching the final page, you may experience an urgent need to read it all over again. 3. Check your friends have read it. 4. NOW YOU ARE FREE TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT IT ENDLESSLY We are the Liars. We are beautiful, privileged and live a life of carefree luxury. We are cracked and broken. A story of love and romance. A tale of tragedy. Which are lies? Which is truth?

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Riverdale: Get Out of Town

An all-new and completely original tie-in novel to the hit NETFLIX show. When Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead take a road trip, they discover that their small-town problems seem to follow them wherever they go... The gang heads out for an epic road trip to Chicago to visit Archie's mom. When Archie's too busy daydreaming to drive, Veronica takes the driver's seat - naturally. Betty wants to see the important sights, and Jughead just wants to find the best diners. They're all so preoccupied that they almost miss the red pickup truck that seems to be everywhere they are... Could it be a coincidence or could the troubles of Riverdale have followed them across state lines?

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Girl, Missing

What if everything you thought you knew about your life was a lie?

Lauren is adopted and eager to know more about her mysterious past. But when she discovers she may have been snatched from her family as a baby, her whole life suddenly feels like a sham. Why will no one answer her questions? How can she find her biological parents? And could her adoptive parents really have been responsible for kidnapping her?

Running away from her family to seek out the truth, Lauren's journey takes her deeper and deeper into danger as she realises that someone wants to stop her uncovering what really happened when she was a baby... at any cost...

A nail-biting YA thriller from the bestselling author of Close My Eyes

10 years on from it's first publication, Girl Missing has sold over 150,000 copies in the UK alone. This new edition of the bestseller includes exclusive extra content from Sophie and is a must for fans and readers that are yet to discover this modern classic.

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The Haven: Book 1

You don't know it exists, but when you have nowhere else to turn, the Haven will find you ... An adrenaline-fuelled adventure in a new series by top thriller writer Simon Lelic.

*Shortlisted for the CrimeFest Awards*

Our city. Our secret. Our rules.

Alone. On the run. Ollie Turner has nowhere to hide.

But he gets a second chance. Underneath the city there's a secret organisation, far from adult eyes.

It's called the Haven.

Soon Ollie is caught up in their battle: to stop Maddy Sikes destroying the city. Time is running out for Ollie and his new friends, and millions of lives are at stake ...

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Death in the Spotlight: A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery

Someone will take their final bow . . . The seventh thrilling Murder Most Unladylike mystery.

Fresh from their adventure in Hong Kong, Hazel Wong and Daisy Wells are off to the Rue Theatre in London to face an entirely new challenge: acting.

But the Detective Society is never far away from danger, and it's clear there's trouble afoot at the Rue.

Jealousy, threats and horrible pranks quickly spiral out of control - and then a body is found.

Now Hazel and Daisy must take centre stage and solve the crime . . . before the murderer strikes again.

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The Guggenheim Mystery

My name is Ted Spark. Three months ago, I solved the mystery of how my cousin Salim disappeared from a pod on the London Eye. This is the story of my second mystery.

This summer, I went on holiday to New York, to visit Aunt Gloria and Salim. While I was there, a painting was stolen from the Guggenheim Museum, where Aunt Gloria works. Then Aunt Gloria was blamed for the theft, and I realised just how important it was to find the painting, and discover who really had taken it.

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Girl in the Window

See the world from another unique perspective in the thrilling new novel from the author of I Have No Secrets (a World Book Day title for 2018).

Nothing ever happens on Kasia's street. And Kasia would know, because her illness makes her spend days stuck at home, watching the world from her bedroom window. So when she sees what looks like a kidnapping, she's not sure whether she can believe her own eyes ...

There was a girl in the window opposite - did she see something too? But when Kasia goes to find her she is told the most shocking thing of all.

There is no girl.

An eye-opening and compulsive page-turner for readers aged 12 and up.

Penny Joelson 's debut novel, I Have No Secrets , was a World Book Day 2018 title and won the Worcestershire Teen Book Award. Penny teaches creative writing and lives in Hertfordshire with her family. Find Penny on Twitter: @pennyjoelson

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Murder In Midwinter

Sitting on the top deck of a bus days before Christmas, Maya sees a couple arguing violently in the middle of a crowded Regent Street. They see her watching, she looks away, and the woman disappears. Maya goes to the police, who shrug and send her away. Then a body turns up... Now convinced she is a vital witness to a crime, the police send Maya into hiding in rural Wales. She resolves to get to the bottom of the mystery. Then the snow comes and no one can get out. But what if someone can still get in? From the author of Dear Scarlett and Saving Sophia.

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Mysteries & Thrillers for Teens

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