The Best Mystery Books for Tweens: 23 Middle Grade Mysteries to Devour

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

This is a mystery book for tweens that all adults should read but you can also find it on our list of books for 13-year-olds. It’s about a group of extremely gifted children who are sent to spy on an evil organization.

As members of a secret society, these genius kids must follow the clues on their secret mission.

Why We Love This: This is the first middle-grade book in a series that is geared toward older kids. It was funny and interesting and extremely clever.
Find this book in Middle Grade Mystery Books / Books for 13-year-olds/ Books About Puzzles

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein

Mr. Lemoncello’s library is one of a kind. It’s full of holograms, logic puzzles, and hidden games. To officially open the new library, a few lucky kids get to spend the night inside as they try to win Mr. Lemoncello’s game and be the first team to escape.

Why We Love This Book: If you are looking for great bedtime stories for kids, this series will hit the mark. It will get your kids engaged with one-of-a-kid puzzles and delightful twists and turns.
Appropriate for ages 9-11
Find this book in Audiobooks for Kids / Netflix Book Adaptations / Middle Grade Mysteries / Books for 11-year-olds / Read Aloud Books / Best Puzzle Books

The Candymakers by Wendy Maas

This story appears on our list of books about candy! I decided to read this book with my boys prior to our visit to Candytopia.

It was a lovely take on life at a candy factory and felt almost like an updated version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 4 kids are competing to win a candy-making contest to have their creation mass-produced. This is the first in a series of middle grade novels. It’s one of the must-read books for 11-year-olds.

Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

The first of three books in the Book Scavengers series, this story is all about Emily and James. They are on the hunt to uncover the latest game by Garrison Griswold.

Griswold has recently entered a coma and it’s up to Emily and James to uncover who attacked him before they get attacked next. This pick in our list of mystery books for tweens is filled with fun and adventure.

Spy School by Stuart Gibbs

The first book in Gibbs’s series is about Ben Ripley, a child CIA agent trying to defeat the evil organization Spyder. As he attends the secret junior CIA boarding school, he gets into loads of situations that put his espionage skills to good use.

In each book of the series, Ben and his fellow agents tackle a new problem. They take place at various new locations as the series progresses. It’s already 10 books deep and every pick from the series is a fun choice for a list of mystery books for tweens.

City Spies by James Ponti

MI6 has recruited a bunch of kids to be their newest spy group – the City Spies. They attend boarding school while learning various spy tactics.

Soon they get to go on a mission to Paris to put what they learned into action. Subsequent books take place in San Francisco and Beijing. At this point, this series is on our pre-order series list.

Harriet The Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

Harriet the Spy has been a classic children’ book for over 50 years. The 11-year-old is never without her notebook to write her observations in. When the notebook falls into the hands of her friends, they all get very angry with Harriet.

Will she be able to right her wrongs? There is a reason this realistic fiction book for a 10-year-old has been adapted repeatedly for the screen. It’s got life lessons for every child.

Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation by Stuart Gibbs

Charlie Thorne is a child genius and the world’s best code breaker. So the CIA has dragged her into the hunt for Albert Einstein’s hidden code. She’s trying to get it before the Furies use it to destroy the world.

Charlie is hunting for something from Charles Darwin and Cleopatra in the subsequent sequels. Each story has her using her wits to outsmart everyone around her. We love that this genius from our list of mystery books for tweens is female!

Holes by Louis Sachar

A great middle grade book about camp (and yet another that was adapted into a movie!) Holes should be on every child’s list. And, if you are looking for bedtime stories for kids, this is a great read-aloud for a younger child that cannot read this themselves.

When a boy under a curse is sent to a detention camp he’s taught to behave by digging holes all day, every day.  It doesn’t take long for him to realize he’s digging for a reason – but what are the camp wardens looking to find?

I love this pick from our mystery books for tweens, it is one that be can enjoyed by adults as well.

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Neatly Snyder

This middle grade fiction enchanted me as a young girl. The 6 “Egyptians” play in the back lot of an antique store, dressing up, performing rituals, and speaking with Oracles.

Then, a murder happens in the area and trouble comes to the lot. Don’t worry, there is a happy ending to this tween mystery book and also a sequel about gypsies!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Don’t let the length of this mystery book for kids deter you. Even though it is on our list of long books, there are gorgeous illustrations on every other page and the writing is only a paragraph at a time.

This middle grade mystery is an amazing story of Hugo Cabret who is an orphan in the Paris train station where he winds the clocks so that nobody will discover his secrets. Soon he discovers a drawing and a notebook that will lead him to the biggest adventure of his life. This is one of the must-read books for 12-year-olds.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

The tween book that got me into mysteries as a child is great as an audiobook as well! When Mr. Westing dies, he leaves the residents of Sunset Towers named in his will.

But they need to solve the mystery of his death in order to win control of his company and his vast fortune. Your family will love trying to work out what happened!

Why We Love It: This classic 70s book is still a must-read today! It has withstood the test of time.
Find this Book in Best Middle Grade Mystery Books / Books for 11-year-olds / Books About Puzzles

Winterhouse by Ben Guterson

We like to listen to books as a family when we are in the car together or doing a puzzle. The standout book for me this month was Winterhouse. It’s such a fun hotel novel!

Why We Love This: This middle grade mystery was as enthralling to me as it was to my boys. I loved the slight bits of magic in the story and the captivating setting of an expansive ski hotel on a snowy mountain at Christmas time. If you love a cozy mystery book for a 10-year-old, pick this one up!
Find this Book in Paranormal Books / Books for a 10-Year-Old / Books About Puzzles

Greenglass House by Kate Milford

This middle grade mystery reminded me of Harry Potter in some ways. A child is trying to uncover the secrets of Greenglass House, a hotel for smugglers and spies before the adults do.

We read this as a family read-aloud and it was wonderful. It’s one of the books for an 11-year-old that younger readers might struggle with.

Find this book in Best Ghost Books / Best Winter Books / Terrific Hotel Novels / Best Mystery Books for Tweens / Best Family Audiobooks / Books With Colors in the Title

The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix

I listened to this sci-fi mystery with my kids on a covid road trip. The three Greystone kids have to go into hiding after their mother disappears and news reports suggest that 3 OTHER greystone kids that look just like them were kidnapped.

As they try to uncover the mystery, they get a little help from Natalie, the daughter of the woman who is helping them hide. Soon they find a secret passage to another dimension. Can they find their mother and figure out what is going on?

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett

When a famed Vermeer painting goes missing, Petra and Calder are thrust into the middle of a scandal! Can they solve an art mystery that’s stumped the F.B.I.?

Why We Love It: The first in a 4 book series, this is a great book that is interactive too. There are hidden puzzles in pictures and a code for readers to break in this tween mystery book.
Find this Book in Best Puzzle Books

The Van Gogh Deception by Deron R. Hicks

The first in a series of Middle Grade novels, this first story captured the attention of my D.C.-obsessed son. After all, it opens in the National Gallery when a boy wakes up with amnesia.

Described as Dan Brown meets Jason Bourne, it lives up to those clever titles. It’s a fast-paced art caper that will keep your tween fully engrossed. It’s the first in a must-read series of books for 11-year-olds.

Howliday Inn by James Howe

Technically the sequel to Bunnicula, this read-aloud book can really be read as a stand-alone. Chester and Harold are being boarded while their family is on vacation, but they are convinced they are staying in a haunted hotel!

I remember laughing out loud as I read this middle grade mystery book as a child. This Halloween chapter book stands the test of time.

Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs

After a hippo dies at FunJungle Zoo, it’s up to Teddy and his friend Summer to prove that the Hippo was murdered.

But investigating Hippo’s homicide is a dangerous affair. This funny story kept this former zoo employee quite entertained.

Why We Love This Book: A funny, clever story that’s the first in the FunJungle series by Stuart Gibbs.
Appropriate for ages 9-12
Find this book in books for 10-year-olds, Zoo books, best middle grade books, best mystery books for tweens

The Great Pet Heist by Emily Ecton

Do you have a reluctant reader that wants a funny story that isn’t too difficult? Enter The Great Pet Heist!

After Butterbean accidentally causes her own to take a spill, the pets enter crisis mode – HOW WILL THEY EAT? With her band of fellow animals, Butterbean decides to steal from a neighbor down the hall.

If your tweens love Ocean’s Eleven, they will love this one too!

Greetings from Witness Protection! by Jake Burt

What a fun story about an orphan girl tasked by the U.S. Marshalls to keep a family alive. As she enters into witness protection with them, she puts her street smarts and pick-pocketing abilities to good use.

But can she keep her new family safe? Will she be able to hide from her own past? All while avoiding any C’s in school… You’ll just have to read this tween mystery book to find out.

Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson

Another great read in middle grade books.  This story is about a boy named Matthew who has severe OCD and has trouble leaving his house due to his anxiety.

Matthew is the last person to have seen the toddler next door before the four-year-old disappeared.   I love the fact that this book looks at the world from Matthew’s point of view.  It is a very readable, eye-opening middle grade mystery book for 13-year-olds.