MYSTERY
2024 curated booklist
Mystery is a genre that is characterized by a gripping plot that revolves around a mystery or crime and often centers a detective type character.
Even if We Break
Marieke Nijkamp
FIVE friends go to a cabin.
FOUR of them are hiding secrets.
THREE years of history bind them.
TWO are doomed from the start.
ONE person wants to end this.
NO ONE IS SAFE.
Five friends take a trip to a cabin. It’s supposed to be one last getaway before going their separate ways—a chance to say goodbye to each other, and to the game they’ve been playing for the past three years. But they’re all dealing with their own demons, and they’re all hiding secrets. And as they start to play the murder mystery game that brought them together in the first place, the lines between the game and reality blend, with deadly consequences. Someone knows their secrets. Someone wants to make them pay. Soon, it’s a race against time before it’s game over—forever. Are you ready to play?
Category: Young Adult, Horror, Mystery
Representation: Non-binary, transgender, diverse genders, diverse sexualities
Content Warnings: Character death, discrimination, mental illness, suicide, transphobia, violence, substance use/abuse
ISBN: 9781492636113
Find it in your local library (WorldCat)
The Honeys
Ryan La Sala
Mars has always been the lesser twin, the shadow to his sister Caroline’s radiance. But when Caroline dies under horrific circumstances, Mars is propelled to learn all he can about his once-inseparable sister who’d grown tragically distant.
Mars’s genderfluidity means he’s often excluded from the traditions — and expectations — of his politically-connected family. This includes attendance at the prestigious Aspen Conservancy Summer Academy where his sister poured so much of her time. But with his grief still fresh, he insists on attending in her place.
What Mars finds is a bucolic fairytale not meant for him. Folksy charm and sun-drenched festivities camouflage old-fashioned gender roles and a toxic preparatory rigor. Mars seeks out his sister’s old friends: a group of girls dubbed the Honeys, named for the beehives they maintain behind their cabin. They are beautiful and terrifying — and Mars is certain they’re connected to Caroline’s death.
But the longer he stays at Aspen, the more the sweet mountain breezes give way to hints of decay. Mars’s memories begin to falter, bleached beneath the relentless summer sun. Something is hunting him in broad daylight, toying with his mind. If Mars can’t find it soon, it will eat him alive.
Category: Young Adult, Horror, Mystery
Representation: Gay, diverse genders
Content Warnings: Bullying, character death, violence, discrimination
ISBN: 9781338745313
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Blood Matters
Renee
Puti Derrell likes to go running at midnight. But Porohiwi doesn’t feel safe anymore. There’s an unsettling unease that’s lingering in the air . . .
The first thing she notices is the smell. But that’s not the worst thing. It’s not even the rope around his neck. It’s the strange mask over his face. Someone has murdered her grandfather.
Puti is reluctantly thrust into a dangerous investigation to catch her grandfather’s killer. But it’s the last thing she needs right now. She’s just become guardian to her ten-year-old niece and unexpected owner of her late sister’s bookshop.
Then another body turns up, and that makes two local men who have been strangled to death. Someone is sending a disturbing message.
Puti finds herself entangled in a treacherous web of deceit, where the most sinister secrets lie closest to home . . .
Category: NZ Author, Mystery, Series
Representation: Lesbian
Content Warnings: Religion, discrimination, character death, homophobia, violence, gore
ISBN: 9781804059685
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The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester
Maya MacGregor
In this queer contemporary YA mystery, a nonbinary autistic teen realizes they must not only solve a 30-year-old mystery but also face the demons lurking in their past in order to live a satisfying life.
Sam Sylvester has long collected stories of half-lived lives—of kids who died before they turned nineteen. Sam was almost one of those kids. Now, as Sam’s own nineteenth birthday approaches, their recent near-death experience haunts them. They’re certain they don’t have much time left. .
But Sam’s life seems to be on the upswing after meeting several new friends and a potential love interest in Shep, their next-door neighbor. Yet the past keeps roaring back—in Sam’s memories and in the form of a thirty-year-old suspicious death that took place in Sam’s new home. Sam can’t resist trying to find out more about the kid who died and who now seems to guide their investigation. When Sam starts receiving threatening notes, they know they’re on the path to uncovering a murderer. But are they digging through the past or digging their own future grave?
The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester explores healing in the aftermath of trauma and the fullness of queer joy.
Category: Young Adult, Mystery, Romance
Representation: Non-binary, asexual
Content Warnings: Transphobia, homophobia, bullying, character death, self-harm, abuse, mental illness, suicide
ISBN: 9781662620423
Find it in your local library (WorldCat)
The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S
David Levithan
Aidan disappeared for six days. And just as suddenly as he vanished, Aidan reappears. Where has he been? The story he tells is simply. . . impossible. But it’s the story Aidan is sticking to.
His brother, Lucas, wants to believe him. But Lucas is aware of what other people, including their parents, are saying: that Aidan is making it all up to disguise the fact that he ran away.
The kids in school taunt him, but still Aidan clings to his story as Lucas becomes more concerned. Being on Aidan’s side would mean believing in the impossible. But how can you believe in the impossible when everything and everybody is telling you not to?
Category: Young Adult, Mystery, Romance
Representation: Gay, transgender
Content Warnings: Bullying
ISBN: 9781984848628
Find it in your local library (WorldCat)
Zenobia July
Lisa Bunker
Zenobia July is starting a new life. She used to live in Arizona with her father; now she’s in Maine with her aunts. She used to spend most of her time behind a computer screen, improving her impressive coding and hacking skills; now she’s coming out of her shell and discovering a community of friends at Monarch Middle School. People used to tell her she was a boy; now she’s able to live openly as the girl she always knew she was.
When someone anonymously posts hateful memes on her school’s website, Zenobia knows she’s the one with the abilities to solve the mystery, all while wrestling with the challenges of a new school, a new family, and coming to grips with presenting her true gender for the first time. Timely and touching, Zenobia July is, at its heart, a story about finding home.
Category: Young Adult, Mystery, Romance
Representation: Gay, transgender
Content Warnings: Islamophobia, homophobia, religion, bullying, transphobia, suicide, mental illness
ISBN: 9780451479402
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Summer’s Edge
Dana Mele
Emily Joiner was once part of an inseparable group—she was a sister, a best friend, a lover, and a rival. Summers without Emily were unthinkable. Until the fire burned the lake house to ashes with her inside.
A year later, it’s in Emily’s honor that Chelsea and her four friends decide to return. The house awaits them, meticulously rebuilt. Only, Chelsea is haunted by ghostly visions. Loner Ryan stirs up old hurts and forces golden boy Chase to play peacemaker. Which has perfect hostess Kennedy on edge as eerie events culminate in a stunning accusation: Emily’s death wasn’t an accident. And all the clues needed to find the person responsible are right here.
As old betrayals rise to the surface, Chelsea and her friends have one night to unravel a mystery spanning three summers before a killer among them exacts their revenge.
Category: Young Adult, Mystery, Fantasy
Representation: Bisexual, lesbian
Content Warnings: Character death, mental illness, suicide, violence, substance use/abuse, sexual activity, gore
ISBN: 9781534493117
Find it in your local library (WorldCat)
Surrender Your Sons
Adam Sass
Connor Major’s summer break is turning into a nightmare.
His SAT scores bombed, the old man he delivers meals to died, and when he came out to his religious zealot mother, she had him kidnapped and shipped off to a secluded island. His final destination: Nightlight Ministries, a conversion therapy camp that will be his new home until he “changes.”
But Connor’s troubles are only beginning. At Nightlight, everyone has something to hide—from the campers to the “converted” staff and cagey camp director—and it quickly becomes clear that no one is safe. Connor plans to escape and bring the other kidnapped teens with him. But first, he’s exposing the camp’s horrible truths for what they are—and taking this place down.
Category: Young Adult, Mystery
Representation: Lesbian, transgender, bisexual, gay
Content Warnings: Homophobia, suicide, sexual activity, violence, transphobia, mental illness, religion, bullying
ISBN: 9781635830613
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Before I Let Go
Best friends Corey and Kyra were inseparable in their tiny snow-covered town of Lost Creek, Alaska. But as Kyra starts to struggle with her bipolar disorder, Corey’s family moves away. Worried about what might happen in her absence, Corey makes Kyra promise that she’ll stay strong during the long, dark winter.
Then, just days before Corey is to visit, Kyra dies. Corey is devastated―and confused, because Kyra said she wouldn’t hurt herself. The entire Lost community speaks in hushed tones, saying Kyra’s death was meant to be. And they push Corey away like she’s a stranger.
The further Corey investigates―and the more questions she asks―the greater her suspicion grows. Lost is keeping secrets―chilling secrets. Can she piece together the truth about Kyra’s death and survive her visit?
Category: Young Adult, Mystery
Representation: Pansexual, asexual
Content Warnings: Mental illness, suicide, violence, character death, bullying, ableism
ISBN: 9781492668077
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The Truth About Keeping Secrets
Savannah Brown
Sometimes it’s safer for the truth to stay a secret.
Sydney’s dad is the only psychiatrist for miles in their small Ohio town. He knows everybody’s secrets. Which is why it’s so shocking when he’s killed in an accident.
Grief-stricken Sydney can’t understand why the police have no explanation for what happened the night of her dad’s car crash. And when June Copeland, the homecoming queen whose life seems perfect, shows up at the funeral, Sydney’s confusion grows.
Sydney and June grow closer in the wake of the accident, but it’s clear that not everyone is happy about their new friendship.
What is picture-perfect June hiding? And does Sydney even want to know?
This winding mystery of complex grief, imperfect friendships, and burning secrets is perfect for fans of Sadie and Natasha Preston.
Category: Young Adult, Mystery
Representation: Gay, lesbian, bisexual
Content Warnings: Character death, homophobia, suicide, sexual violence, violence, bullying, mental illness, self-harm
ISBN: 9781728209678
Find it in your local library (WordCat)