The Brainstorm 50: Mystery series for K-12

Several new-ish popular mystery series for K-12.

Lower grade series

Sherlock Sam series by A.J. Low

Sherlock Sam is a little kid in Singapore, who with his robot Watson solves crimes. Our students can readily identify with the Singaporian sleuth, and many have been to Singapore so they can picture the locations mentioned in the books. The author's name is actually a mashup of the names of a husband/wife team who live in Singapore. Currently there are 8 books in the series.

Activity tie-ins:

• Geography/Map activity: Students can trace Sherlock Sam's adventures on a map of Singapore.
• Asian literature: If you're looking for a book by Asian authors, that has Asian main characters or Asian settings, this fits all three of those.
• Singapore study: Reading these you can pick up on a bit of Singaporian culture. Have students compare and contrast their normal life with Sherlock Sam's normal life. What's the same? What's different?

Middle Grade series

Platypus Police Squad series by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

The Platypus Police Squad keeps the streets safe in Kalamazoo. I've never read another mystery series for kids that sounds so much like Dragnet or Law and Order. They take crime fighting seriously, but the crimes they fight are things like illegal sales of synthetic fish, sabotage of amusement parks, and other fictional crime situations in a town populated entirely by animals. Krosoczka is also a gifted artist, so the books are peppered with great illustrations of the animals throughout. There are currently 3 books in this series, with a 4th scheduled to come out next year.

Activity tie-ins:

• Observation skills: Using the clues and the pictures, can students solve the mystery before the two detectives?
• Interpersonal skills: The platypuses in the police squad often have to deal with differences of opinion and conflicts. It's a good opportunity to talk about how to handle differences and conflicts in healthy ways.
• Animals + Mystery=Win: Numerous kids pick this up for the animals on the cover, but end up enjoying the mystery elements. It's a great pick for fans of both.
• "Safe" Mystery: These books do a great job of making completely ridiculous and impossible things seem like serious crimes, like synthetic fish dealing instead of drug dealing, making this a good pick for parents looking for a safe read for kids.

Shakespeare Mysteries series by Deron R. Hicks

Miles Letterford started a highly successful publishing company, still in the hands of the Letterford family to this day. Colophon Letterford's father is the CEO of that company as the eldest in line, but his position has become a bit shaky after some weird accidents have hit the company recently. The family (heavily persuaded by cousin Treemont) has given her father until Christmas Eve to make three successful deals or he will have to step down as CEO. But Colophon's ancestor Miles Letterford didn't just leave the family a company, he also left them a mystery that supposedly leads to family treasure. And the key is supposedly the portrait of Miles that hangs in the family house. Colophon always just thought Miles an egotistical crazy man for insisting the family keep his portrait up, but on Thanksgiving she learns from her adult cousin Julian that it may hold the key to a treasure. Colophon starts putting her head together with cousin Julian on solving the treasure mystery and she puts her brother Case in charge of trying to help her Dad save the company (since Colophon suspect Treemont of sabotaging the latest deals). What follows is a high octane adventure with nary a dull moment, plenty of twists and turns, and this continues in book 2. One of the best new mystery adventure series out there in my opinion because...it is written realistically enough it could feasibly happen! Picture a National Treasure movie that is believable and plausible, and have the treasure revolve around Shakespeare's writings. That's this series.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Current events: After this book was published, someone in Europe really did find a Shakespeare folio. Have students research the real story and compare it to this one.
• Shakespeare: If you're looking for a way to make studying Shakespeare just a bit more exciting, this might be just the ticket.
• History: Colophon and Julian's research skills come in super handy to solve the family mystery. Have students brainstorm real life situations where knowing history can be helpful, and/or have students look further into one of the areas of history mentioned in this book that piqued their interest.
• Exciting Read: The covers of these kind of undersell the story, so I usually have to convince kids that these will be exciting. But once they read the first one, they are usually scrambling for the second. If you're looking for a high interest read to hook readers, this is a good one.

Young Adult/Adult series

Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley

Flavia de Luce is a precocious 11-year-old in a small village in post-WWII Britain. She has a penchant for poisons and chemistry in general, and in order to satisfy her poison fascination in a less criminal fashion, she decides to help solve crimes that happen around her village. Of course, the police don't always appreciate her help (as is true for most private detectives). This series has won several awards, and has been quite popular since added to our library. The books are written for an adult audience but are clean enough for teens. There are currently 8 books in this series.

Activity tie-ins: 

• Post-WWII Britain: Just after the war is a time period largely ignored in fiction. It is an interesting look at Britain as it recovered from the trauma of WWII.
• Chemistry: Flavia always shares interesting little tidbits of chemistry in her books, and it is a powerful reminder that chemists have knowledge they can either use for great good or deadly purposes.
• Psychology/Sociology: If you want a fun assignment for your psychology or sociology class, have them analyze Flavia and her family dynamics. Her father is disconnected, her mother disappeared in an adventure years ago, and her older sisters live to torment her, and the family butler is suffering from PTSD. They are quite interesting to say the least. 

Landry Park series by Bethany Hagen

What if Brontë's Shirley was set in a futuristic dystopian US? You might get something a little like this delicious work. Though it is a dystopia (primarily why this is constantly checked out), a mystery features prominently in both books (the series is complete at 2 books). In the first book, the mystery of who is responsible for the physical assault of a gentry young lady features prominently, and in the second book, a serial killer is threatening any hopes of a future peace resolution.

After the Last War against the Eastern forces, society in the US was arranged around wealth and influence levels. The highest families were called the gentry and ruled the land, then came the working middle class, and then the poor servants. But there's a level below the servants reserved for those who did not help during the Last War, the Rootless. They have no rights, and are relegated to the worst jobs in society, taking care of the nuclear waste from the revolutionary power units developed by Jacob Landry during the Last War. Those power units saved the world from an environmental cataclysm, and Landry has become a name that dominates the heights of gentry circles. Madeline Landry is next in line to inherit Landry Park and the power that entails. Her father and mother are grooming her for the task of taking over Landry Park and producing heirs. That all sounds wonderful, but Madeline would rather be going to university than hunting a husband through the season's balls. But she has little choice in the matter. So it is off to the balls and dinners she goes. This season proves more interesting than most though. It starts with the mysterious assault of Cara Westhoff. A Rootless is blamed and the gentry led by Alexander Landry go on the hunt, but Madeline can tell that Cara is hiding something and firmly believes that the Rootless are being persecuted for a crime they did not commit. As she explores this incident and the injustice being meted out to the Rootless, she starts to see the engrained injustices in society towards the Rootless and starts to question everything Landry Park stands for. The same night of Cara's incident, David Dana, the most eligible bachelor in the US arrives in town. Madeline is sure that David will be just like all the other arrogant and mindless gentry men, but he proves to be a puzzle. A puzzle that gets under Madeline's skin. He seems to share her revolutionary and unpopular assessment of the Rootless' plight, and it sometimes appears as if David might care for her, but then he goes and accompanies Cara on her debut night (a common prelude to engagement). One day, Madeline is out for a walk when she sees David in an unusual outfit and starts following him. Cara happens to see and joins Madeline in the tail. And David leads them both straight to the Rootless leaders for a meeting about a revolution. Madeline and Cara are quickly caught spying, and the horrors of the Rootless' situation are brought more painfully clear. Madeline wants to do something, she knows she should, but how much is she willing to sacrifice for these people? Is she wiling to give up her position and her home? The same question is one that David must wrestle with as he heads off to join the military. And...no, I think you'll just have to read it to find out more.

Activity tie-ins:

• Current Events: Ask students who they think the current "Rootless" are in the world.
• Voice for the Voiceless: Madeline Landry wants to help the Rootless, but she has to weigh the costs. If you were in her shoes, what would you do? How much would you be willing to suffer or give up for a stranger? (This can easily be tied in with biblical themes too.)
• Energy Sources: Madeline's world was turned upside down by an energy crisis. Research some of the alternative energy sources currently being explored. What would be their pros and cons?
• Dystopia/Mystery/Regency Combo: All I have to usually do to sell this book to the teen girls at our school is tell them it is a dystopia in which a girl helps fight for the rights of a group of people and she goes to balls. It's hard not to get hooked in a book that features both a tense dystopia situation and a puzzling mystery and has Regency England elements. Of course, some of the guys will roll their eyes at the romance elements, but it is still a solid story. And it stands out with unique elements in a sea of dystopias available.

Sherlock Holmes graphic novels adapted from the original by Arthur Conan Doyle by Ian Edgington, ill. by I.N.J. Culbard

Holmes is always popular, but even more so after the recent BBC series. So when you combine already popular Sherlock Holmes stories with the irresistible graphic novel format, you have books that are constantly checked out. There are 4 of these adaptations available.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Reluctant readers: Students who never check out anything to read will check out graphic novels (and don't tell them, but the reading level of most graphic novels is just as high as most print books). It is a great way to get reluctant readers actually reading!
• ESL: Graphic novels are also great for second language learners because the pictures help with decoding if vocabulary words are confusing. They are also generally smaller in page numbers and not as daunting for those reading a new language.
• Compare/contrast: Edgington did a pretty good job staying faithful to the original Doyle story, but there are inevitably some differences that allow compare/contrast activities and opportunities to ask readers why they think Edgington chose to make the changes he did.
• Quick Mystery Read: If you're looking for a quick read, graphic novels tend to read quite fast. I see many students pick up graphic novels and read them in one sitting in the library at lunch or after school. Of course, many take them home to read and reread too.

Drew Farthering mysteries by Juliana Deering

Drew Farthering is a young British man in 1930s England with a talent for solving crimes, which he discovers by accident when some people close to him are killed on his estate. Deering manages to pull off a mystery that feels much like the classic series of this time period (Marple, Poirot, Campion, Lord Peter Wimsey, etc.) but also deftly and lightly mixes in elements of Christian faith. And she writes some very good mysteries. She's fooled me in every single one. There are currently 3 books in this series with a 4th to be released next year.

Activity Tie-ins:

• British Mysteries: Farthering and his friends frequently mention the newly released mysteries from Christie and Sayers and others they are reading. This series is bursting with suggestions of several classic series to read. It'll make fans of those new to British mysteries.
• Observation Skills: See if you can pick up on all the clues and solve the mystery before Drew. I'll warn you, Deering writes some very subtle and convincing red herrings into her books.
• 1930s England: If you're studying 1930s England, this book does a good job of helping you understand the culture of that time, including a good dose of Gilbert & Sullivan in book 3.
• Respectful Romantic Relationship: Drew and his fiancé do a fantastic job of having a relationship that is clean and respectful. It is one of the things I loved about this series. They're a great example.
• Christie-ish Book for Those Who've Read all of Christie: The problem with being a fan of the old classic British mystery series is that the authors are dead and gone, and the series are finished (well, except for fan fic and authors who get hired by the estates to continue the series...). This book does an excellent job of replicating the feel of those classic mysteries for those craving more.