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Mystery & Suspense

Sometime in the last four or five decades the Powers That Be decided every movie mystery would follow basically the same plot so that viewers wouldn't have to worry about the outcome and would be able to enjoy the movie all the way through. Fortunately for those who prefer to let the future unfold itself, there are still mystery novels.

A mystery is simply something you don't know or can't understand. By the time you understand it, it's not a mystery anymore. Part of the fun of detective stories is not knowing what's going on (at least, not for sure) until the end, when sudden light dawns in the midst of the darkness and you fancy yourself a bit dull for not having picked up on the clues earlier.

Trying to figure the solution before the main characters get there is pretty fun, too, though there's another kind of satisfaction from waiting till Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes or Lord Peter Wimsey reveal the criminal by name, the extent of his or her crimes, and the motivations that led them to kill, steal or lie. Though in the end, most of us probably end up in both categories, trying to figure everything out but still surprised by the truth.

Modern mystery novels tend to focus on criminal evil, fascinated by the depths humans are capable of sinking to. While older ones certainly didn't hesitate to point out man's depravity and capacity for wrongdoing, they were even more concerned with justice and the good guys who overcome the bad guys through superior wit and reason.

These are the ones we like. We don't admire Sherlock Holmes only for his formidable genius, but also for his commitment to employ it for the forces of good. Miss Marple doesn't need to solve crimes, but she does—and we rejoice every time she triumphs over a shady perpetrator. In the real world things might not always wind up so neatly, but it's nice to know in some books they always will.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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51 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 7th grade (Ages 12-13), Trade Paperback
100-Year-Old Secret
Sherlock Files #1
by Tracy Barrett
1st edition from Square Fish Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
by Arthur Conan Conan Doyle
from Penguin Classics
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$14.00
Avion My Uncle Flew
by Cyrus Fisher, illustrated by Richard Floethe
from Purple House Press
for 5th-7th grade
1947 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$13.95
Beast of Blackslope
Sherlock Files #2
by Tracy Barrett
1st edition from Square Fish Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Beyond the Reflection's Edge
Echoes From the Edge #1
by Bryan Davis
from Zondervan
for 7th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Black as Night
by Regina Doman
2nd edition from Chesterton Press
Modern Fairy Tale for
Conference of the Birds
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Crispin at the Edge of the World
by Avi
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Crispin: The End of Time
by Avi
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Daughter of Time
by Josephine Tey
1st edition from Touchstone
for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.00
Dead End in Norvelt
by Jack Gantos
from Square Fish Publishing
for 5th-8th grade
2012 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Desolations of Devil's Acre
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Disappeared
by Francisco X. Stork
from Arthur A. Levine Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$10.99
Dorothy's Double
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Double Trouble in Bugland
by William Kozwinkle
from David R. Godine
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict
Mysterious Benedict Society #5
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Hollow City
Book 2
by Ransom Riggs
from Quirk Books
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Hollow City
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Hound of the Baskervilles
by Arthur Conan Doyle
from Dover Publications
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.00
Library of Souls
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Map of Days
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Midnight Dancers
by Regina Doman
1st edition from Chesterton Press
Modern Fairy Tale for
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
by Ransom Riggs
Reprint from Quirk Books
for 7th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
More Two-Minute Mysteries
by Donald J. Sobol
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Mr. Benedict's Book of Perplexing Puzzles, Elusive Enigmas, and Curious Conundrums
Mysterious Benedict Society
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Mysterious Benedict Society
Mysterious Benedict Society #1
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Mysterious Benedict Society - Boxed Set
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$50.00
Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
Mysterious Benedict Society #2
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma
Mysterious Benedict Society Book 3
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages
Mysterious Benedict Society #4
by Trenton Lee Stewart
from Little, Brown & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Mystery of the Jeweled Moth
by Katherine Woodfine
from Kane Miller
for 4th-7th grade
in Mystery & Suspense (Location: FIC-MYS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Mystery of the Painted Dragon
by Katherine Woodfine
from Kane Miller
for 4th-7th grade
in Mystery & Suspense (Location: FIC-MYS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Nightbirds on Nantucket
Wolves Chronicles #3
by Joan Aiken
from Dell Yearling
for 5th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Nightmare's Edge
Echoes From the Edge #3
by Bryan Davis
from Zondervan
for 7th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Okay for Now
by Gary D. Schmidt
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
One Came Home
by Amy Timberlake
Reprint from Yearling
for 5th-8th grade
2014 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Red House Mystery
by A. A. Milne
from Bob Jones University Press
Mystery/Suspense for 7th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.99
Rooftoppers
Reprint from Simon and Schuster
for 3rd-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99
Secret Agents Four
by Donald J. Sobol
from Bethlehem Books
Action/Adventure for 6th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Shadow of the Bear
by Regina Doman
4th edition from Chesterton Press
Modern Fairy Tale for
Splendors and Glooms
by Laura Amy Schlitz
Reprint from Candlewick Press
for 4th-7th grade
2013 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
Tales of the Peculiar
by Ransom Riggs
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Three Times Lucky
Mo and Dale Mysteries #1
by Sheila Turnage
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 4th-8th grade
2013 Newbery Honor Book
in Mystery & Suspense (Location: FIC-MYS)
$8.99
Trouble in Bugland
by William Kozwinkle
from David R. Godine
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
by Avi
from Scholastic Press
for 3rd-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Two-Minute Mysteries
by Donald J. Sobol
Reprint from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.99
Under the Egg
by Laura Marx Fitzgerald
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99
Waking Rose
by Regina Doman
from Chesterton Press
Modern Fairy Tale for 7th-10th Grade
Well Done, Denehurst!
by Gwendoline Courtney
from Girls Gone By Publishers
for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Windy Hill
by Cornelia Meigs
Dover 2017 from Dover Publications
for 4th-7th grade
1922 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.99
Zora & Me
by Victoria Bond and T. R. Simon
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-8th grade
2011 Coretta Scott King
in Mystery & Suspense (Location: FIC-MYS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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