Mysteries for Upper Elmentary

Grades 3-5

Updated April 26, 2024
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
Woof : a Bowser and Birdie novel
Quinn, Spencer.
"I defy anyone to read this book -- kid or adult -- without a big, goofy grin." -- HARLAN COBEN, #1 New York Times bestselling authorThe New York Times Bestselling MysteryThere is trouble brewing in the Louisiana swamp -- Bowser can smell it. Bowser is a very handsome and...
R.L. 4.3
Capture the flag
Messner, Kate.
Three kids get caught up in an adventure of historic proportions!Anna, José, and Henry are complete strangers with more in common than they realize. Snowed in together at a chaotic Washington D.C. airport, they encounter a mysterious tattooed man, a flamboyant politician, and a rambunctious...
R.L. 4.5
Owl's Outstanding Donuts
Yardi, Robin
A wild California mystery full of feathers, sprinkles, and more Ever since Mattie Waters lost her mother, she's been sharing a trailer with her aunt Molly, the proud owner of Owl's Outstanding Donuts. This hoot of a donut shop serves up delicious snacks to people driving down California's...
R.L. 5.0
Hold fast
Balliett, Blue
From NYT bestselling author Blue Balliett, the story of a girl who falls into Chicago's shelter system, and from there must solve the mystery of her father's strange disappearance. Where is Early's father? He's not the kind of father who would disappear. But he's gone . . . and he...
R.L. 5.2
The absent author
Roy, Ron
R.L. 3.4
Mistakes were made
Pastis, Stephan.
Want to aspire to greatness? Check out this edition of Timmy Failure's first adventure--featuring the bonus section "How to Draw Timmy and Total." He may be clueless, but the comically self-confident Timmy Failure is CEO of the best detective agency in town, perhaps even the...

R.L. 3.8

The Fenway foul-up
Kelly, David A.
Now leading off the line-up--book #1 in a brand-new early chapter book mystery series where each book is set in a different American ballpark! Thanks to Kate's mom, a sports reporter, cousins Mike Walsh and Kate Hopkins have tickets to the Red Sox game and All Access passes to Fenway...
R.L. 3.9
Three times lucky
Turnage, Sheila.
Meet Miss Moses LoBeau-rising sixth grader natural born detective, borderline straight-A student, and goddess of free enterprise. Mo washed ashore in Tupelo Landing, North Carolina, eleven years ago during one of the meanest hurricanes in history, and she's been making waves ever since. ...
R.L. 3.9
CAM JANSEN AND THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN DIAMONDS
ADLER, DAVID
No mystery is too great for super-sleuth Cam Jansen and her amazing photographic memory!  Can Cam help catch the diamond thief? Cam and her friend Eric are sitting at the mall when the jewelry store is robbed. Cam sees the thief, but the police arrest the wrong person. Now...
R.L. 3.2
Bunnicula : a rabbit-tale of mystery
Howe, Deborah.
BEWARE THE HARE! Is he or isn't he a vampire? Before it's too late, Harold the dog and Chester the cat must find out the truth about the newest pet in the Monroe household -- a suspicious-looking bunny with unusual habits...and fangs!
R.L. 4.2
The Parker inheritance
Johnson, Varian
A Boston Globe / Horn Book Honor winner * Four Starred Reviews * Over Ten Best-of-Year Lists"Powerful.... Johnson writes about the long shadows of the past with such ambition that any reader with a taste for mystery will appreciate the puzzle Candice and Brandon must solve." -- The New York Times...
R.L. 4.2
LOST LIBRARY
STEAD, REBECCA
Now a New York Times bestseller, a #1 Indie Bestseller, and the Amazon #1 Best Kids' Book of 2023, readers won't want to miss this story of a little free library guarded by a cat and a boy who takes on the mystery it keeps. When a mysterious little free library (guarded...
R.L. 4.3
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's library
Grabenstein, Chris.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets A Night in the Museum in this action-packed New York Times Bestseller from Chris Grabenstein, coauthor of I Funny, Treasure Hunters and other bestselling series with James Patterson!...
R.L. 4.5
The boxcar children
Warner, Gertrude Chandler
Four brave siblings were searching for a home - and found a life of adventure! Join the Boxcar Children as they set out on their own in the first book in this illustrated chapter book series beloved by generations of readers. Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny are brothers and...
R.L. 3.9
Insignificant events in the life of a cactus
Bowling, Dusti
"Aven is a perky, hilarious, and inspiring protagonist whose attitude and humor will linger even after the last page has turned." --School Library Journal (Starred review) Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator...
R.L. 4.6
Winterborne Home for vengeance and valor
Carter, Ally
"This is the kind of read that makes your soul sit up straight. At once a heart-wrenching tale of found family and a thrilling, atmospheric mystery that keeps you guessing at every page, Ally Carter's middle grade debut is a triumph. I loved April's character down to the barb wire wrapped around...
R.L. 4.7
From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Konigsburg, E. L.
A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) Run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with E. L. Konigsburg's beloved classic and Newbery Medal­-winning novel From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler! When Claudia decided to run away, she...
R.L. 4.7
One came home
Timberlake, Amy.
In the town of Placid, Wisconsin, in 1871, Georgie Burkhardt is known for two things- her uncanny aim with a rifle and her habit of speaking her mind plainly. But when Georgie blurts out something she shouldn't, her older sister Agatha flees, running off with a pack of "pigeoners"...
R.L. 4.8
Wretched waterpark
White, Kiersten
A middle-grade mystery series that's spooky, creepy, and filled with gothic twists!Meet the Sinister-Winterbottom twins, who solve mysteries at increasingly bizarre summer vacation destinations in the hopes of being reunited with their parents-or at the very least finally finding a good churro....

R.L. 4.9

Fairy-tale detectives
Buckley, Michael.
With the winning combination of Nancy Drew meets Shrek, this first book in the new Sisters Grimm series will entertain with a hilarious mix of mysteries and fairy tale twists.In the tradition of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events and The Spiderwick Chronicles comes a new humorous mystery...
R.L. 5.2
The real McCoys
Swanson, Matthew
The first book in an illustrated middle-grade series in which a precocious detective solves mysteries with her super-smart little brother. Her name's Moxie. Moxie McCoy. Bold, opinionated, and haplessly self-confident, the world's greatest fourth-grade detective...
R.L. 5.2
The Westing game
Raskin, Ellen.
For twenty-five years, Ellen Raskin's Newbery Medal-winning The Westing Game has been an enduring favorite and is now being reissued with a brand-new jacket by Kevin Hawkes and an introduction by Ann Durell. This highly inventive mystery involves sixteen people who are invited to...
R.L. 5.3
Wrecker
Hiaasen, Carl
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Wrecker needs to deal with smugglers, grave robbers, and pooping iguanas--just as soon as he finishes Zoom school. Welcome to another wild adventure in Carl Hiaasen's Florida! Valdez Jones VIII calls himself Wrecker because his great...
R.L. 5.3
York. Book 1, The shadow cipher
Ruby, Laura
It was in 1792 that twin architects and engineers Tess and Theodore Morningstarr arrived in New York with a vision for the most complex and magnificent city the world had ever seen: a symphony of towering skyscrapers, the world's first mass public transportation system winding...
R.L. 5.3
Absolutely Truly
Frederick, Heather Vogel
An unsent letter in a first edition copy of Charlotte's Web leads to a hunt for treasure in this heartwarming middle grade mystery from the author of The Mother-Daughter Book Club. Now that Truly Lovejoy's father has been injured by an IED in Afghanistan and is...
R.L. 5.4
Greenglass House
Milford, Kate
New York Times Bestseller * National Book Award Nominee * Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery It's wintertime at Greenglass House. The creaky smuggler's inn is always quiet during this season, and twelve-year-old Milo, the innkeepers' adopted son, plans to spend his...
R.L. 5.4
Who could that be at this hour?
Snicket, Lemony.
Before the Baudelaires became orphans, before he encountered A Series of Unfortunate Events, even before the invention of Netflix, Lemony Snicket was a boy discovering the mysteries of the world. In a fading town, far from anyone he knew or trusted, a young Lemony Snicket began...
R.L. 5.5
Kat Wolfe investigates
St. John, Lauren
When twelve-year-old Kat Wolfe starts a pet-sitting agency, she soon finds herself unraveling a mystery, in this first book of a new middle-grade series from award-winning author Lauren St John. After a break-in at their London home, Kat Wolfe and her veterinarian mum decide...
R.L. 5.5
Book Scavenger
Chambliss Bertman, Jennifer.
A New York Times-Bestseller! For twelve-year-old Emily, the best thing about moving to San Francisco is that it's the home city of her literary idol: Garrison Griswold, book publisher and creator of the online sensation Book Scavenger (a game where books are hidden in...
R.L. 5.5
The name of this book is secret
Bosch, Pseudonymous.
Read the series that's sold more than 2 million copies--if you dare! Warning: this description has not been authorized by Pseudonymous Bosch. As much as he'd love to sing the praises of his book (he is very vain), he wouldn't want you to hear about his brave 11-year...
R.L. 5.6
A royal conundrum
Yee, Lisa
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER .When a notorious thief is out for priceless treasure (gems! cats! general decorum!)-who're you gonna call? An elite team of crime-fighting underdogs, that's who! The Misfits are on the case in this hilarious illustrated series from Newbery Honoree Lisa Yee and...
R.L. 5.8
The swifts : a dictionary of scoundrels
Lincoln, Beth
Instant New York Times Bestseller! "Knives Out feel by way of Lemony Snicket...This archly told, never muddled debut whodunit reveals a roster of distinct characters, a labyrinthine setting and plot, and a mystery that is as clever as its heroine." - Publishers...
R.L. 6.0
The detective's assistant
Hannigan, Kate.
Based on the extraordinary true story of America's first-ever female detective, this fast-paced adventure recounts feats of daring and danger...including saving the life of Abraham Lincoln! Eleven-year-old Nell Warne arrives on her aunt's doorstep lugging a heavy sack of...
R.L. 6.2
The murderer's ape
Wegelius, Jakob
"This may be the most charming book I've read all year." --The New York Times   "I don't know when I last read a book with such pure and unalloyed pleasure." -Philip Pullman, internationally bestselling author of the His Dark Materials series ...
R.L. 6.4
Enola Holmes : the case of the missing marquess
Springer, Nancy
Now a Netflix original movie starring Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, and Helena Bonham Carter! Meet Enola Holmes, teenaged girl turned detective and the younger sister to Sherlock Holmes. When Enola Holmes, sister to the detective Sherlock Holmes, discovers her...
R.L. 6.6

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.