Young Adult Mystery Thriller

Heather agrees to go camping with Dougie and his friends because she's desperate to get closer to him, and a secluded beach sounds like the perfect place. But the trip takes a sinister turn that brings Heather's plans to a violent end. One by one, the group begins to vanish. A year later, Heather knows she's just lucky to be alive. And now, people are asking for answers, or else she will be the one to take the blame. But the truth about what happened on that trip is far more terrifying than anyone knows....

My life as I know it is over. And no, I'm not being dramatic. I've been living as a human, but now I have to return to my mermaid roots because my dad is the new king of Valora. As soon as we arrive, he sends me to the Dark Sea Academy. Whispers and glares greet me at every turn. Students accuse my dad of killing the previous king, his brother. My first night, the most popular girl tries to kill me. I barely escape, only to run into Bash. He's older and one wrong move from being expelled. Also as gorgeous as he is arrogant.

Donald J. Sobol’s pint-sized amateur detective has been a hit with young readers for over three decades. For 25 cents a day—plus expenses—Encyclopedia Brown will solve any case, big or small for the kids in his neighborhood. He also secretly works with his police chief father to crack the toughest investigations and keep the streets of Idaville safe. Here are 10 more beguiling mysteries that will have listeners scratching their heads.

A professor shows a colleague a painting that he has kept secret for decades. The professor swears it is a Vermeer - but why has he hidden this important work for so long? The reasons unfold in a series of stories that trace ownership of the painting back to World War II and Amsterdam, and still further back to the moment of the work's inspiration.

Callis Rose is a girl blessed with a gift from above or cursed with a ruthless power she barely understands; it's really just a matter of degrees. As her family life is turned asunder she is thrown into an indifferent Social Services program where she defends herself the only way she knows how. Callis is moved from home to home until she finally settles at the Lowries. As she starts her first day of high school she meets both her favorite and least favorite person. Both happen to be part of the same household.

School may be out for summer, but top-secret training continues for aspiring spy Ben Ripley - and so does the danger. Ben Ripley is a middle schooler whose school is not exactly average - he's spent the last year training to be a top-level spy and dodging all sorts of associated danger. So now that summer's finally here, Ben's ready to have some fun and relax. Except that's not going to happen, because a spy-in-training's work is never done.

>"Lily?" My stomach dropped as a tall, dark-haired man stepped into view. Had he been hiding between the trees? "No. Sorry." Gulping, I took a step back. "I'm not Lily." He shook his head, a satisfied grin on his face. "No. You are Lily." "I'm Summer. You have the wrong person." For months, Summer is trapped in a cellar with the man who took her - and three other girls: Rose, Poppy, and Violet. His perfect, pure flowers. His family. But flowers can't survive long cut off from the sun, and time is running out....

Rebekah Daniels is just your ordinary spunky nine-year-old girl living in the small town of Curtis Bay…EXCEPT she is determined NOT to be ordinary at all! Her small town is filled with mysteries and Rebekah is sure that she, along with her best friend Mouse, will be able to solve every last one of them. Something is definitely going on in Curtis Bay. The adults are acting so strange and secretive which leads Rebekah to a conclusion too awful for words. Are the adults really out to do away with all of the children?

Ellingham Academy must be cursed. Three people are now dead. One, a victim of either a prank gone wrong or a murder. Another, dead by misadventure. And now, an accident in Burlington has claimed another life. All three in the wrong place at the wrong time. All at the exact moment of Stevie's greatest triumph.... She knows who Truly Devious is. She's solved it. The greatest case of the century.

A ton of copycat gossip apps have popped up since Simon died, but in the year since the Bayview four were cleared of his shocking death, no one's been able to fill the gossip void quite like he could. The problem is no one has the facts. Until now. This time it's not an app, though - it's a game. Truth or Dare. Phoebe's the first target. If you choose not to play, it's a truth. And hers is dark. Then comes Maeve, and she should know better - always choose the dare. But by the time Knox is about to be tagged, things have gotten dangerous.

Having garnered both Young Readers’ Choice and Special Edgar Awards, Donald J. Sobol’s Encyclopedia Brown stories have been children’s classics for decades. In this installment, the 10-year-old detective uses his vast knowledge and probing questions to expose a muscle-bound scam, a crooked protection racket, a circus frame-up, and other baffling mysteries.

Moira Alexander has always been fascinated by the deadly sirens who lurk along the shores of her island town. Even though their haunting songs can lure anyone to a swift and watery grave, she gets as close to them as she can, playing her violin on the edge of the enchanted sea. When a young boy is found dead on the beach, the islanders assume that he's one of the sirens' victims. Moira isn't so sure. Certain that someone has framed the boy's death as a siren attack, Moira convinces her childhood friend, the lighthouse keeper Jude Osric, to help her find the real killer.

Sixteen-year-old Keturah tells vibrant stories of her own imagining to the folk of her small village. Her talent for painting beautiful pictures with words is impressive indeed, but will it be enough to save her life when she becomes lost in the deep, dark forest?

Strange things are happening in Maya's tiny Vancouver Island town. First, her friend Serena, the captain of the swim team, drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. Then, one year later, mountain lions are spotted rather frequently around Maya's home and her reactions to them are somewhat . . . unexpected. Her best friend, Daniel, has also been experiencing unexplainable premonitions about certain people and situations.

Annie Lane was murdered, but that won’t slow her down. The mountain her body was dumped on is legendary for raising the dead—so after waking up in the same frigid water that hides her corpse, Annie surges into her backwoods hometown hell-bent on revenge. The problem is, Annie can’t remember who killed her … and the list of people who might have wanted to isn’t exactly short. There’s her toxic mom, who spends her rare sober moments ripping Annie a new one. There’s her boss at the diner, who’s always been a little too friendly. And there’s her cheating ex and his creepy bandmates,.

Amateur sleuth Stevie Bell needs a good murder. After catching a killer at her high school, she’s back at home for a normal (that means boring) summer. But then she gets a message from the owner of Sunny Pines, formerly known as Camp Wonder Falls - the site of the notorious unsolved case, the Box in the Woods Murders. Back in 1978, four camp counselors were killed in the woods outside of the town of Barlow Corners, their bodies left in a gruesome display.

Shortly after her 16th birthday, Sunshine Griffith and her mother, Kat, move from sunny Austin, Texas, to the rain-drenched town of Ridgemont, Washington. Though Sunshine is adopted, she and her mother have always been close, sharing a special bond filled with laughter and inside jokes. But from the moment they arrive, Sunshine feels her world darken with an eeriness she cannot place. And even if Kat doesn't recognize it, Sunshine knows that something about their new house is just...creepy.

It's been eight months since Mickey Bolitar witnessed the shocking, tragic death of his father. Eight months of lies, dark secrets, and unanswered questions. While he desperately wants answers, Mickey's sophomore year of high school brings on a whole new set of troubles. Spoon is in the hospital, Rachel won't tell him where he stands, his basketball teammates hate him... and then there's Ema's surprise announcement: She has an online boyfriend, and he's vanished.

In the beginning, Isaac West stole to give his younger sister Janelle little things: a new sweater, a scarf, just so she looked less like a charity case whose mother spent money on booze and more like the prep school girls he'd see on his way to school. But when Isaac's petty theft lands him in juvie, he's cut off from helping Janelle. Friendless in a dangerous world of gangs and violent offenders, he must watch his every step.

I am a weed. Unloved by my abusive, alcoholic dad. Unwanted by my classmates. Unnoticed by everyone else. But I'd suffer anything to give my kid sister a better life - the minute I turn 18, I'm getting us the hell out of here. And some hot stranger telling me I am the key to stopping a war between Heaven and Hell isn't going to change that. Let the world crumble and burn, for all I care. Draven is relentless, though. And very much a liar. Every time his sexy lips are moving, I can see it - even if my heart begs me to ignore the signs. So what does he want?