As kids get older, they’re looking for more substantial mysteries to sink their teeth into. This makes recommending mystery books for 7th graders even more fun because I can start sharing my favorite mysteries! For this list, I’ve collected my favorite mystery books for your 7th grade readers. You’ll find a great mix of historical fiction, contemporary fiction, high-stakes mysteries, a murder mystery, and several gentler cozy mysteries.
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15+ Mystery Books for 7th Graders
Here are 15+ of the best mystery books for 7th graders:
The Liars Society
Published: February 6, 2024
Weatherby is a new kid at a Boston private school. She’s at the school on a sailing scholarship and immediately is thrust into a world she knows nothing about. Old school phone booths, scrambled phone service at school, friends with kids who go to the country club, and a boy who seems to hate her guts.
Jack is a rich kid at the school who is also on the sailing team and is constantly pressured by his father to be the best. When the money for a famed school trip is stolen, Jack, Weatherby, and some of their friends are invited to play a high-stakes secret game that leads to the revelation of shocking family secrets.
This suspenseful mystery, told from Jack’s and Weatherby’s perspectives, is fast-paced and high-stakes, perfect for the upper middle-grade crowd.
What Happened to Rachel Riley?
Published: January 10, 2023
When Anna Hunt moves from Chicago to Wisconsin for her mother’s new job, she soon realizes that something’s off about her new eighth-grade class. One student, Rachel Riley, who was once popular is now treated as a social pariah. So when their English teacher assigns them an un-essay — which is an exploration of a topic in any other format besides an essay — Anna decides to investigate the question: What happened to Rachel Riley? Of course, the teacher rejects Anna’s topic despite her lawyer mom’s protests. But with some hesitant help from Rachel and some other schoolmates, Anna pieces together the mystery.
This book is so fun to read. The story is told in multiple formats, including prose, e-mails, letters (mostly to Anna’s Polish grandmother), text messages, and podcast episodes. While there’s no murder, there’s a ton of suspense, and what Anna uncovers is important for upper middle schoolers.
The Detective’s Assistant
Published: April 7, 2015
Eleven-year-old Nell Warne arrives on her aunt’s doorstep, lugging a heavy sack of sorrows. If her Aunt Kate rejects her, it’s the miserable Home for the Friendless. Luckily, canny Nell makes herself indispensable to Aunt Kate…and not just by helping out with household chores.
Kate Warne is the first-ever female detective employed by the legendary Pinkerton Detective Agency. Nell has a knack for the kind of close listening and bold action that made Pinkerton detectives famous in Civil War-era America. With huge, nation-changing events simmering in the background, Nell uses skills new and old to uncover truths about her past and solve mysteries in the present.
From the Desk of Zoe Washington
Published: January 14, 2020
Twelve-year-old Zoe Washington’s summer is off to a rough start. She’s not speaking to one of her best friends, for one. Her other best friend is away at summer camp, and the third one has moved away. But things get more complicated when she finds a letter in the mail from her incarcerated birth father. The only problem is that he’s in jail for something “very bad,” and Zoe has never met or spoken to him before.
As she starts to write to Marcus, Zoe realizes that things might not be so black and white — not with her friend Trevor, and certainly not with Marcus. While she learns more about Marcus, she also spends part of her summer interning at a pastry shop.
Fast Pitch
Published: August 31, 2021
Fast Pitch is a companion title to Nic Stone’s Clean Getaway, which I really enjoyed! It stars Scoob’s crush Shenice, a U-12 softball team captain whose concentration is shot when she stumbles upon a decades-long family mystery. Shenice and her team are preparing to win the Fastpitch World Series when she discovers that a crime her great-grandfather was accused of — which cost him his reputation and place in the Negro leagues — may have actually been a set-up all along. And now, Shenice is the only one who can clear his name.
The Winterton Deception: Final Word
Published: October 24, 2023
Hope Smith hates rich people, especially the Winterton family, particularly now that she’s learned that her dad was a Winterton. But thanks to a pressing need for money, Hope, her twin brother Gordon and her mom must compete in the Winterton’s charity spelling bee. After winning the preliminary round, the Smiths are whisked to Winterton Chalet to compete in the official Winterton Bee against their long-lost relatives.
Hope wants to get in and out, but deceased matriarch Jane Winterton had other plans for this final family showdown—she set up a clue hunt throughout the manor. With tensions at an all-time high, a fortune at stake, and long-simmering family secrets about to boil to the surface, anything could happen. I’m halfway through this now, and it’s impossible to put down! Hand it to kids who love a treasure hunt, spelling bees and twin stories.
Linked
Published: July 20, 2021
This book is set in Chokecherry, Colorado, a small town where everyone knows everyone and all the kids have been together since kindergarten. There are a few new kids — one of whom is Jewish — whose parents work as paleontologists digging for dinosaur fossils in town. The small town is thrown into an uproar when a swastika is painted in the school building — and multiple swastikas continue to pop up throughout the school.
Told from the POV of multiple kids, including Dana Levinson (the one Jewish kid), Michael Amoroso (a Latino boy), and Caroline (the seventh-grade class president), as they deal with the impact of the swastikas and work to create six million paper links to represent the Jews killed in the Holocaust.
The Strangers (Greystone Secrets)
Published: April 2, 2019
The Greystone kids thought they knew. Chess has always been the protector over his younger siblings, Emma loves math, and Finn does what Finn does best—acting silly and being adored. They’ve been a happy family, just the three of them and their mom.
But everything changes when reports of three kidnapped children reach the Greystone kids, and they’re shocked by the startling similarities between themselves and these complete strangers. The other kids share their same first and middle names. They’re the same ages. They even have identical birthdays. Who, exactly, are these strangers?
Before Chess, Emma, and Finn can question their mom about it, she takes off on a sudden work trip and leaves them in the care of Ms. Morales and her daughter, Natalie. But puzzling clues left behind lead to complex codes, hidden rooms, and a dangerous secret that will turn their world upside down.
Chirp
Published: February 4, 2020
Mia and her parents have moved to Vermont the summer after seventh grade to help look after her grandma. Before the move, Mia broke her arm falling off a balance beam in gymnastics. Since then, she’s packed up everything related to the sport she once loved, deciding to call it quits.
However, both Mia and her parents are in for a shock when they reach Vermont. Mia’s grandmother for one, doesn’t seem to need any care. In fact, she’s started a cricket farm! The only issue is that Mia’s grandmother is convinced that someone is trying to sabotage the farm — and there’s some evidence to back up her claims because weird disruptive things keep happening.
Maizy Chen’s Last Chance
Published: February 1, 2022
Maizy Chen’s Last Chance follows Maizy and her mother, who return to Last Chance, Minnesota, when Maizy’s grandfather becomes ill. We learn that Maizy’s mom had her with the help of a sperm donor and seems to have taken a less traditional, unexpected career route since her parents expected her to take over their historical Chinese restaurant, The Golden Palace.
However, Maizy’s grandparents love her, and Maizy quickly bonds with them, especially her grandfather. One day, she sees pictures of several Chinese young men, and when she asks her grandfather about them, he begins to tell her a sprawling story about their family’s history in Last Chance, which is interwoven with love, racism, and community. At the same time, The Golden Palace experiences a hate crime, and Maizy is shocked to discover who the perpetrator is.
Murder at Twilight
Published: October 20, 2018
This story is set in the UK. Viv and Noah have grown up together — Viv’s mom works for Noah’s wealthy family — and have an obvious near-sibling rivalry. Viv also resents Noah’s family’s influence and the fact that her mother has to work for them. The story opens with the two getting into a squabble right before school. They’re literally in Viv’s mother’s car about to be driven, and Viv does end up smacking Noah and provoking a nosebleed (he’s prone to those).
However, her mother’s bloodstained car seat becomes an issue when Noah fails to return from school. Viv’s mother, Lin becomes one of the main suspects in Noah’s kidnapping. Viv is sure that Noah is sulking and deliberately trying to upset his parents. But when she goes in search of him, they both become embroiled in a bigger, life-threatening mystery.
A Perfect Mistake
Published: July 12, 2022
Max and his community are reeling from a night out gone wrong. Max and his friends Joey and Will went out with two older boys, but Will ended up unconscious and in a coma, and Joey won’t speak to Max anymore. Max also has ADHD and is over six feet tall at 11, which means he stands out in his class. Frustrated that he can’t figure out what happened to Will, Max teams up with an inquisitive classmate, but the truths he unravels aren’t pretty.
This was a solid mystery! The story is fully in the now but includes flashbacks to the night of Will’s accident and moments in the boys’ friendship. The author does a great job of slowly letting readers figure out the mystery one step at a time. The sleuthing Max and Samantha get up to also gave me strong Nancy Drew vibes, which I loved.
The Improbable Tales of Baskerville Hall Book 1
Published: September 12, 2023
Ali Standish is back with a mystery novel that reimagines the early life of Conan Doyle. When young Arthur Conan Doyle is offered a spot at Baskerville Hall, a secret school for extraordinarily gifted children, he is elated at being chosen—and being given a chance to turn his family’s fortunes around.
There, Arthur makes quick friends with Irene Eagle, a girl who boldly strides into action, and Jimmie Moriarty, a boy whose brilliance rivals Arthur’s own. Together, they discover that their new school is a peculiar place, home to leaning towers and unexplained explosions, prowling wolves and extinct birds. Along the way, Arthur uncovers a mystery that will lead to grand adventure . . . and even greater danger. I didn’t LOVE this one but I think it will appeal to kids who love The Mysterious Benedict Society.
The Plot to Kill a Queen
Published: October 17, 2023
Emilia Bassano loves words, and although she plays several musical instruments, what she really wants to do is act on the stage. This is a book with a fascinating premise — it features real-life historical characters in a fictionalized setting. In fact, one of Emilia’s friends is THE William Shakespeare. Most interestingly, though, is what happens when Emilia uncovers a plot to kill the queen and is sent to save the queen. Perfect for theater kids who love a good historical mystery.
Free Throws, Friendships, and Other Things We Fouled Up
Published: October 24, 2023
What happens when two girls who love basketball become best friends at school, only to find out that their dads can’t stand each other — and not because they coach the city’s rival basketball teams but because of something that happened years ago when THEY were middle schoolers? That’s the premise of this book. I loved this story because it’s told from both girls’ perspectives and also goes back in time every few chapters to tell us what happened to their dads from each one’s perspective!
This is a strong, fast-paced story with brilliant characterization and plenty of love for Cincinnati, Ohio. There’s also a basketball-playing nun, a kid navigating parental separation, and an excellent depiction of healthy female friendship!
Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Secret Letters
Published: September 20, 2022
Two kids, Colin and Nevaeh find letters belonging to two best friends in the 1970s and have to solve the mystery that tore that friendship apart even as a feud between their parents threatens to tear their friendship apart. This reminds me of Eulberg’s The Best Worst Summer and is a great choice for 7th graders looking for less intense mysteries.
There they are: 15+ of the best mystery books for 7th graders. Which of these have you read and loved? What did I miss?
Get a printable of this list to take to your library. Just pop your email in the box below and it’ll come right to you!
More Mystery Books
- Mystery books for 6th graders
- Mysteries for middle schoolers
- Mysteries for teens
Great list! Lots of faves in here and some new ones to check out! Thanks so much! Home run as always!
Thanks, Megan!