Category Archives: Mystery

374N: Popular girl goes missing

This is a novel that takes place in the small-town south, this is narrated by an adolescent (possibly pre-adolescent — think Scout Finch with more swear words) about a girl (older than the narrator  — teens, maybe 20s) disappears. The missing girl was quite beautiful and alluring, and had talk-of-the-town charisma. 
I am almost 100% sure the missing girl’s name is in the title, but I can’t remember that name. 
More rando detail: someone’s house that the narrator goes to (and, I believe, the missing girl worked at) is messy, like the person who lives there is a hoarder of sorts. 
Also, it’s speculated that the missing girl has just left (no foul play) because her aspirations expanded outside the confines of this backwater town where the novel is set. 

374M: The Rose of Death (Solved!)

Seeking a murder mystery about drowned boy who was bullied probably published around 2000-2003, maybe up to 2005 this book was for high schooler and young adults and I think the cover was blue with a rose. The main story line of the book was an investigator was trying to find the cause of death of a teenage boy who was found in the river who they initially thought was a drowning but then found stool in his lungs that was his cause of asphyxiation. The river had once had a sewage issue, but that was investigated and found that the problem was fixed. He was accidentally killed by other students who gave him a swirly (dunked head into a toilet) that had stool in it that caused him to suffocate. The reason that he was given the swirly was he had a crush on a girl and had given her a rose he had changed the color of from red to (possibly) blue as a magic trick, the book did describe the chemical trick used to perform this. I do not remember the color of the rose, apologies. The girl’s bf or some other significant male figure.

374F: 2 in 1 Tween murder mysteries

The most prominent feature was this was a series of very short kids books where you had to flip the book upside down and backwards to read the answer to the mystery. Only like 5 pages per mystery I think. I think it was also two mysteries per book. One of the stories involved an investigator that had to investigate a death and the butler let him in to the study. The guy was dead at his desk with a bottle of cyanide firmly clasped in his hand. It was determined to be a murder because cyanide causes muscles to relax and the bottle could not be clutched tightly in his hand. It was staged to look like a suicide.

371E: African American Orphan Stands Up For Herself (Solved!)

I am looking for a book that I cannot remember the title of, that I read in sixth grade, 1979/80 school year, in Macon, Georgia. I would like to purchase a copy. 


Subject: Middle Grades or YA- African American Female – Fiction – Coming of Age – African American Female empowerment- Mystery


Published: 1970-1980, but I believe closer to 1979


Synopsis:In the 1970s, an African American girl of about ten years old, from a close knit, education supporting, financially struggling family, is left an orphan, along with her teen brother, after their parents die when their Northern city apartment complex burns. I believe that she is burned. She is uprooted from a Northern progressive city when she goes to live with a wealthy middle class aunt and uncle who live in the deep south, in the country, in a house that is disappointing on the outside, but fantastically remodeled on the inside. For the first time she has her own room, beautiful clothes, amusements, books and plenty of delicious food. She is painfully shy and has PTSD from the death of her parents and the fire. She attends a school that is racist and newly desegregated, yet segregated in the classroom by putting all African American students in a low learning group. She has to learn to be assertive to her very racist and patronizing vapid young teacher in order to be placed in a gifted learning group.  The aunt is very wise, loving and encourages her niece to grow in confidence, independence, love and learning. The uncle is sullen, intimidating,  quiet and grieving over his own private matter. There is a mystery about a pregnant teen girl runaway, who is hiding out in an abandoned church in the woods, somehow related to the uncle, whom she finds when playing in the woods. 
This booked moved me and was written in a way that allowed me to grow with the character. It was bold in its description of racism and sexism and the need for individual female power through self confidence and self acceptance and assertiveness. It was a book that sought to enlighten and build a bridge between the racial and gender divides of the 70s post desegregated South. 
This book was recommended by my middle school librarian, who was very progressive and excellent at ordering and promoting to every student multicultural African American books. She placed it in a book grouping display, so it may have been a book award nominee or showcased as African American fiction.  I believe that the author was an African American female. 
Let me know if I need to amend or refine this description.  I’ve exhausted Google and the library librarian.

370Z: Boy solves small-town summer mystery

In 1975 I read a young adult novel about a city boy sent to stay the summer at his grandmother’s house in a small town. He doesn’t want to be there and expects to have a boring time, but stumbles across a mystery that he decides to solve. None of the adults in town believe him, but he eventually solves the mystery with the help of an older, wisecracking boy from the town. I don’t remember any details other than that the town was very small and along a small river or large creek and his grandmother’s house was at the edge of town near the river. I think the story was set in the generic “midwest” or “northeast”. The book was probably written in the mid- to late 1960s or early 1970s. I don’t think it was part of a series.

370F: Kids exploring cave during the depression era (Solved!)

I’ve been searching for this book for years.  I cannot remember all the details but the basics:
Farm kids during the great depression, I think a boy and a girl.  They go exploring a cave nearby and pretend its their mansion.  So they don’t get lost they use breadcrumbs but birds eat it.  They decide to use string instead.  A mystery of some sort is solved.  I seem to recall mention of the Hobos that would come around looking for work, and their family took one in and fed him a meal.  At the end of the book he left markings on their fence that was code for “friendly family” or something like that.  Other details: I THINK they took a canary into the cave, there was something to do with the underground railroad, and ration books were mentioned.  

I read this book when I was in 6th grade, possibly 1977/78.  It was an old book at the time, hardbound with the old fabric book covering. I think it had illustrations but can’t quite remember–I read a LOT in those days.  This book belonged to my mom who was born in 38–sadly its been long lost.

369Q: Bloody paintings and maybe an orphan

So about 10 to 12 years ago there was a book that was very popular in charity shops in the UK that I want to reread again. A summary of what I remember:

– This guy found(?) a load of art that was quite cryptic and had lots of pieces all with a number on (maybe in an old house/ attic)

– All the artwork fit together into one massive piece and this was a key discovery in the book (I think there were thousands of pieces and they all were numbered)

– It involved a children’s home/ orphanage; I think the painter was found to be painting out his childhood trauma

– Some of it was painted in blood (you found this out later)

– A policewoman was involved as the love interest and they slept together after her mum/ dad’s funeral

– I think it jumped between the present day and the past quite a lot with it all tying together in the end; i think the main character was the painter/ murderer’s sibling(?)

– The cover design was a lot like ‘the interpretation of murder’ (not sure if I can link here but the yellow-ish cover on google images)

– It may be quite a shit book as that is what I enjoyed reading at the time

369D: The Secret Passage, Straight to the Bakery (Solved!)

I’m not even sure why this particular picture book continues to stick with me. Was it the thrill of exploring a secret passage that sparked my love of exploration? Was it my first surprise ending? Was it my love of bakeries? I’m really not sure, but I’d love to find a copy. I borrowed this book from the children’s section of the Elmhurst branch of the Queens (NY) Public Library many times from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s. There were either one or two children–boys I think–who were exploring a secret passageway they had found in an old mansion or castle. I think he or they had just moved there but my memory is unclear. One of the illustrations I remember best showed an interior view slice of the whole house, including the secret passageway winding its way through the multi-leveled dwelling, with the two boys visible with their flashlight somewhere on a lower level. The boys follow the passageway a long way underground to a door. The door opens out into a bakery in the town or village.  There’s another illustration of a surprised baker at his oven as the small door opens out from mid-wall and the equally surprised boys tumble into his bakery. For some reason I think the baker is French, but again details remain elusive. At the end the baker serves them cream puffs or eclairs. Another post I saw (on another book search site) seemed to be a  query about this same book and mentions the boys perhaps finding some old casks of wine (?) that had been missing for some time. I also think the town was celebrating some kind of anniversary and the townspeople hoped to celebrate with the casks of wine. It’s also possible I am confusing two books. If anyone can help, I’d really appreciate it! 

369B: Favorite Child Inherits

What I don’t know:
Title, author or any character names Possibly published 2013-2016
What I remember. It is a lot!!


Protagonist drives into a small town where she either grew up or visited her aunt in the summer. She pauses and looks at a house she was always fascinated by and notices that it looks vacant. She learns that the old man who owned it (I think he was either a shut in or a hermit) died and that the house is indeed vacant. She wants to buy it and transform it into a B&B. She learns that the town owns it now as it was taken for unpaid taxes. She tries to buy it and is told by someone at Town Hall that the house isn’t clear for them to sell, but they won’t tell her why,
The editor of the local newspaper has retired. She used to work for him at the paper. He lives at the top of a hill and now runs a wastewater recycling facility. She thinks it’s an odd occupation for him, but he likes it. She tells him about the house and that she snuck a peek at the record the town has about the house and that she learned it has something to do with the man’s will. The retired editor tells her to find the man’s lawyer. She asks how to do that, and he gives her a name and tells her that he is the only lawyer in town. She learns from the lawyer that the man’s will states that he has left behind something valuable that would pay the property taxes and leave an inheritance for only his favorite child. The will says that only his favorite child will know where to find it.
The MC (main character) uses her news reporter skills to track down the siblings. I think there were 4 or 5. As adults, the do not get along at all, but they do all come to the house to search. Each believes that they are the favorite child and will find valuable item. They search their own childhood rooms; they search each other’s rooms. They move paintings on the walls and portraits on the wall going up the stairs in search of a hidden safe. Eventually they search outside the house, maybe in a garage or a barn. They argue constantly. One of the men is a heavy drinker. He is also very mean.
Meanwhile, the MC is running the place like a B&B for the siblings with an older woman (I think her aunt) helping, but the aunt has a bad leg and often has to rest. There is a group of gypsies or nomads in town. They come each year. One of them, a young woman comes to the door looking for a cleaning job, but the aunt (?) tells the MC not to hire any of them because they are not trustworthy, and she can do all the work herself.
After the outdoor search the siblings (and some of them have brought spouses), agree that there is no hidden treasure. They have farewell drinks in the sitting room with the man who is the jerk pouring drinks. One woman passes out with her head hitting the table. The MC (who may have been hiding behind the sofa) thinks that the woman has been poisoned and calls an ambulance. Then she calls the police. The nasty man and the others all go in for questioning while the other woman is taken to the hospital. Eventually they learn that there was no poison, and that the woman had a medical condition. The family is free to leave, which they do.
The MC walks around the house looking for things that need to be cleaned or set right. The sitting room, where the drinks were served, looks tidy but something isn’t quite right. She finally spots it. The rug under the coffee table is askew. Suddenly everything fits into place. She races out of the house to where the gypsies or nomads are set up. Slightly apart from the group is an old van with a dutch door at the side. The door is open and the young woman who came to the house to offer to clean greets her. The MC had hired her to clean without telling her aunt. It comes out that the young woman knew where the valuable item was hidden and took it. She has given it to the gypsies/nomads (I don’t know why). The young woman is in fact the illegitimate daughter of the man who died, and her mother was the man’s doctor who made house calls. The MC runs to the gypsy/nomads’ tents to try to retrieve it as it is her only hope for being able to buy the house. However, the patriarch has died, and his body has already been removed to the crematorium. The remaining people don’t have the item.
The MC leaves a message for the detective who had investigated the possible poisoning and asks him to meet her at the crematorium ASAP as the ceremony is to start shortly. She changes her clothes and hopes that the clan won’t recognize dressed differently and perhaps with a hat on. The ceremony has just begun when she gets there and is happy to see the detective there. As the coffin starts down the conveyor belt it gets stuck. The coffin is oversized and wide as the deceased was obese. There are sparks and the drapery between the coffin and the ceremony area are lit on fire. The fire is quickly put out, but in the confusion the MC sees that one of the clan has recognized her and is trying to escape. The woman is caught and is found to have the treasure. It had been hidden in the coffin and this member of the family had been allowed to view the coffin alone and took it back.
In the end it comes to light (perhaps from a diary) that the man and his doctor had an affair, and the child was his favorite. Somehow all gets fixed, taxes are paid, and MC can buy the house.