Mysteries are arguably the most popular genre in fiction. In teaching the mystery genre, analyzing the author's use of classic mystery techniques: clues, suspects, red herrings, foreshadowing, and cliff hangers among others, can help students understand why mysteries are such page turners. I am recommending five new young adult mysteries this month. I'll Stop the World by Lauren Thoman is a genre-bending mystery which finds the main character traveling back in time to solve his grandparents' murder. Marie Lu's new series opener Stars and Smoke is a spy novel which teams up a pop star and his bodyguard. Three Drops of Blood by Gretchen McNeil is a Hitchcock inspired murder mystery where the protagonist witnesses a murder while looking out the window, but no one will believe her. Royal Blood, the first in a new trilogy by Aimee Carter, introduces Evan Bright, the illegitimate daughter of the British King, who becomes a murder suspect when she goes to Britain to meet her family. The Night in Question, the second in the Agathas series by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Larson, is a closed circle mystery, where Alice and Iris attend a party on an island where a murder occurs.
In I'll Stop the World Justin Warren travels back in time to find out who set the high school fire that killed his grandparents and to try to stop them. Justin's life has always been overshadowed by his grandparents' deaths. His orphaned mother is now an alcoholic, who had him out of wedlock. Stan, her live-in boyfriend, is obsessed with the murders. When Justin drives off a bridge one rainy night and lands in 1985 prior to his grandparents' deaths, he has an opportunity to change the trajectory of his life. He meets Rose Yin and together they attempt to solve the murders before it's too late. This coming-of-age second chances novel was published by Mindy Kaling's new book studio. Time travel books are tough to pull off and this one with a story line that unfolds both over the course of one week and 38 years has an amazingly satisfyingly ending.
Stars and Smoke finds a secret agent teaming up with a pop star to bring down a crime syndicate boss. Winter Young, a Chinese American superstar, is recruited by the Panacea Group, an espionage organization, when he is invited to play at crime boss Eli Morrison's daughter's birthday extravaganza. Winter and Sydney Cossette, a Panacea spy who is posing as his bodyguard, must infiltrate Eli's inner circle and find out about a chemical weapon he is developing. Although Sydney dismisses Winter as just another pretty face, she soon discovers there is more to him than meets the eye. Their backstories and budding romance are secondary to the action adventure which spy novel fans will love.
In Three Drops of Blood plus-size actress Kate Williams lands a co-starring role on Dirty Pretty Teens, opposite former Disney star Belle Masterson. Just as Kate makes the decision to skip college and pursue acting, Belle gets caught in a compromising position with the 38-year-old showrunner, and the series is cancelled. Kate's parents are determined to change Kates mind about college and start charging her for food and rent, so she takes an evening job, filing at her best friend Rowan's dad's law firm. One night she is looking out the window and witnesses a double murder. Nobody wants to believe her except Rowan's brother Ty, whose heart she broke the previous year. Kate struggles to be taken seriously, both as an actress looking for roles other than the fat funny sidekick, and as the witness to a serious crime. Inspired by Hitchcock's Rear Window, this is a page turning thriller and sweet romance with an unconventional protagonist.
The first book in the Royal Blood trilogy introduces Evan Bright, the illegitimate American daughter of Britain's King Alexander. After being expelled from her ninth boarding school for setting it on fire, the king's personal secretary spirits her away to Windsor Castle, where her half sister and stepmother greet her with cold shoulders. Evan wants to go home to her mother Laura, who is schizophrenic, but because of the disease, Evan is not allowed to live with her. Her 18th birthday, when she can make her own decisions, is only a month away. But during her time in England, Evan is assaulted by Jasper Cunningham who ends up murdered with Evan being the prime suspect She and the king's nephew Kit attempt to clear her name. Readers who enjoy everything royal will find this a unique take on the genre.
The Night in Question, the second book in the Agathas mystery series, finds Alice Ogilvie and Iris Adams attending a Sadie Hawkins dance at Levy Castle, the site of one of Castle Cove's unsolved murders. Mona Moody, a classic film star, died in the island castle almost a century ago. Alice, who is wandering around looking for clues about Mona's death, walks into a new crime scene. Rebecca Kennedy is lying in a pool of blood, and Helen Park is standing over her holding a letter opener, the presumed murder weapon. Although the police think it is an open and shut case, Alice and Iris suspect that Helen is innocent and set out to prove it. Quotes from Agatha Christie's mysteries, as well as fictious quotes from Mona Moody movies, open each chapter. This book comes out May 4, 2023.
