Recommendations for 12 year old

[purpleme12]

Firstly, I would like to point out that she is NOT a big or keen reader AT ALL. She reads Lottie Brooks, Wimpy Kid, and hasn't read much else for a long time. So books aimed at below her age are also very ok to recommend! I think she actually gets overwhelmed looking at a book.

What I'm asking for is -
She likes watching Good Ship Murder, Beyond Paradise and Death Valley and Return to Paradise
So..... Are there any recommendations for books which involve murder or crime or intrigue or mystery like that or suspicious things? Because that's what she likes about the TV programmes

Is there any people might be able to recommend that she might get sucked into from the start? And wouldn't be overwhelming?

Agatha Christie would be great.

Murder most unladylike series it’s geared toward 9-12 year olds so not too heavy to read.

A Box Full of Murders by Janice Hallet is aimed at 9-13 year olds. Ava & Luke find a box in their dad's attic containing newspaper clips, diary entries, and letters about an unsolved murder at a Scout & Guide camp in the 80s. They try to solve the case and realise that the killer might still be out there.

A lot of the story is told through the campers' diary entries, letters, lost property forms, incident reports, and timetables, so it's quite immersive and encourages the reader to consider various sources & inferences to solve the mystery themselves. Your daughter may also find the mixed media format more digestible as it breaks the text up rather than being a wall of text.

Enola Holmes?
The three investigators
crookhaven

Thank you very much

Sounds like promising suggestions

I have a look at these

Murder by Narwhal by Alex T Smith
(funny middle-grade murder mystery)

And if she likes these the clockwork sparrow and sequels from Katherine Woodfine.

Robin Stevens also has other mystery fiction London Eye Mystery, Guggenheim Mystery.

Enid Blyton's Adventure series? Island of, etc. And the Barney mysteries.
Malcolm Saville. I don't know how easy they are to get these days, but he wrote several series with young people getting involved in mysteries.
Agatha Christie produced short stories, which might be a place to start.
Sherlock Holmes short stories. Not the novels.

And not mysteries, but for a series for her to get stuck into, there's the Chalet School, now complete on Faded Page.

I think Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes would be a bit overwhelming for a reluctant reader.

The Demon Headmaster series jumped to mind - well written and exciting but not hard to get into or too challenging.

DS2 (10) is a murder mystery fan. He adores the Murder Most Unladylike series and also enjoyed the Adventures on Trains series.

@Trallers Oh wow used to love that programme! Will definitely get that to try now you've mentioned it

Along with the Murder Most Unladylikes, which is mentioned, Scarlet and Ivy was really good.

Dark Materials?

I've read this first book of that myself and I don't think it's anything like what I've described in this thread

(And I wasn't really keen on it and she'd be even less keen on that)

Just asked my son and he suggested Lemony Snickett. I haven’t read them myself but he liked them and they’re a bit creepy and mysterious

My dd liked a good girls guide to murder but have a flick through first. The main storyline is about date rape drugs and murder. I was a bit worried when I realized but actually it was quite a good way to introduce these issues to dd before secondary school.

Came to suggest these!

Good girls guide to murde

Interesting I didn't think of that
She loved the series
So she might be keener to try it because of that

Interesting

Yes I did watch the series myself
Although can't remember the exact details for suitableness now
You think this would be ok for her age?
She is in high school. She was 12 in October.

My daughter is super sensitive and read then last year at 12. Haven’t read them myself but she really enjoyed it

The Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence are fun. I read loads of Nancy Drew as a child - are they still around? Not the best writing but each chapter ended with a cliffhanger!

Oh god forgot about Nancy Drew! I definitely read that when I was little. Don't remember any details about it but I know I liked it

You can find Nancy Drew on Faded Page:
https://www.fadedpage.com/csearch.php?author=Benson,%20Mildred%20A.%20Wirt

I read some when I was young, but they didn't really hook me.

Are you talking about ebooks or something?

I would be getting her an actual book, not an ebook