The term 'mystery' when referring to literature is a bit odd. Does it mean that nobody knows what kind of book it is? Kind of like when they serve "mystery meat" in the school cafeteria? Or does it encompass nearly everything, because most of the novels ever written have some element of mystery or discovery about them? The answer is "D. None of the above". When in doubt, always choose answer 'D', by the way.
As it turns out, the "mystery" genre is actually one of the narrowest of all story types (sometimes called 'thrillers' or 'suspense' for obvious reasons). It refers to novels where the central theme is the solving of a mystery, usually with life and death at stake. The protagonist(s) spends the story trying to answer The One Big Question, and does so usually in the final few pages. The more twists and turns along the way, the better. If the answer to The One Big Question is a twist, then you have a classic.
These are the Best of the Best Teen Mystery novels.
And Then There Were None by Agathie Christie - The best who-done-it novel ever; one of the best twists of any story yet written. Ten people on an island retreat start to die one by one, and must determine who the murderer is before they all fall victim. Christie is the master of the twist! Even if you know the twist ahead of time, it will still surprise you. This is the standard by which all other mystery novels are judged.
Black Jack by Leon Garfield - Bartholomew Dorking is an average kid living in 19th century London - until he finds himself tied to the murderous Black Jack. The villain was supposed to have hung from the gallows, but now seems to be back from the dead. This often overlooked but chilling thriller will leave your head spinning.
The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum Ucci - Soul-searing story of popular Torey and a pair of social bottom-dwellers whose search for a missing outcast implicate them in the boys disappearance. Is the boy a runaway, suicidal, or a victim of crime? Told in flashback, the novel ultimately sounds the message that all people deserve compassion, regardless of their strangeness.
The Boy in the Burning House by Tim Wynne-Jones - Jim Hawkin's father has disappeared. When "crazy" Ruth insists that her step-father murdered the man, Jim digs into the old mystery of a childhood friend of his missing father and the accused murderer who died in a burning house. This proves to be only the top layer of a series of mysteries that careen the novel into an ever-darkening place. These mysteries will keep you turning the pages, making this novel difficult to put down.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon - Christopher Boone is gifted in logic, but his autism leaves him unable comprehend the actions of others. When he is falsely accused of murdering a neighbor's dog, Christopher determines to solve the mystery. The book is a journal written in Christopher's voice with sometimes hilarious irony. This complex premise is handled expertly by the author, who maintains Christopher as a rich personality rather than assigning to him easy stereotypes of the autistic.
Death on the Nile by Agathie Christie - One of the great detectives of literary creation is Hercule Poirot, and in this novel he is at his intuitive best. While vacationing in Africa on a Nile boat trip, he meets a pair of newlyweds. When the wife is murdered, Poirot must call upon all of his intellectual powers to find the murderer before another person dies.
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta - Taylor finds herself the leader of her boarding school's Underground Community, whose mission is to battle their counterparts at an all-male Cadet encampment and the public high school. For two decades the three factions have waged a game of negotiation, pranks, and sometimes physical violence for control of paths, places, and facilities. One problem: Taylor might have a crush on the leader of the Cadets. The author weaves in a back story about how the whole war started, and how Taylor is unwittingly tied to it. Romance, action, mystery, and plot twists, this is just a great story.
The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore by Joan Lowry Nixon - In a classic story of "out of the frying pan and into the fire", Christina is kidnapped by a masked man and held for ransom. When her family pays, Christina thinks the ordeal is over. However, she gets thrown into the fire when her family believes that she helped stage the kidnapping to get money. Did she? And if not, how can she prove her innocence? The story keeps you guessing to the end.
Listening Woman by Tony Hillerman - Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police is investigating the brutal murder of a teen girl and old man. Although he is looking for a human murderer, the blind shaman called Listening Woman insinuates that the deaths are the work of supernatural evil. As he digs into the old man's secrets and events of one hundred years past, he is led away from normal detective conclusions and closer to a belief that the evil at work may be more than human.
A Thief in the House of Memory by Tim Wynne-Jones - After Dec's mother disappeared six years earlier, his family moves from the family manor to a smaller house on the grounds, leaving the old house in a museum-like state. Dec's father refuses to talk about his wife, much to the boy's dismay. When an intruder dies violently in the old house, Dec begins having a series of remembrance visions featuring his mother. As he pieces the memories together, the surprising truth of his mother begins to unfold.
Best of the Rest:
Acceleration by Graham McNamee
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
A Deadly Game of Magic by Joan Lowry Nixon
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney
A Fast and Brutal Wing by Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson
The Books of Fell by M. E. Kerr
Ghost Riders by Sharyn McCrumb
The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton
I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan
Killer’s Cousin by Nancy Werlin
Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
Lucas by Kevin Brooks
Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman by Eleanor Updale
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander Mccall Smith
Playing in Traffic by Gail Giles
The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier
The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman
Runaway Jury by John Grisham
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Shades of Simon Gray by Joyce McDonald
Shattering Glass by Gail Giles
Silent to the Bone by E. L. Konigsburg
Snow Falling On Cedars by David Guterson
The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman
Wolf Rider by Avi
