6 Top-Notch Detective Books for Sleuths-in-Training

Timmy Failure, by Stephan Pastis
If you’re looking for a book that will have your child laughing out loud, look no further. This illustrated comic novel follows 11-year-old Timmy Failure’s adventures as the clueless CEO of the best detective agency in town, Total Failure, Inc. With a 1,500-pound polar bear named Total at his side, Timmy sets out in a series of bungling adventures in this series from New York Times bestselling cartoonist Stephan Pastis. Pastis’ deceptively amateur-looking black-and-white illustrations enliven the tale of Timmy’s incompetent sleuthing, making this a fun read for anyone who enjoys a silly story.

Evil Spy School, by Stuart Gibbs
This limited edition of the third book in Stuart Gibbs’s bestselling Spy School series includes several bonuses that any wannabe detective will be clamoring for, including 32 pages of top-secret bonus material and dusted-fingerprint endpapers. The story follows 12-year-old Ben Ripley as a new student at a spy school run by the evil crime organization SPYDER. But Ben has a secret of his own—working as a double agent under deep cover, he tries to unlock the mystery of SPYDER’s evil plan and warn the good guys before it’s too late.

The Pet and the Pendulum, by Gordon McAlpine 
In the third book of The Misadventures of Edgar and Allan Poe, the telepathically linked twins face their final showdown with the villainous Professor Perry. Set in an old mansion outside of Baltimore, the book features cameos of Edgar Allan Poe, the boys’ great-great-great uncle. Like its predecessors, The Pet and the Pendulum features brain-teasers, codes and smart humor sure to delight amateur sleuths who want to try their own detective skills.

The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle
Was there ever a greater detective than Sherlock Holmes? Although some of the language in The Hound of the Baskervilles may intimidate middle grade readers at first, this tale of an attempted murder—and a spectral hound—is sure to delight young detectives-to-be and serves as a great way to introduce them to one of the classics of English literature. As the clues start to piece together, readers will enjoy seeing if they can best Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson in solving the mystery of Sir Charles Baskerville’s untimely death.

“Shouldn’t You Be in School?”, by Lemony Snicket and Seth 
The latest in Lemony Snicket’s All the Wrong Questions series, “Shouldn’t You Be in School?” follows the 13-year-old Snicket as he tries to figure out who is responsible for burning down all the buildings in the whimsical town of Stain’d-by-the-Sea. Peppered with retro-style illustrations by Seth, the book is a throwback to detective-noir fiction with an enticing mystery and humorous style that will have young readers laughing out loud.

Down the Rabbit Hole, by Peter Abrahams
If you’re looking for a book with a strong female detective, Peter Abrahams’s Down the Rabbit Hole is an excellent choice. The tale revolves around eighth-grader Ingrid Levin-Hill, who gets wrapped up in a murder investigation after leaving her red track shoes at the scene of the crime. As the police investigation takes several wrong turns, Ingrid decides to solve the murder mystery herself using old-fashioned sleuthing like her hero Sherlock Holmes. This is a smart book about a smart girl.
Do you have a favorite detective book for young sleuths?