Mysteries for All Ages: This Week’s Book Picks

Do you like a good mystery? You’re in luck this week. The staff members at the have a few suggestions for mysterious reads, no matter your age.

Public services assistant Rachel Vaughn wrote the adult book recommendations. And Karen Schmidt, public services assistant II of the children’s department, wrote the children’s book recommendation.

For adults:

Blue Monday by Nicci French

What do you do when you realize that the description of a recently missing child sounds like the description of a boy that one of your patients has been dreaming about? This is the situation that psychotherapist Frieda Klein finds herself in. Frieda usually keeps to herself but finds herself in the spotlight when young Michael Farraday goes missing and her patient becomes the prime suspect. Considering her relation to the case, the police enlist her to help with the investigation in this first of a new atmospheric mystery series.

The Dark Rose by Erin Kelly

Louisa and Paul seemed to be doomed before they even meet. Paul is poised to testify in a murder case against his childhood friend and Louisa is battling her own demons leftover from a bad romance. Louisa is attempting to heal through her job of restoring an old Elizabethan garden when she meets Paul and their lives turn upside down. Hope for love seems to be rekindled but can either of them ever really escape their pasts?

For kids:

The Red Ghost by Marion Dane Bauer

This book is spooky without being too scary—a ghost story perfect for very young mystery lovers. An antique doll dressed in red creates havoc in the life of a young girl and her baby sister. Eighty-six pages with large margins and plentiful black-and-white drawings, recommended for ages 7 to 10.

Summaries may be based in part from information in the library's catalog.