From Sherlock Holmes to Hercule Poirot, detectives and mystery stories have long been a staple on bookshelves everywhere. A good mystery allows a reader to sink their teeth into a problem and put their brain to the test solving it. This week, we’re looking at middle grade mystery stories, with our feature pick being Where Ella Went by Laurie Morrison. “Everything Ella” seems to be the most perfect eighth-grader on the planet: straight-A student, captain of the soccer team, president of student council, and beloved by (almost) everyone. So when she doesn’t show up for the most important game of the soccer season so far and suddenly leaves school entirely, fellow soccer players Sadie and Pug are shocked. Ella has disappeared without a trace, and all the adults in their lives are telling them to move on and stop worrying. But why would Ella leave? And where did she go? This epistolary mystery dives into the realities of middle-school girlhood.

Check out more middle grade mysteries below!

Where Ella Went
Laurie Morrison
ABRAMS/Amulet Books
Available now!

Mystery on Macaw Mountain
Maria Jose Fitzgerald
Random House Children’s Books/Alfred A. Knopf
Available now!

The Case of the Scarlet Snakebite
Christyne Morrell
Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte Press
Available now!

Secrets of the Broken House
Taryn Souders
Sourcebooks/Sourcebooks for Young Readers
Available now!

The Shrew Detective: The Case of the Pilfered Pearls
Margi Preus
Illustrated by Junyi Wu
ABRAMS/Amulet Books
Available now!