The best YA murder mysteries

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Young Adult murder mysteries to read at any age

Harrow Lake

It's an old-fashioned puppet. The details are hard to make out in the dim light, but it looks like the puppet's neck is broken. It's a sad-looking thing, trapped there in its cage. Maybe I should let it out... 
 
 THE MUST-HAVE THRILLER THAT WILL KEEP YOU GRIPPED, KEEP YOU GUESSING, AND KEEP YOU UP ALL NIGHT. 
 
 'A captivating and creeping mystery full of brilliantly twisting turns and dark secrets' - Holly Jackson, bestselling author of A Good Girls' Guide to Murder 
 
 'If you like Stephen King, snap this up!' - Cass Green, Sunday Times bestselling author of In a Cottage in a Wood 
 
 'This book crawled under my skin and made itself a home there, and I can't wait for people to start reading it so that I can scream about the ending with everyone I know' - Inkandplasma book review 
 
 'Scream meets The Babadook in small-town USA' - Kirsty Logan, award-winning author of The Gracekeepers 
 
 Lola Nox is the daughter of a celebrated horror filmmaker - she thinks nothing can scare her. But when her father is brutally attacked in their New York apartment, she's swiftly packed off to live with a grandmother she's never met in Harrow Lake, the eerie town where her father's most iconic horror movie was shot. 
 
 The locals are weirdly obsessed with the film that put their town on the map - and there are strange disappearances, which the police seem determined to explain away. 
 
 And there's someone - or something - stalking Lola's every move. 
 
 The more she discovers about the town, the more terrifying it becomes. Because Lola's got secrets of her own. And if she can't find a way out of Harrow Lake, they might just be the death of her...

Harrow Lake is a captivating and creeping mystery full of brilliantly twisting turns and dark secrets. You'll hear Mister Jitters in the deadly whisper of the pages as you race through this chilling, thrilling book

Holly Jackson, bestselling author of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

Harrow Lake is a book that's hard to put down. Scary, suspenseful and deliciously twisty, it hits that 'Netflix binge' sweetspot. It's also a hugely entertaining riff on '80s and '90s horror, echoing everything from Stephen King to Scream, with some neat twists on familiar tropes

This dark and twisty book will keep you gripped to the very last page and give you sleepless nights. Atmospheric and beautifully written, Harrow Lake is a five-star must-read

Sarah J. Harris, author of The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder

Scream meets The Babadook in small-town USA. This book made my retro-horror-loving heart sing

Kirsty Logan, award-winning author of The Gracekeepers

What a thrill-ride Harrow Lake is. If you like Stephen King, you'd be mad not to snap this up

Cass Green, Sunday Times top 10 bestselling author of In a Cottage In a Wood

A taut, twisting and terrifying read that takes no prisoners as it carves and claws its way into your nightmares. Expect more than just jitters...

Melinda Salisbury, author of Hold Back the Tide

A twisted thriller with a fantastically eerie setting in which nothing is what it seems. I loved the landmarks and gruesome history of Harrow Lake. The buried secrets, landslides, jitterbugs and the Bone Tree will stay with me for a long time. Kat Ellis's monstrous Mr Jitters and the frozen-in-time movie setting makes for a chilling read that had me looking over my shoulder and holding my breath

Michelle Harrison, author of A Pinch of Magic

Harrow Lake is scary, but also hugely fun . . . the claustrophobic Harrow Lake itself seems a fully realized world, a character in itself

Ellis brings the claustrophobia of pulp fandom front and centre in this masterpiece of a novel

With its creeping dread and unspooling secrets, Harrow Lake feels like an Alfred Hitchcock film in YA novel form. Thrilling, terrifying and utterly compelling. Deserves to be a summer blockbuster!

Kat Ellis lives in North Wales with her husband and their two cats. When she isn't writing, she spends her time watching every horror movie under the sun and exploring the picturesque views and creepy ruins of the Welsh countryside.

Welcome to Harrow Lake. Someone's expecting you . . . 
 
Lola Nox is the daughter of a celebrated horror filmmaker - she thinks nothing can scare her. But when her father is brutally attacked in their New York apartment, she's swiftly packed off to live with a grandmother she's never met in Harrow Lake, the eerie town where her father's most iconic horror movie was shot. The locals are weirdly obsessed with the film that put their town on the map - and there are strange disappearances, which the police seem determined to explain away. 
 
And there's someone - or something - stalking her every move. 
 
The more Lola discovers about the town, the more terrifying it becomes. Because Lola's got secrets of her own. And if she can't find a way out of Harrow Lake, they might just be the death of her.

Kat Ellis

Riverdale meets The Haunting of Hill House in this gorgeously gruesome tale of dark secrets, family feuds and local supernatural legends.

A book to keep you up all night from the queen of creepy little towns. Kat Ellis wields an oppressive atmosphere like a sharply honed blade and creates suspense as thick as the mist on Burden Bridge. Brilliantly sharp with a cast of characters you'll love (or love to hate), Wicked Little Deeds is a perfectly blended cocktail of curses, suspense and superstition that had me holding my breath until the last page and will haunt me long after reading. There are eyes everywhere in Burden Falls - after reading this you'll be scared to close yours.

Sera Milano, author of This Can Never Not Be Real

Wicked Little Deeds is a book of nightmares - in the best possible way. Kat Ellis is the queen of small town creepiness and dark family secrets. Horrifyingly good fun!

Kathryn Foxfield, author of Good Girls Die First

So compelling and a brilliantly exciting, twisty ending. A masterclass in suspense.

A beautifully written story where the dark prose is as viscous and twisted as the rotten folklore of Burden Falls. A thrilling, eye-watering read.

Cynthia Murphy, author of Last One to Die

Wicked Little Deeds is such a creepy, twisty and atmospheric thriller. With a Stephen King-like eye for small town detail, Kat Ellis really knows how to get under your skin and drive suspense. I swear I saw Dead-Eyed Sadie in my window . . .

Amy McCulloch, co-author of The Magpie Society

Kat Ellis has done it again! With wry, dark humour and a deliciously creepy mystery, Wicked Little Deeds is as alluring as a Thorn Blood Apple Sour, and twice as entertaining.

Cinematic, clever and creepy, with a main character that leaps off the page. Wicked Little Deeds ticks off all my moody thriller boxes.

From its creepy town mascot to the story of its cursed waterfall, Burden Falls is a small town dripping with superstition. Ava Thorn knows this well - since the horrific accident she witnessed a year ago, she's been plagued by creeping visions. 
 
But when someone close to her is brutally murdered and Ava is the primary suspect, she starts to wonder if the legends surrounding the town are more fact than fiction. 
 
Whatever secrets Burden Falls is hiding, there's a killer on the loose, and they have a vendetta against the Thorns... 
 
Praise for Harrow Lake: 
 
'A captivating and creeping mystery full of brilliantly twisting turns and dark secrets' - Holly Jackson, bestselling author of A Good Girls' Guide to Murder 
 
'If you like Stephen King, snap this up!' - Cass Green, Sunday Times bestselling author of In a Cottage in a Wood 
 
'Scream meets The Babadook in small-town USA' - Kirsty Logan, award-winning author of The Gracekeepers

Kat Ellis

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Young Adult murder mysteries to read at any age

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