Your child has cracked every case with Daisy and Hazel. They’ve torn through the whole Murder Most Unladylike shelf and now you’ve got an amateur (but very keen) detective on your hands.
If you’re after books like Murder Most Unladylike, you’re in the right place.
I’m a huge fan of murder mysteries myself. I grew up with a mum who raced through Lee Child books and had us watching Midsomer Murders every Sunday. So these books feel pretty unbeatable to me.
But the five books I’ve put together here I would happily put into the hands of your budding Sherlock Holmes. They’re all on the mystery shelf, ready to go.
What makes a Murder Most Unladylike book, a Murder Most Unladylike book
It helps to know what you’re matching. To a mystery fan, it’s not about who drank the last of the milk or who’s the local litter bug.
“Mystery” can cover everything from ghost stories to spy antics.
But mystery-obsessed readers want red herrings and jaw-dropping plot twists. Not just a simple Scooby-Doo mask unveiling (although those have their place too).
The Murder Most Unladylike books are proper whodunnits. There’s a real crime, a pile of suspects, clues to spot and a solve at the end that scratches an insatiable itch in your brain.
At the heart of these books is a clever girl, usually with a best friend at her side. Then there’s the setting, the kind you want to set up camp in. A boarding school, a country house, a train.
So I’ve gone for books with a genuine puzzle to crack, a young detective worth following, and a world worth getting lost in.
Five books like Murder Most Unladylike to try next
Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Body Under the Piano
Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen – The Body under the Piano
Aggie Morton lives in a sleepy seaside town in 1902, and not a lot happens to her. Then one day she finds a body on the floor of the dance hall (no biggy).
She teams up with Hector, a Belgian boy with an eagle eye. Together they set out to find the killer before the whole town turns on itself.
I’d say it’s the closest match to Daisy and Hazel. A girl detective, a clever sidekick, a real murder and a proper old-fashioned setting.
The series even takes inspiration from the childhood of Agatha Christie, which is a fun thing to know (by Marthe Jocelyn).
The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow
The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow
Sophie Taylor has just started work at Sinclair’s (London’s fancy new department store). Then someone steals a priceless clockwork sparrow, and she gets the blame.
To clear her name she joins forces with Lil (an actress with a nose for trouble). Together they go after a crime ring far bigger than one missing toy.
Edwardian London, two clever girls, codes to crack and iced buns, what’s not to love? If your reader loved the friendship and the bun breaks in Murder Most Unladylike, this by Katherine Woodfine is the one.
Malamander
Malamander (An Eerie-on-Sea Mystery)
Nobody visits Eerie-on-Sea in winter. And this suits Herbie Lemon just fine. He works as the Lost-and-Founder at the old hotel, returning lost things to their owners.
Then a girl called Violet turns up. She is the lost thing, and she wants Herbie’s help finding her parents, who vanished twelve years ago.
This one is a bit softer but has a touch of spookiness about it too.
There’s a sea-monster legend lurking under the mystery which makes it fun to read too. It’s still a proper puzzle to solve just with a slight eeriness to it. This by Thomas Taylor is good for a reader who likes their detective work to send a lil’ chill down the spine.
Winterborne Home for Mayhem and Mystery
Winterborne Home for Mayhem and Mystery
April thought life at Winterborne House was finally sorted. New home, new friends, new guardian. The catch is that her guardian, billionaire Gabriel Winterborne, is secretly a sword-wielding vigilante.
Then a masked intruder breaks in looking for something. April and the other Winterborne kids have to work out what’s going on before anyone gets hurt.
More action than the others, with a gang of kids solving things together rather than a neat detective duo.
This one does feel like a more thought-provoking Scooby-Doo with a touch of Famous Five thrown in for good measure. I’d say this by Ally Carter would be great for a reader who likes their mystery with a side of mayhem.
Mystery of the Night Watchers
Mystery of the Night Watchers
It’s 1910, and Halley’s comet is filling the sky. Nancy’s mother packs her off to live with a grandfather she’s never met.
Every curtain in the house stays shut. She can’t go outside. And at night she catches her mother and grandfather creeping out. Nancy is set on finding out why.
This one is a slow burner, historical mystery, with a tonne of family secrets. A.M. Howell builds a bit of a spooky atmosphere too with a lot of things half-seen in the dark. Great for those who like a mystery that builds rather than a chase.
A few more to keep them going
Both Aggie Morton and the Sinclair’s Mysteries run to several books, so if either goes down well there’s plenty to keep them going.
And if your reader fancies a mystery with more chase and gadgets, our books like Artemis Fowl list has a few contenders. There’s another clever everyday whodunnit, The London Eye Mystery, over in our best books for a long car journey list too.
Where Little Reads comes in
Every book up there is one I’ve picked by hand, and they’re all on Little Reads with a heap more mysteries to follow.
No ads, no pop-ups, just books.
Just so you know before you try Little Reads, it doesn’t teach reading. It’s a library, not a lesson, so there’s no phonics and no levels to work through. It’s for kids who already love a book and just want the next one.
So if you’ve got a young detective who closes one case and is straight onto the next, that’s exactly who it’s for. If your child is only just getting going as a reader, something built for that will help them more right now.
You can start free with a Little Reads account (100+ books), and the full 3,000+ library is £7.99 a month with a 7-day free trial if you want the lot.