By Alphin, Elaine 

When serial killer Hank Miller is killed in a shoot-out with police, his abused son Cameron adopts the identity of one of his father's victims in order to find a better life.

By Van Draanen, Wendelin 

Here comes Sammy Keyes, a resourceful, brave, too-curious-for-her-own-good young sleuth who gets into trouble with her grandmother's binoculars. Sammy was just killing time when she looked across the street with the binoculars. She certainly didn't imagine that she would see a thief in the act of stealing something from one of the rooms at the Heavenly Hotel. The worst part is that the thief saw Sammy spying! And what did "smart" Sammy do then? She waved at the thief! Now Sammy is in loads of trouble. Can she solve the mystery of the hotel thief before the thief finds her and before the police discover that she has been living illegally with her grandmother? First in a series.

By Blundell, Judy 

In 1947, with her jovial stepfather Joe back from the war and family life returning to normal, teenage Evie, smitten by the handsome young ex-GI who seems to have a secret hold on Joe, finds herself caught in a complicated web of lies whose devastating outcome changes her life and that of her family forever.

By Pullman, Philip  In nineteenth-century London, sixteen-year-old Sally Lockhart, a recent orphan, becomes involved in a deadly search for a mysterious ruby. Sequels: The Tiger in The Well, The Shadow in the North

By Plum-Ucci, Carol 

Torey Adams, a high school junior with a seemingly perfect life, struggles with doubts and questions surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the class outcast.

By Colfer, Eoin  Twelve-year-old private investigator Fletcher Moon, nicknamed "Half Moon" because of his shortness, must track down a conspiracy or be framed for a crime he did not commit.

By Coles, William E.  While working with a Pittsburgh television journalist on a project to uncover the truth about the 1902 Katherine Soffel scandal, college student Dee Armstrong learns about different types of betrayal.

By Brockmeier, Kevin  After a seventh-grader discovers that the grooves in his Thigpen-brand blue jeans are encoded with a cry for help, he sets out to save the factory workers from greedy entrepreneur Howard Thigpen.

By Abraham, Peter 

Like her idol Sherlock Holmes, eighth grader Ingrid Levin-Hill uses her intellect to solve a murder case in her home town of Echo Falls. Also check out the sequels:

Behind the Curtain and Into the Dark.