This virtual seminar was designed with Padlet, a site I have been using for many years both personally and professionally. As you can see, you can go up and down the columns and left and right. You can also click on links or documents and you can leave a comment, if you wish! Looking forward to discussing all things mystery and suspense with you :)

*See the list of references in the last column for more information.

-John Grisham, the king of the legal thriller. He wrote a series of YA novels entitled the Theodore Boone series, where a young boy whose parents are lawyers solves some crimes in his hometown. Easy to read and not very long, they are a good choice for reluctant readers or even ESL students.

-Anthony Horowitz. This English writer is known for his James Bond novels and for his Alex Rider series, which is composed of several titles, including one that was made into a graphic novel. A series of the same name was released in 2020 (3 seasons of 8 episodes each), and it revolves around a teenager enlisted to work for MI6. See link above for list of all titles.

-Linwood Barclay. This former Canadian journalist has a 2-novel series entitled Chase, whose protagonist is a dog that was experimented on by a mysterious organization called The Institute. For middle-grade readers ages 9-12.

-Harlan Coben. He has written several thrillers with protagonist Myron Bolitar, and in his YA series, he features Myron's nephew, Mickey. The first in the series, Shelter, was turned into a Prime TV mini-series of 8 episodes in 2023.

Sources for this post: imdb.com. indigo.ca, and Anthony Horowitz's website (see link above).

The page provides a description of the different subgenres, including the traditional Whodunit and the Noir novel, and gives some author suggestions.

Within the genre, are there some that you feel teens and young adults prefer? What about yourself? Share in the comments below!

Source: All the crime fiction sub-genres. (2025). Mysteryfy. https://www.mysteryfy.com/all-the-crime-fiction-sub-genres/

Johan, who lives in Stockholm, is the author of several books for children. He is known for a mystery series for young readers (10-14) entitled The Moonwind Mysteries, which as of now has 5 titles in Swedish, 3 of which have been translated into English by A.A. Prime and into French by Marina Heine.

The series features orphan Mika, who lives in an orphanage in 1880 Stockholm, where winters are harsh - and a killer is on the loose. The first novel, The Night Raven, was awarded the August Prize, which is an annual literary prize given by the Swedish Publishers Association.

Above you'll find a link to an interview with Johan in which he tells about the series.

Sources:

Schulze, B. (n.d.). Johan Rundberg talks about The Night Raven. The Children's Book Review. https://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/johan-rundberg-talks-about-the-night-raven/

August Prize. (2025, May 26). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Prize

Is there a title you have read and enjoyed among those listed? Or one you feel should be added? Leave a comment!

In the case of the mystery and suspense genre, one of the appeals is the fact that the reader also participates in solving the crime - as the intrigue unfolds, the reader tries to determine who's right and wrong, what "doesn't fit", etc. (Mahood, 2006, p. 45). And usually the story ends with the crime being solved and 'justice prevails' - it is very satisfying!

Source: Mahood, K. (2006). A passion for print: Promoting reading and books to teens. Libraries Unlimited.

The Montague Twins is a series of two titles: The Witch's Hand (2020) and The Devil's Music (2022). The books were written by Nathan Page and illustrated by Drew Shannon, who are both from Ontario. See link above for an interview with them on CBC Books.

Rivers of London: Stray Cat Blues (2024) was written by Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel, and illustrated by José Maria Beroy. It's an adaptation of the book series by Aaronovitch (2011).

1. According to you, what makes teens and adults alike gravitate towards the genre? Do you think it depends on a person's age, reading interests, or something else?

2. Are you, yourself, a lover of the genre? Why or why not?

3. There are many events/groups, such as festivals and book clubs, that are dedicated to the genre (for example, the Iceland Noir festival in Reykjavik, Iceland). Have you ever participated in such an event, for this genre or another? How appealing is this to you?

4. Do you think the mystery, crime and thriller genre could help reluctant teen readers to get into reading? Why or why not? Are there other genres that could help them?

This article would definitely be a great tool for librarians to help create programs, build collections, attract teens to the library, etc.

Go to the end of the article to find some fun facts about reading - there is some surprising information there!

Is there a statistic that you aren't surprised about, or that disturbed you?

Source: 49 reading statistics & facts you should know. (2025, Jan. 14). Golden Steps ABA. https://www.goldenstepsaba.com/resources/reading-statistics

I created the video in the same spirit as my podcast on books and reading, Jackie's Reading Room (available on Spotify and iHeartRadio). Hope you enjoy!

Source: The 10 essential elements of a mystery story. (2021, Sept. 8). MasterClass. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/essential-elements-of-a-mystery-story

1. The book Life Is Short and Then You Die: First Encounters with Murder (2019), edited by Canadian author Kelley Armstrong. This book is a collection of stories about teenagers coming across...their first dead body. Recommended!

2. The 'Noir' book series from Akashic: While not written for YA, this book series puts together authors from a specific city and have them write a story that takes place there. Montreal Noir, Stockholm Noir, Boston Noir... there is a wide range of cities from around the world. Website: https://www.akashicbooks.com/subject/noir-series/