Mystery Stories That Will Keep Young Children And Teenagers Gripped

A lot of people who develop reading habits and become voracious readers often state that the first books that got them gripped to the habit was a good mystery. The thrill of adventure is something that all of us can relate to and writers often use the love of a good adventure to generate readers’ interest. That is one of the major reasons why mystery stories have the kind of audiences they do. Even well-loved books of today like Harry Potter have an element of mystery to them, which draws in more audiences. We take a look at some of the well-loved mystery stories of that children from all generations have loved and continue to love even today.

Mystery Stories for all generations

A number of mystery stories have evolved throughout the ages. We take a look at some of the most popular mystery stories that have evolved through time:

• Nancy Drew Stories: The tale of a young teenager who solves chilling mysteries alone has been a well-loved one for more than three decades. The series, initially called ‘The Nancy Drew Mysteries’ revolved around a teenager called Nancy Drew who lives with her widower father who is a lawyer. Nancy has a curiosity to understand the world around her and this helps her solve strange mysteries in her town. Her dedication to solving mysteries makes her well-loved in her town and she is often called in to solve cases that baffle the police. The series evolved through time and a new series was developed by Edward Stratemeyer and ghost-written by a series of writers under the pen-name Carolyn Keene called the ‘Nancy Drew Case Files ‘which was evidently written for teen audiences. It introduced more characters and the writing style was also far different from its initial books. There were instances of more violent confrontations than the first stories did but they were well-received by teen audiences. With the success of the ‘Case Files’, came another series called ‘Nancy Drew on Campus’ which followed Nancy Drew as a college student. The series was also for mature audiences of 16 and above and it dealt with series issues like drug addiction, assault and racial bigotry. To this day, the series remains one of the most well-loved mystery stories for young children, girls are big fans of the series.
• Hardy Boys Stories: If the ‘Nancy Drew’ mystery stories were aimed at young girls, the Hardy Boys stories which revolved around brothers Frank and Joe Hardy. Earlier versions of the stories depicted Frank as 16 years old and Joe as 15 while the later books depicted their ages as 18 and 17 respectively. The brothers live in the city of Bayport with their father, who is also a detective, their mother and their aunt. The stories were developed by Edward Stratemeyer and was later ghost-written by a series of writers under the pseudonym, Franklin W. Dixon. While the initial books were written in the late 1950s and 60s, they reflected the era where racial bigotry and mistrust of foreigners was evident. As time changed naturally, the books also evolved with it. As with the Nancy Drew series which was also published under the same publisher, the later stories were written for more mature audiences.
• Mystery stories by Enid Blyton: The well-loved English writer, Enid Blyton wrote a series of mystery stories called ‘Famous Five’ and ‘Secret Seven’. Both series revolved around young children investigating minor mysteries in their neighborhood. Unlike the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew stories, these stories were written for younger children and focused on friendships and group activities.
• Sherlock Holmes: ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are perhaps one of the greatest mystery stories of all-time. Sherlock Holmes has the power of intuition and he often helps the London police in solving mysteries which also include murder cases. He is helped by his doctor friend, John Watson and the series follows the two as they solve impossible cases that baffle people. The series was set in the 19th century but is still one of the most famous and well-loved mystery stories of our time.

Mystery Stories for all

As mentioned earlier, mystery stories often generate curiosity in children and bring forth a reading habit. Most of the stories mentioned in the list are aimed at young children and young teenagers. Even today, these stories generate curiosity and inculcate reading habits in children.