Settle in on long winter nights (and days) with these five young adult mystery and thriller novels. See also the Mystery and detective stories tag in the Guide/Reviews Database.

Up in Smoke
by Nick Brooks
High School    Holt    256 pp.
5/25    9781250359933    $19.99
e-book ed.  9781250359926    $11.99

Sixteen-year-old Cooper King has always tried to follow his father’s admonition to avoid political protests for his own safety. But then a schoolmate is shot by the police, and Jason, who is like a big brother to him, plans to loot a high-end fashion boutique during a peaceful protest against racist police violence: “Every time they take one of ours, it’s tax season…I’ll use that bread to build up the neighborhood, on some real Robin Hood type shit.” Cooper is caught between his father’s advice and wanting to help the cause. He decides to join Jason in robbing the store — but then shots are fired, a woman is dead, and Jason is arrested for murder. His younger sister, Monique, collaborates with Cooper to find the real culprit and free her brother, but Cooper doesn’t tell Monique of his own involvement, even as their friendship turns increasingly romantic. Tension escalates during their sleuthing as they encounter “dirty cops, double agents, [and] confidential informants.” As he did in Promise Boys (rev. 1/23), Brooks writes with easily readable prose, abundant dialogue, multiple points of view, and astute social commentary, artfully constructing a complex murder mystery that will engage and involve readers. DEAN SCHNEIDER

Better the Devil
by Erik J. Brown
High School    Storytide/HarperCollins    400 pp.
1/26    9780063338326    $19.99

What begins as a queer identity–focused young adult novel quickly turns into a dark mystery. The teen protagonist has fled his West Virginia home because his parents intend to send him to conversion therapy. After living on the streets for eight months, he is caught shoplifting and arrested. In order to escape charges, the boy assumes the identity of Nate Beaumont, a child who went missing years earlier, and becomes part of a loving Maryland family. While the faux Nate contends with his growing mountain of lies and attempts to establish relationships with his new family, he experiences moments of unconditional love but also begins to question strange, sinister occurrences. He finds acceptance with a childhood friend of Nate’s who runs a true crime podcast, and the two secretly team up to piece together what happened to the actual Nate, but they quickly become involved in a situation full of dangerous twists and gruesome violence. While an action-filled narrative drives the plot, readers get to know characters whose likability duels with the suspicions against them. The story questions how far beyond reason a person might go to feel accepted — or to exert diabolical control. A compelling thriller that is not for the faint of heart. NICHOLAS A. BROWN-CÁCERES

Secrets of the Blue Hand Girls
by Rowana Miller
High School    Sourcebooks Fire    368 pp.
10/25  Paper ed.  9781464254543    $12.99

Heathers meets Daughters of Eve in this gritty mystery debut. High school senior Kay has never fit in at Davison, an elite girls’ school on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She’s a scholarship kid from Brooklyn with no time for drama. But when she receives a letter inviting her to join a secret society where members must dye their right hands blue, she’s curious. Especially after she learns that the group’s mission is to discover what really happened to her friend Emily, who died in a freak accident freshman year. But was it really an accident? Soon Kay and the other Blue Hand Girls are enmeshed in a corrupt plot that reaches the highest levels of the school administration. Through it all, she struggles to hang on to her romance with smart, sexy classmate Zola — except that she may be placing her trust in the wrong person. While some secondary relationships are underdeveloped, and a slow-paced first half might challenge some readers to continue, those who persevere will be rewarded with a suspenseful, showy thriller that literally ends with a bang. JENNIFER HUBERT SWAN

Erase Me
by Josh Silver
High School    Delacorte    416 pp.
3/26    9798217029631    $19.99

Seventeen-year-old Londoner Elias Pew is recovering from a horrible accident and memory loss. All he wants is to be able to feel emotions again, but nothing his parents and mental health provider try seems to work. As he begins to realize that what he was told about his accident doesn’t add up, Elias’s story evolves into a thriller. He discovers buried truths about his past and loved ones and learns that parts of his memory were erased through a sinister treatment program. The truths he uncovers make Elias question whether he would be better served by not feeling than by knowing what actually happened. Silver creates a complex and compelling character in Elias, along with several supporting characters who have also experienced traumatic events. These threads combine in a fast-paced, cinematic plot, providing readers with an entry point for considering the importance of mental health, recognizing trauma in their own lives, and seeking sources of support. NICHOLAS A. BROWN-CÁCERES

This Place Kills Me
by Mariko Tamaki; illus. by Nicole Goux
High School    Abrams Fanfare    272 pp.
8/25    9781419768460    $26.99
Paper ed.  9781419768453    $19.99
e-book ed.  9798887070445    $17.99

Bespectacled comics lover Abby Kita is having a hard time fitting in at Wilberton, a snooty girls’ boarding school. So when popular Elizabeth Woodward, the only person to have been kind to her, is found dead of an apparent suicide the day after a star-making performance in the school play, Abby is determined to discover why. Along with her cub-reporter roommate, Abby follows a number of circumstantial clues that suggest Elizabeth’s death may have actually been a murder: a love note hidden in a script, a drug rumor, a clandestine list of classmates’ names. But it’s hard to investigate when Abby’s own “inappropriate” past is being harshly judged by mean girls and callous adults alike. Fearless Abby is shamed, harassed, and even beaten. But when she finally uncovers the shocking truth, it’s immensely satisfying. Tamaki channels the casual homophobia, Moral Majority didacticism, and anti-drug propaganda of the 1980s in this tense whodunit that is meticulously illustrated by Goux and atmospherically colored in a pink, slate blue, and black palette. Teens will enjoy the dark mystery while catching a glimpse into the era via such details as the enormous desktop computers, Abby’s beloved Walkman, and eighties music references. JENNIFER HUBERT SWAN

From the February 2026 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.