The Giant Print Library

Mysteries and thrillers for younger readers Updated: January 2013

Any UK member of our library service may borrow up to a maximum of 6 books per service for a 3 month loan period.

Most of the books have been produced by the National Blind Children's Society and are in 24 point type with identical covers to the ordinary print versions of the books.

Please be aware that due to their size, many of the books are split into two or

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more volumes, and these will have the same covers.

For details on borrowing any of the titles listed or for further information regarding the Giant Print collection please contact Liz Farrell or Hazel Sharrock, Children's Librarians at RNIB National Library Service on 0161 429 1975.

Mysteries and thrillers

Balliett, B. Chasing Vermeer. 2004. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.A stolen painting, a series of unexpected events, and two smart children. Petra and Calder live in a neighbourhood where strange things have started to happen. Seemingly unrelated events connect, a sharp old

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woman seeks their company - and a priceless Vermeer painting disappears.

Blyton, EnidThe mystery of the disappearing cat. 1944 . Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.Lady Candling lives next door to Pip and Bets, and owns some very expensive, pedigree Siamese cats. When her most famous cat, Dark Queen, goes missing, the gardener's help, Luke seems the obvious suspect.

Blyton, EnidThe mystery of Tally-ho Cottage. 1969 . Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.Fatty and the Find-Outers are plunged into an exciting mystery. Who stole the valuable picture from the art gallery? What connects the glamorous Lorenzos with the old Larkins? How

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does a poodle called Poppet fit into the puzzle?

Bowler, Tim.Storm catchers. 2005 . Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.Fin is devastated by guilt when his sister, Ella, is kidnapped. As the kidnappers make their demands though, his guilt is replaced by a fierce determination to find his sister by whatever means and bring the criminals to justice. As the drama unfolds, a complex web of family secrets is revealed.

Breslin, TeresaDivided city. 2006 . Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.A young man lies bleeding in the street. It's Glasgow. And it'sMay - the marching season. The Orange Walks have begun, graham

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doesn't want to be involved. He just wants to play football with his new mate, Joe. But then he witnesses a shocking moment of violence...

Broad, Michael.Zombie cows. 2007 . Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.These are the secret agent case files of Amelia Kidd. She's saved the world loads of times from evil geniuses and criminal masterminds, thanks to her great disguises, her own gadgets and her brilliance at improvising in sticky situations.

Brooks, Kevin.Bloodline. 2004. Suggested reading age 8+. Suggested interest level 12+. 1v.A Barrington Stoke book.Finbar Black's day is turned upside down when a crazy, beautiful girl

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bursts into the house with a gun and a bag full of cash. Here we meet the Black family: four generations of schemers, liars, cheats and losers and, via a succession of twists and turns, we find out why she's there.

Brooks, Kevin.Martyn Pig. 2002. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.Faced with the possibility of living with a dreadful aunt, fifteen-year-old Martyn Pig decides not to tell authorities when his alcoholic father dies accidentally, instead asking a friend for her help in disposing of the body.

Cassidy, Anne.Looking for JJ. 2004. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.This book explores the circumstances and motives behind the murder of a child - by her friend. Six years later, JJ

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has been released, and has a new identity. But is there any way that she can lead a "normal" life?

Cassidy, Anne.Forget me not. 2008. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.A child has been stolen. Jade Henderson is missing, taken from her cot. Stella Parfitt watches the police investigation unfold, and begins to ask her own questions. Where was her mother that night? The woods hold a dark secret.

Coben, Harlan.Shelter. 2012. Suggested reading age 15+. 2v.Myron Bolitar discovers that his mysterious tearaway younger brother, Brad, has a son - now teenaged. When our hero's father, Brad, dies in a mysterious accident in South America,

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Myron is his closest, albeit estranged, relative left and is assigned to be his legal guardian. Will uncle and nephew be able to live with one another?

Cole, Steve.Z Rex. 2009. Suggested reading age 11+. 2v.Z Rex is a living, breathing, man-eating dinosaur who has been brought to life by Adam's dad. He can talk, think - and kill. And, he has no idea why he's here. Zed wants answers, and Adam's dad has them but he's missing. Boy and dinosaur set out to find Mr Adlar. But there are people desperate to stop them and they seem to be going to extreme lengths to do so.

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Crowley, B. Ship's angel. 2004. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.With no friends and no family, John must make his way alone. He boards a ship, heading for a new life. But the ship is wrecked and John is washed up on the coast of England. He befriends a girl who is engaged to be married to a man she hates. Then her husband-to-be is found murdered and John finds that he is falsely accused. Finally released when new evidence appears, he boards another ship. But during a stormy night on board, John finds out the identity of the killer...

Doder, Joshua.Grk and the hot dog trail. 2006. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.New York might be the Big Apple, but for Tim it's sausage city! A priceless golden statue has been stolen and Tim

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has a vital clue. He follows the trail of hot dogs in a sizzling chase - helped by the hottest dog of all, Grk!

Donnelly, Jennifer.A gathering light. 2004. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.Set in 1906 and built around the real life murder of a young woman in a popular holiday resort. When Mattie is given the letters by a guest at the hotel in which she has a summer job she thinks the giver is simply upset. But when the woman is found drowned in Big Moose Lake, Mattie has to decide if she will read the letters, or burn them. But Mattie has problems of her own as she is growing up and trying to decide on her future.

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Dowd, Siobhan.Bog child. 2008. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.Set in Ireland during the Troubles Fergus is digging for peat in the mountain with his Uncle Tally when he finds the body of a child. Who is she? Suddenly a little voice comes to him in his dreams, and the mystery of the bog child unfurls.

Dowd, Siobhan.The London Eye mystery. 2007. Suggested reading age 9+. 2v.When Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim get on board the London Eye, he turned and waved before getting on. But after half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off - but no Salim. Where could he have gone? How on earth could he have disappeared into thin air? So Ted and his older sister, Kat, become sleuthing

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partners, since the police are having no luck.

Doyle, Arthur Conan.Sherlock Holmes short stories. 1989. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.A collection of short stories from the greatest detective of them all.

Edge, ChristopherTwelve minutes to midnight. 2012. Suggested reading age 11+. 2v.Penelope Tredwell is the feisty 13-year-old orphan heiress of the bestselling magazine, 'The Penny Dreadful'. Her masterly tales of the macabre are gripping Victorian Britain, even if no one knows she's the author.

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Green, John.Paper towns. 2010. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life - dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge - he follows. After their all-nighter ends, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo has disappeared.

Grisham, John.Theodore Boone. 2011. Suggested reading age 11+. 2v.Half the man, twice the lawyer. In the small city of Strattenburg, there are many lawyers, and though he's only thirteen years old, Theo Boone thinks he's one of them. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk - and a lot about the law. He dreams of being

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a great trial lawyer, of a life in the courtroom. But Theo finds himself in court much sooner than he expected. Because he knows so much - maybe too much - he is suddenly dragged into the middle of a sensational murder trial. A cold-blooded killer is about to go free, and only Theo knows the truth.

Haddon, MarkThe curious incident of the dog in the night time. 2003. Suggested reading age 15+. 2v.This is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone, who is fifteen and has Asperger's, a form of autism. He has never gone further than the end of the road on his own, but when he finds a neighbour's dog murdered he sets out on a terrifying journey which will turn his whole world upside down.

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Harrison, CoraThe Montgomery murder. 2010. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.In the mean streets of Victorian London lies the body of wealthy Mr Montgomery. When Inspector Denham makes him an offer he can't refuse it's up to Alfie and his gang to sift clues, shadow suspects and negotiate a sinister world of double-dealing and danger - until the shocking truth is revealed.

Hinton, Nigel.Collision course. 2004. Suggested reading age 11 +. 1v.When Ray sees a motorbike with its engine running and the key left in he can't resist going for a joy ride - he can't see that it could do anyone any harm. But Ray is wrong about that and by accident he kills an old woman. No

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one sees the accident, there is nothing to link Ray to the death, the only problem comes from Ray's conscience. Will he be able to ignore its promptings and enjoy being in the football team and falling in love for the first time, or will he go to the police?

Hinton, Nigel.Timb bomb. 2005. Suggested reading age 11+. 2v.The bomb was our strength. Our secret weapon. Set in post-warBritain, the story follows 11-year-old Andy and his three friends as they experience a growing-up summer before going on to secondary school. A misunderstanding on the last day at primary school, which results in a terrible injustice, sparks off anger

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Hinton, Nigel.Until proven guilty. 2006. Suggested reading age 8 +. Suggested interest level 12+. 1v.When Nathan's father is arrested on suspicion of murder, his whole life falls apart. He's shunned at school, bullied by neighbours, targeted by vigilantes. Nathan clings onto the hope he can prove his father's innocence - but what if he can't? And what if his Dad is guilty?

Horowitz, AnthonyThe blurred man. 2007. Suggested reading age 13+. 1v.The man in the photo is so blurry, it's impossible to make out what he really looks like. And that's before he was run over by a steamroller! His name was Lenny Smile and he ran a children's charity called Dream Time, financed by millionaire author Joe

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Carter. Now Carter wants to know what happened to Smile and the money.

Horowitz, Anthony.The Falcon's Malteser. 2007. Suggested reading age 11+. 1v.Book 1 in The Diamond Brothers series (some other books in the series are also available). When a dwarf comes into the office and leaves a package, Tim Diamond, the world's worst private detective, is faced with his toughest case yet. The office is ransacked and the package is found to contain simply a box of Maltesers. Who was the dwarf and why was he murdered shortly after his visit?

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Kennen, Ally. Berserk. 2007. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.When Chas finds a website asking people to write to prisoners on death row, he decides it would be funny to get letters from a murderer. He writes to an inmate, but the replies are not what he expects. His own escapades land him in a young offender's institute, where he learns his penpal has been released.

Kemp, Gene.Nothing scares me. 2006. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.Petra can predict the future, and it's a talent that she hates. People think she's weird and she knows that if she wants any friends she'll have to keep her gift a secret. Then a student from her school goes missing, it becomes clear that Petra's visions may hold the

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key to the disappearance. But danger lies much closer to home and Petra is going to need all her talents to face what lies ahead.

Lawrence, Caroline.The thieves of Ostia. 2001. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.Book 1; Roman mysteries series In Rome in the year 79 A.D., a group of children from very different backgrounds work together to discover who beheaded a pet dog - and why.

Lawrence, Caroline.The secrets of Vesuvius. 2001. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.Book 2; Roman mysteries series. It's August AD79. Around the bay of Naples, tremors shake the ground. Mount Vesuvius is about to erupt. Flavia Gemina, a Roman sea captain's daughter is spending the summer with

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her uncle near Pompeii. When the volcano erupts Flavia and her friends Jonathon, Nubia and Lupus find themselves in desperate danger.

Lawrence, Caroline.The pirates of Pompeii. 2002. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.Book 3; Roman mysteries series. AD 79, following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii. Among the thousands of people huddled in refugee camps along the bay of Naples are Flavia Gemina and her friends Jonathan the Jewish boy, Nubia the African slave-girl, and Lupus the mute beggar boy. Their discovery that children are being kidnapped from the camps- among them the daughter of the powerful Publius Pollius Felix- leads them to solve the mystery of the pirates of Pompeii. A terrifically exciting and

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dramatic story and a brilliant picture of the aftermath of a great disaster.

Lawrence, Caroline.The assassins of Rome. 2003. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.Book 4; Roman mysteries series. Jonathan goes on a secret quest to Rome, and Flavia, Nubia and Lupus set out to find him. Their dangerous mission takes them to the Golden House of Nero where a deadly assassin is rumoured to be at work - and they learn what happened to Jonathan's family during the terrible destruction of Jerusalem nine years earlier.

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Lovegrove, James.Kill swap. 2007. Suggested reading age 8+. Suggested interest level 12+. 1v.A Barrington Stoke book. Tom has a big problem. A stranger says he has the answer. Now a man is dead and Tom's world has become a nightmare.

McGowan, Anthony.The knife that killed me. 2008. Suggested reading age 15+. 1v.This thought-provoking and original novel highlights the terrible consequences of peer pressure and violence, and casts a spotlight on the worrying rise in knife crime among teenagers.

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McKenzie, SophieBlood ties. 2008. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.Book 1 in the Blood series. When Theo discovers the father he thought died when he was a baby is still alive, he's determined to find him. The clues lead him to the lonely Rachel, who has problems of her own, including parents who compare her unfavourably to her long-dead sister. But when Rachel and Theo are attacked by men from RAGE - the Righteous Army against Genetic Engineering - at Rachel's school disco, they are rescued by strangers and taken to meet a mysterious figure. There, they both make some startling discoveries about their identities, which will affect their past, present, and future in dramatic and life-altering ways.

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McKenzie, Sophie.Girl, missing. 2006. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.Book 1 in the Girl, missing series (Book 2, Sister, missing, is also available).Lauren has always known she was adopted but when a little research turns up the possibility that she was snatched from an American family as a baby, suddenly Lauren's life seems like a sham. How can she find her biological parents? And are her adoptive parents really responsible for kidnapping her?

McKenzie, Sophie.The set-up. 2009. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.Book 1 in the Medusa Project series (some other books in the series are also available). 14 years ago, scientist William Fox implanted four babies with the Medusa gene - a gene for psychic

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abilities. But Fox died and the babies were hidden away for years. Now the children are teenagers - and unaware that their psychic powers are about to kick in.

McNab, Andy.Terminal velocity. 2011. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.This mission lands Ethan and the team in the most perilous adventure of their careers. The bodies of homeless teenagers are turning up dumped on the street, having been beaten to death. At first no one really seems to care, but then one survives long enough to talk of being forced to fight in a cage.

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MacPhail, Catherine.Nemesis into the shadows. 2006. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.Ram has no memory of who he is, his background, or where he has come from. He awakes in a darkened corridor of a block of flats with no idea of how he has got there. And then, the lift doors nearby open and inside is a dying man. Ram is now the murder suspect and on the run.

Mahy, MargaretFoxman. 1997. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.It was Harley's idea that he and David should take a ride in the abandoned car. But when the boys find themselves in a mysterious research station, David suspects it's all part of a sinister plan? But who wants to trap them? And why?

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Muchamore, RobertThe escape. 2009. Suggested reading age 11+. 2v.Book 1 in the Henderson's Boys series (Book 2, Eagle day, is also available). Summer, 1940. Hitler's army is advancing towards Paris. Amidst the chaos, two British children are being hunted by German agents. British spy Charles Henderson tries to reach them first, but he can only do it with the help of a twelve-year-old French orphan. The British secret service is about to discover that kids working undercover will help to win the war.

Palmer, TomFoul play. 2008. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.Book 1 in the Football Detective series (some other books in the series are also available). Danny is obsessed with two things: football - especially

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City Football Club - and investigating crimes. So when England and City footballing hero Sam Roberts is reported missing the day after Danny saw him being taken, blindfolded, into the bowels of the City FC stadium late at night, he's determined to get to the bottom of it. But is Danny getting into something he can't handle?

Paulsen, G.Foxman. 1977. Suggested reading age 13+. 1v.With a storm coming on fast, Carl and his cousin are desperate for shelter. The remote shack, deep in the woods, is their best chance of survival. But the man who saves their lives that night is the Foxman - a hideously mutilated survivor of unspeakable horror. A man who should, by rights, be dead...

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Pullman, Philip.The adventures of the New Cut Gang. 2012. Suggested reading age 7+. 2v.Thunderbolt, Benny, Bridie and Sharky Bob are a mixed bunch of vagabonds and urchins who come together to form the New Cut Gang in two comic tales of stolen silver, skullduggery and desperadoes.

Pullman, Philip.The ruby in the smoke. 1985. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v. Book 1 in the Sally Lockhart series (other books in this series are also available). Sally Lockhart's father was an unconventional man. When he dies suddenly on a voyage to the Far East, Sally receives a mysterious letter containing a strange warning. Soon

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Sally finds herself at the heart of a deep and dangerous mystery, one she is determined to solve at all costs.

Pullman, Philip (editor).Whodunnit? : utterly baffling detective stories. 2007. 2v. Suggested reading age 9+.Unexplained disappearances, daring thefts, perplexing mysteries and the greatest sleuths of all time combine to make this a page-turning read. From Sherlock Holmes to Hercule Poirot, these detectives puzzle their way through a maze of alibis and motives in the very best of classic and contemporary crime fiction.

Swindells, Robert.Stone cold. 1995. Suggested reading age 15+. 1v.Homeless on the streets of London, 16-year-old Link feels he has become

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an invisible outcast. When he meets streetwise Ginger life becomes more bearable and he learns the tricks of survival. When Ginger goes missing, Link is anxious. Then other homeless kids disappear and, guessing at a gruesome possibility, Link starts to track down his suspect with an ominous sense of foreboding.

Thompson, KateCreature of the night. 2008. Suggested reading age 13+. 2v.When Bobby's mother moves the family into a rented house in the country, a neighbour tells him that a child was once murdered there. Bobby doesn t care. He wants to get back to Dublin and resume his wild life there, stealing and racing stolen cars.

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Townson, HazelThe deathwood letters. 2003. Suggested reading age 9+. 1v.Damian Drake rescues his dog from a well and gets his name into the newspapers. He then receives a letter from a girl he has never met which sparks off a long correspondence between the two. As more letters are exchanged a sinister thread creeps in and the story gathers speed for a final amazing drama.

Wynne-Jones, TimA thief in the house of memory. 2007. Suggested reading age 13+. 1v.Dec hasn't seen his mother for six years. Having moved into a new home with his father, Dec rarely visits the old family home, until one day he makes a horrific discovery there - a man crushed to death in the hall. Was it an

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accident or something more sinister? As Dec tries to piece together the mystery memories from the past begin to reveal the elusive truth about his mother's disappearance.

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