Here are 37 books that Potkin and Stubbs fans have personally recommended if you like
Potkin and Stubbs.
Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
As a child I loved reading detective stories, and I still retain strong memories of Tintin and Sherlock Holmes, after which I graduated to Agatha Christie. As an adult my tastes changed and I lost interest in mysteries (with the exception of Edgar Alan Poe). However recently my interests have reversed, partly because I became a grandfather, and partly for the reason that I teach ethics to primary school children, as a volunteer. So it’s possible that Worcester Glendenis is a re-incarnation of me, but as the 12-year-old I wish I had been (as far as my memory can be relied upon to go back 60 years): more emotionally mature and more extrovert.
Katherine is a super-talented writer who has written adult books as well.
In this case she brings her amazing skills to bear on a strong mystery with a female protagonist, a grandad, and a bunch of talented circus performer types. Great use of words, complex plot, good resolution, spooky locations.
“A dazzling tale of wild hope, lingering grief, admirable self-sufficiency, and intergenerational adoration.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Vita tests her own limits, and readers will thrill at her cleverness, tenacity, and close escapes.” —Booklist “A satisfying adventure.” —Kirkus Reviews
From award-winning author Katherine Rundell comes a fast-paced and utterly thrilling adventure driven by the loyalty and love between a grandfather and his granddaughter.
When Vita’s grandfather’s mansion is taken from him by a powerful real estate tycoon, Vita knows it’s up to her to make things right.
With the help of a pickpocket and her new circus friends,…
A heartbreakingly beautiful novel in verse about adoption, family, friendship, and love in all its many forms, perfect for fans of Robin Benway and Jandy Nelson, from the acclaimed author of Three Things I Know Are True.
Rynn was born with a hole in her heart—literally. Although it was…
I’m a teacher with a passion for children’s literature. I have a Bachelor of Arts, a Diploma in Education, and a Master's of Special Education. I’ve worked as an English teacher, special needs teacher, and volunteered teaching disadvantaged children and migrants. I have particular insight into middle-graders' reading interests. With today’s online distractions, you have to grab them from the first page and keep the story relative to their world.
I understand some children struggle with reading. It was therefore important for my story to be clear in its message that children are not the sum of their grades, and we all have unique traits worthy of admiration.
I have recently discovered this series and are thoroughly enjoying Plum and Woo and the Suspicious Scarf. It’s a middle-grade mystery series featuring two memorable protagonists: Hannah Plum and Patti Woo, who spend holidays together because their parents are “dating.”
Plum and Woo are an unlikely pair with very different personalities, and those contrasting traits make them both relatable. At the same time, their shared age and experiences help their friendship feel genuine as the story unfolds.
Set largely in a chalet surrounded by a snowy forest, the girls follow clues, face moments of danger, and work through the ups and downs of their friendship while also navigating the complexities of their parents’ relationship.
I recommend this series for readers aged 9 to 12. There are three books in the series, written by an Australian author.
A dazzling, whip-smart mystery series about two very different girls and a whole heap of danger ...
Hannah Plum loves fashion, fun, and junk food. Patti Woo is obsessed with detective novels, lives in leggings, and is definitely not Hannah's friend. But the two girls are stuck at the beachside Heartbreak Hotel together while Hannah's dad and Patti's mum are out birdwatching and - yuck! - falling in love.
When a hotel guest's beautiful pink wedding dress is stolen, Hannah is determined to get to the bottom of it. With a reluctant Patti in tow, the two girls…
As a child I loved reading detective stories, and I still retain strong memories of Tintin and Sherlock Holmes, after which I graduated to Agatha Christie. As an adult my tastes changed and I lost interest in mysteries (with the exception of Edgar Alan Poe). However recently my interests have reversed, partly because I became a grandfather, and partly for the reason that I teach ethics to primary school children, as a volunteer. So it’s possible that Worcester Glendenis is a re-incarnation of me, but as the 12-year-old I wish I had been (as far as my memory can be relied upon to go back 60 years): more emotionally mature and more extrovert.
This book is very arty by which I mean it introduces the young reader to the world of art and art galleries. There is also a strong dose of spy-type intrigues.
A very snooty older man gets satirised for his arrogance, which I think is a nice twist for the reader and a good change from the bossy types who often appear. The father-daughter relationship is well done.
A third mystery for thirteen-year-old Agatha Oddly - a bold, determined heroine, and the star of this stylish new detective series.
Agatha Oddlow is on the case with yet another adventure! An assistant at the National Gallery has gone missing, but when Agatha begins investigating, she uncovers a plot bigger than she could ever have imagined. Join Agatha as she travels throughout London and into the very heart of the mystery...
Serendipity is a magical story told by a grandmother to a granddaughter, introducing us to the traditional way of living of the Scottish Travellers and their Cant language.
A fantasy tale for children of 8 years old and older inspired by three real places in Scotland. Serendipity takes us to…
As a child I loved reading detective stories, and I still retain strong memories of Tintin and Sherlock Holmes, after which I graduated to Agatha Christie. As an adult my tastes changed and I lost interest in mysteries (with the exception of Edgar Alan Poe). However recently my interests have reversed, partly because I became a grandfather, and partly for the reason that I teach ethics to primary school children, as a volunteer. So it’s possible that Worcester Glendenis is a re-incarnation of me, but as the 12-year-old I wish I had been (as far as my memory can be relied upon to go back 60 years): more emotionally mature and more extrovert.
This is a less sophisticated mystery than the other four but doesn’t suffer for that reason.
Mickie Mckinney is a schoolboy detective and the setting is a school. I like the conceit that his office is in a cupboard under the stairs. The crimes are not sophisticated, which will suit some readers, and the humour is good.
I’m passionate about dark fantasy stories due to the fact of their characters and worlds. The eeriness of their landscapes can tell a tale of their own. Dark fantasy has always been a drawing interest for me when it comes to telling stories. I read these books mainly because of their dark fantasy worlds. The stories and characters which come to life as I read them only captivated my creativity to tell my own stories. It is my sincere desire that you take a look into these books on this list and have your creativity sparked just as my own to craft your own dark fantasy stories.
Who doesn’t like ghost stories? especially when there’s an occult detective eager to solve the case. That is what Carnacki, The Ghost-Finder, presented to me.
What I loved about the short stories is that Thomas Carnacki investigates the mysteries of the supernatural, seeking to solve them with his skillset. Sometimes, the cases are just pranks by humans, others by small spirits, and even some with malevolent forces.
This collection of supernatural dark fantasy sparked my imagination. Even to the point of inspiring me to create my own occult detective character.
Six tales of Carnacki the Ghost Finder, tales of the outre, the unexpected, and the unexplained from a reknowned master of the macabre, William Hope Hodgeson.
I’m a writer of cosy crimes and unapologetic in my love for the genre! There’s nothing better, in my opinion than a well-thumbed Agatha Christie or a foxed, old copy of Dorothy L Sayers. And it’s the role of the amateur sleuth that I love the best; that happy accident that brings a person with a sharp mind and perhaps a particular skill set together with a murderous villain, and we, the lucky reader, get to ride alongside them and work out the mystery for ourselves. Pour that tea, snuggle up and settle in with these five brilliant examples of amateur sleuths with just something a little different to offer…
Amateur sleuths tend to be drawn from the professional or upper classes—Miss Marple, Lord Peter Wimsey, even my own Hon Cressida Fawcett—so it’s refreshing to solve cases with Lena Szarka, a Hungarian cleaner who has a clear moral compass and a way of finding out exactly what’s lurking in the dirty laundry—both literal and metaphorical. Headstrong, big of heart, and desperate to solve the death of her friend, Lena can spot a smudgy fingerprint at fifty paces. This book is the first in a limited series and well worth settling down with—just put a coaster under your mug and pick up your own biscuit crumbs, else Lena might have a word…
There are some crimes you can't sweep under the carpet...
Lena Szarka, a Hungarian cleaner working in London, knows all too well about cleaning up other people's messes. When her friend Timea disappears, she suspects one of her clients is to blame. However, the police don't share her suspicions and it is left to Lena to turn sleuth and find her friend.
Searching through their houses as she scrubs their floors, Lena desperately tries to find out what has happened. Only Cartwright, a police constable new to the job, believes that this will lead to the truth - and together…
Since losing his mom, thirteen-year-old Jack Wilson has spent most of his time seeing just how much trouble he can get away with so that he feels like a winner at something. But he takes his mischief too far and is faced with the possibility of unbearable consequences. He…
I am a teacher, so I have to find books that are engaging enough for the kids to stay interested for long periods of reading time. Also, I have 11 kids and 19 grandkids (and still counting…) so we spend a lot of time reading at my house. The books on my list are the ones that the kids wait in line for and have a waiting list to get to have their turn with it. Sometimes I just have 5 copies of the ones everyone loves. Simple mysteries are my favorite.
This is a book series that poses mysteries that are short and fun to solve. The answers are not insultingly easy, nor are they so hard or obscure that kids can’t solve them. The main character is very likable and is described in a way that makes you feel like he is a kid you would want to be friends with.
I've read mysteries of all types since I was young. Unfortunately for my publishers, I like to write in several different genres too. Everyone loves a mystery, a puzzle, sussing out the hidden. If you think you don’t like mysteries, then I think you just haven’t found your genre yet. Reading a mystery is like treasure hunting, we all want to find the gold. I love clever dialogue, characters you want to meet in real life, and accompany them while solving a mystery. All the books I have recommended have an overarching mystery element. I write like that too, also, one element links all my books regardless of genre. Happy treasure hunting!
Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope, while driving home during a blizzard, becomes disorientated and loses her way on the backcountry roads of Northumberland in England. Off the beaten track she finds a car abandoned, one door open, and a baby in the back seat. I can’t imagine anything more alarming. Where are the mother and father? When she takes the child with her, Vera realizes she is mere feet from her father’s ancestral home. Hector was the black sheep of the Stanhope Clan. The place is lit up and welcoming but Vera’s cousin was not expecting her, but invited guests for a dinner party and certainly not a baby. Then to discover the child’s mother murdered on their grounds. I fell in love with Vera in the first book and want to be just like her when I grow up. I like the police procedural rhythm of these books and…
DCI Vera Stanhope returns in The Darkest Evening, the ninth novel in No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller Ann Cleeves's phenomenally popular crime series.
The darkest nights can hide the deadliest secrets . . .
Driving home during a swirling blizzard, Vera Stanhope's only thought is to get there quickly.
But with the snow driving down heavily, she becomes disorientated and loses her way, eventually stumbling on another car abandoned on the road. With the driver's door open, Vera assumes the driver has sought shelter but is shocked to find a young toddler strapped in the back seat.
Not a lot of guys would appreciate having their wives dump a stiff into the middle of a perfectly lovely lecture. My husband, the archivist, was a little nonplussed. But that’s what happens when you’re married to a mystery writer. And since I write historical mysteries, and the lecture was about the history of Los Angeles, that’s how The Old Los Angeles series happened. I also have the Freddie and Kathy series, set in the 1920s, and the Operation Quickline series, set in the 1980s. And being married to an archivist is not only a blast, it’s a big help.
Caerphilly, VA, is utterly fictional, but you would never know it. I love visiting Andrews’ little town not only for the crazy characters, but the sense of heart and what a community could be if decent people were willing to work at it.
Even in the midst of some pretty nefarious behavior one is more likely to associate with small Southern towns, in this one, Andrews came up with an absolutely fabulous resolution that really speaks to how goodness and kindness can overcome even the worst of behavior.
A note, attached to the baby girl's clothes, names the baby Lark and implicates Meg's brother, Rob, as the father. While a DNA test can reveal whether there's any truth to the accusation, Rob's afraid the mere suspicion could derail his plan to propose to the woman he loves. Meg soon discovers that the baby may be connected to something much bigger.
A gay retelling of the classic fairy tale--a scrumptious love story featuring ungrateful stepsiblings, a bake-off, and a fairy godfather.
Cinderelliot is stuck at home taking care of his ungrateful stepsister and stepbrother. When Prince Samuel announces a kingdom-wide competition to join the royal staff as his baker, the stepsiblings…
I’m a writer and a Spanish teacher. Creative and a little crazy. I love teaching people who arrive in my city (Madrid) to live for a while. I love writing fiction, specially novels, but also poetry and little stories. Sometimes I mix both skills and create texts as the one below. I dream about winning the lottery but I never buy tickets, and I also love to sing with my guitar when I’m alone. Pleased to meet you.
I guess I’s not a coincidence that this series of fiction books are written by the same writers as the previous one, since both of them have the same high quality in their content and are grammatically so well focused.
The protagonist is Lola Lago, a detective who will solve a case per book.
The books range from level A1 to level B1 and come with an audiobook. The length of the stores is perfect (45-60 pages) and the format light enough to feel that you can do it. Every one of them is well focused on its level, and you can find, at the end, lovely explanation notes and light and fun comprehension exercises.
Humberto, un joven colombiano, es acusado de herir gravemente al “Tigre”, un skinhead con el que había discutido. Humberto desaparece y la asociación de vecinos contrata a Lola para que lo encuentre y demuestre su inocencia.
