The Last 39 Clues!

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Into The Gauntlet.
Amy and Dan are getting tired. They've seen death and destruction caused by their family's hunt for the 39 clues, and experienced the hatred that the competition has caused among their relatives over the past month (and nine books). After an altercation at the reconstructed Globe theater in London, during which their cousin Jonah Wizard causes a riot, they head out to Shakespeare's birth place and retrieve the clue that takes them to the Cahill stronghold on an island. Not to ruin the suspense for everyone, but since I have a hard time following clue-oriented mysteries, I hadn't quite gotten that each clue was an ingredient for a Cahill serum that endowed the recipients with unknown powers. It seems like even though the clues have been found, there may be some books still in the works. I like the whole idea of a series written by different authors, and the action and adventure were great-- I personally have trouble following that many clues, and the cards and interactive features on the web didn't do much for me.

Griffin, Adele. Picture the Dead.

The Civil War has been devastating to Jenny, who has lost one brother and a fiance, and had another brother gravely injured. She tries to contact her dead brother to solve the mystery of what happened to her fiance. While this book is quite beautiful, and the idea of a "spirit photographer" is interesting, I just couldn't get into this one. I guess I was hoping for more of a murder mystery, since I have had so many students ask for them this year, but I've not had any luck recommending historical murders, and this book is definitely more historical than anything else.

Does anyone have any suggestions for murder mysteries like Ferguson's The Christopher Killer? Students this year are not wanting to read more benign mysteries, which is a little disturbing to me and seems to indicate that they've been allowed to watch CSI type shows.