Museum Mysteries

What is a "museum mystery"? It is a mystery book that has to do with famous art or artists. It could be that the characters have to solve the mystery of a missing piece of art, or they are trying to pass off fake artwork and pretend it is the real work of a famous artist, or they are plotting to steal a valuable piece of art. Or sometimes they are just in the wrong place at the wrong time and get swept up in a suspenseful adventure involving a famous painting or drawing or statue.

I am kind of a wimp when it comes to scary books, but I love mysteries where you have to follow the clues and solve the puzzle. These books all have that element of suspense that keeps you guessing until the end:

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
Petra and Calder are drawn clue by clue into an international art scandal involving a missing Vermeer painting. Can they decipher a crime that has left even the FBI baffled? (And don't miss the sequels, The Wright 3 and The Calder Game!)

Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Life changes for a small town when a museum needs to store their most valuable paintings there in secret — and two boys are tempted to steal one.

Masterpiece by Elise Broach
A beetle with an extraordinary drawing talent teams up with a human boy to help a museum catch an art thief. But when the thief does strike, it sends them both on a dangerous adventure.

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
A brother and sister run away and hide in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, never expecting that they would become involved in solving the mystery of a famous statue there.

How about you? What are YOUR favorite museum mysteries?

— Sonja, Scholastic.com Editor