Books like 'Emil and the Detectives'
Readers who enjoyed Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kästner also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery action / adventure 20th century classics crime children law-enforcement friendship family
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The Twelve Chairs by Ilya Ilf, Yevgeny Petrov
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsOstap Bender is an unemployed con artist living by his wits in postrevolutionary Soviet Russia. He joins forces with Ippolit Matveyevich Vorobyaninov, a former nobleman who has returned to his hometown to find a cache of missing jewels which were hidden in some chairs that have been appropriated by the Soviet authorities... -
The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures by Mike Ashley
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe biggest collection of new Sherlock Holmes stories since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle laid down his pen - nearly 200,000 words of superb fiction featuring the Great Detective by masters of historical crime, including Stephen Baxter, H. R. F. Keating, Michael Moorcock and Amy Myers. Almost all the stories here are specially written; the cases presented in the order in which Holmes solved them...Categorized as:
classics crime law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies fiction -
The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsJo, Bessie and Fanny take their cousin Rick on an adventure he'll never forget to the magic Faraway Tree, where he meets Moon-Face, Silky the fairy and Saucepan Man, and visits all the different lands at the top of the Faraway Tree... -
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Illustrated Short Stories by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThey're among the most influential, enduring, and popular short stories in the English language; marvelous mysteries that feature the "most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has ever seen." Here are all 56 Sherlock Holmes tales in one very handsome collection, accompanied by the original artwork in facsimile reproduction...Categorized as:
classics crime humor law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies -
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A Royal Murder by Verity Bright
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAt the royal boat race there are beautiful barges, plenty of bunting, a handsome prince and... is that a body? Lady Swift is on the case!Spring, 1923. One-time adventurer and now amateur sleuth Lady Eleanor Swift is attending the annual royal regatta with her new pal Tipsy Fitzroy. Tipsy has Eleanor trussed up like a debutante in a new dress, determined to turn her into a proper society lady... -
King Stakh’s Wild Hunt by Uladzimir Karatkevich
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsKing Stakh's Wild Hunt tells the tale of Andrey Belaretsky, a young folklorist who finds himself stranded by a storm in the castle of Marsh Firs, the seat of the fading aristocratic Yanovsky family. Offered refuge by Nadzeya, the last in the Yanovskys’ line, he learns of the family curse and terrible apparitions that portend her early death and trap her in permanent, maddening fear... -
The Valley of Lost Secrets by Lesley Parr
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSeptember 1939.When Jimmy is evacuated to a small village in Wales, it couldn't be more different from London. Green, quiet and full of strangers, he instantly feels out of place.But then he finds a skull hidden in a tree, and suddenly the valley is more frightening than the war. Who can Jimmy trust? His brother is too little; his best friend has changed... -
Collected Stories by Raymond Chandler
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratings(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)The only complete edition of stories by the undisputed master of detective literature, collected here for the first time in one volume, including some stories that have been unavailable for decades...Categorized as:
classics crime law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies fiction -
A Prince Without a Kingdom by Timothée de Fombelle
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis was the only treasure that Vango was after: the secret of his life.Vango has been in danger for as long as he can remember. He has spent his life running along rooftops, fleeing to mysterious islands, and abandoning those he loves in order to protect them from the demons of his past. But Vango will not run for much longer... -
The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsJo, Bessie and Fanny move to the country and find an Enchanted Wood right on their doorstep. In the magic Faraway Tree live the magical characters that soon become their new friends – Moon-Face, Silky the fairy, and Saucepan Man... -
Trustee from the Toolroom by Nevil Shute
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA novel tells the story of a man who leads an ordinary, uneventful life, until overnight he becomes the trustee of his 10-year-old niece, and involved in the search for some missing money... -
The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFor the first ime in one volume are Agatha Christie's first two mysteries that introduced the world to Hercule Poirot and to Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, all sleuths who have starred in the PBS Mystery! series: with a sudden death as the initiation of his career, Hercule Poirot calls upon the sprawling estate of the Styles Court to identify the murderer of a wealthy heiress from a crowd of... -
The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald, Mercer Mayer
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe best con man in the Midwest is only ten years old. Tom, a.k.a., the Great Brain, is a silver-tongued genius with a knack for turning a profit. When the Jenkins boys get lost in Skeleton Cave, the Great Brain saves the day... -
The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death by Daniel Pinkwater
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWalter and Winston set out to rescue the inventor of the Alligatron, a computer developed from an avocado which is the world's last defense against the space-realtors... -
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Quarantine In The Grand Hotel by Jenő Rejtő
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsQuarantine in the Grand Hotel centers around a mysterious murder in a hotel on the island of Little Lagonda, which is put under quarantine because one of the guests seems to have contracted bubonic plague. However, just before the quarantine is declared, the police arrive, and so does a young man, who hides in his pyjamas in the wardrobe of Miss Maud Borckman... -
Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsOne of Sidney Sheldon's most popular and bestselling titles, repackaged and reissued for a new generation of fans. Kate Blackwell is one of the richest and most powerful women in the world. She is an enigma, a woman surrounded by a thousand unanswered questions. Her father was a diamond prospector who struck it rich beyond his wildest dreams... -
The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsRobin was always wandering off (her mother's words) to get away from the confusion she felt inside her. It was not until Robin's father found a permanent job at the McCurdy ranch, after three years as a migrant worker, that Robin had a place to wander to...Categorized as:
children classics family law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure book children-books -
A Kalle Blomkvist Mystery: Master Detective by Astrid Lindgren
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA gripping middle-grade mystery from internationally best-selling author Astrid Lindgren. For most the summer holidays in a small Swedish town would be spent swimming, fishing, or sailing. But a super sleuth like Kalle Blomkvist is always looking for the next case to crack...Categorized as:
children classics crime humor law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure audiobook -
Alone on a Wide Wide Sea by Michael Morpurgo
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThere were dozens of us on the ship, all ages, boys and girls, and we were all up on deck for the leaving of Liverpool, gulls wheeling and crying over our heads, calling good-bye, I thought they were waving good-bye. None of us spoke. It was a grey day with drizzle in the air, the great sad cranes bowing to the ship from the docks as we steamed past... -
Fish Preferred by P.G. Wodehouse
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHugh Carmody loved Millicent, Lord Emsworth niece, but he was very good friends with Sue Brown - an attachment which Millicent, perhaps, could hardly be expected to enthuse over. Ronnie Fish loved Sue, and entertained feelings o unrestrained ferocity towards Pilbeam, a blister of the first water, who was pestering her with flowers... -
The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWhen Emily Pollifax answers the phone that Sunday morning, she quickly forgets all about her Garden Club tea that afternoon. For the voice on the other end belonged to a man she had never seen, a man from the CIA who asked her if she could leave immediately on a mission that would take her halfway across the world! What could Mrs... -
Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayers
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn this delightful collection of Wimsey exploits, Dorothy L. Sayers reveals a gruesome, grotesque but absolutely bewitching side rarely shown in Lord Peter's full-length adventures.Lord Peter views the body in 12 tantalizing and bizarre ways in this outstanding collection...Categorized as:
classics crime humor law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure adult amateur-sleuth -
Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen Michael is washed up on an island in the Pacific after falling from his parent's yacht, the Peggy Sue, he struggles to survive on his own. But he soon realises there is someone close by, someone who is watching over him and helping him to stay alive...Categorized as:
children classics family friendship law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure animals -
The Changeling by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIvy Carson belonged to the notorious Carson family, which lived in a run-down house in suburban Rosewood. But Ivy was not a typical Carson. There was something wonderful about her. Ivy explained it by saying that she was a changeling, a child of supernatural parents who had been exchanged for the real Ivy Carson at birth. This classic book was first published in 1970...Categorized as:
children classics family friendship 20th-century action-adventure book children-books -
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The Final Deduction by Rex Stout
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen the seemingly safe return of an abducted millionaire ends in his murder in his own home, Nero Wolfe sends Archie Goodwin to do his usual legwork, while Wolfe uncovers corruption and greed among Manhattan's elite... -
Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSimon, the foundling from The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, arrives in London to meet an old friend and pursue the study of painting. Instead he finds himself unwittingly in the middle of a wicked crew's fiendish caper to overthrow the good King James and the Duke and Duchess of Battersea...Categorized as:
children classics crime humor law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history -
Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSummer has a magic all its own.When Portia sets out for a visit with her cousin Julian, she expects fun and adventure, but of the usual kind: exploring in the woods near Julian's house, collecting stones and bugs, playing games throughout the long, lazy days.But this summer is different... -
The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories by Otto Penzler
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn unstoppable anthology of crime stories culled from Black Mask magazine the legendary publication that turned a pulp phenomenon into literary mainstream. Black Mask was the apotheosis of noir. It was the magazine where the first hardboiled detective story, which was written by Carroll John Daly appeared...Categorized as:
classics crime law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook -
The Boy Next Door by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAmazon store this book for us, then pick, pack and deliver as well as provide 1st Class customer service. Books Found Fast via Amazon. -
Roata Norocului by Constantin Chiriță
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEste vacanta de vara si, la invitatia Ioanei, verisoara lui Dan, acesta, Tic si Maria vin in orasul "D". Acesta este foarte renumit pentru balciul care se tine acolo, o data pe an.Ei se incurca intr-un nou mister cand de la muzeu dispar niste statui foarte valoroase numite „tanagrale”. Victor,Ionel,Lucia si Ursu li se alatura si ciresarii pornesc impreuna sa rezolve secretul rotii norocului...Categorized as:
classics law-enforcement humor children fiction action-adventure children-books young-adult -
Bright Orange for the Shroud by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTravis McGee is looking forward to a "slob summer," spending his days as far away from danger as possible. But trouble has a way of finding him, no matter where he hides. An old friend, conned out of his life savings by his ex-wife, has tracked him down and is desperate for help... -
The Sea of Adventure by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsEnid Blyton’s classic adventure series fantastically repackaged for a new generation of readers. When Bill takes Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Jack on a mysterious trip to the desolate northern isles, everything looks set for an exciting time. But then Bill is kidnapped and the children, marooned far from the mainland, find themselves playing a dangerous game of hide-and-seek with an unknown enemy...Categorized as:
children classics crime friendship law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure audiobook -
The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAn adventure for the Five Find-Outers and their dog. Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Pip, Bets and Buster become involved in a very peculiar situation when a series of unsigned letters are sent to various people in Peterswood...Categorized as:
children classics crime law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure book children-books -
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsWelcome to Centerburg! Where you can win a hundred dollars by eating all the doughnuts you want; where houses are built in a day; and where a boy named Homer Price can foil four slick bandits using nothing but his wits and pet skunk... -
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Tales from Two Pockets by Karel Čapek
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsCapek wrote 48 stories that deconstruct the mystery story by breaking one rule here, three rules there, and yet also make for wonderful reading. His unique approaches to the mysteries of justice and truth are full of the ordinary and the extraordinary, humor and humanism...Categorized as:
classics crime humor law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies -
The Railway Children (Illustrated, with Audiobook links) (E. Nesbit 4) by E. Nesbit
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsEdith Nesbit’s classic story, in which three children, pulled suddenly from their comfortable suburban life, move to the country with their mother, where they come to know and love the ways of the railways...Categorized as:
children classics family friendship law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure audiobook -
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThe movement of the train rocked me like a lullaby. I closed my eyes to the dusty countryside and imagined the sign I’d seen only in Gideon’s stories: Manifest—A Town with a rich past and a bright future.Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job...Categorized as:
children classics family friendship humor law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure -
Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers, Mark Meadows
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsRustic old Riddlesdale Lodge was a Wimsey family retreat filled with country pleasures and the thrill of the hunt -- until the game turned up human and quite dead. He lay among the chrysanthemums, wore slippers and a dinner jacket and was Lord Peter's brother-in-law-to-be... -
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming, John Burningham
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen an inventor brings home an old racing car and rebuilds it, the family gets more than they counted on--because the car has some hidden talents of her own. The family's jaunt to France gets the children kidnapped and involved in a counterfeiting plot.. -
Five Go to Mystery Moor by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsBleak and eerie, Mystery Moor is well-known for its spooky atmosphere, but is there something really scary out there? The Famous Five are intrigued, but the unfriendly travellers camped on the moor aren't letting on...Categorized as:
children classics crime friendship law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure animals -
Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIt's 1953 and 11-year-old Penny dreams of a summer of butter pecan ice cream, swimming, and baseball. But nothing’s that easy in Penny’s family. For starters, she can’t go swimming because her mother’s afraid she’ll catch polio at the pool. To make matters worse, her favorite uncle is living in a car. Her Nonny cries every time her father’s name is mentioned... -
Murder on the Leviathan by Boris Akunin, Boris Akunin
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTipping his hat to Agatha Christie, Boris Akunin’s latest page-turner transports the reader back to the glamorous, dangerous past in a richly atmospheric tale of suspense on the high seas.Paris, 1878: Eccentric antiquarian Lord Littleby and his ten servants are found murdered in Littleby’s mansion on the rue de Grenelle, and a priceless Indian shawl is missing... -
Five Go to Demon's Rocks by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Famous Five have heard the stories about treasure on Demon's Rocks - bu they never thought they were really true! But then they discover a very old and valuable gold coin and what was a myth becomes real! Who does the treasure belong to? The gang are determined to find out, but first they need to know who else is exploring Demon's Rocks for the Treasure - just like they are . .Categorized as:
children classics crime friendship law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure animals -
Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha by Dorothy Gilman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNote: This is an alternate cover edition of ISBN 0449209830.Something dangerous is in the Hong Kong air...Faster than she can say her name, the newly married Mrs. Pollifax is packed and ready to go on another adventure - her most dangerous assignment yet... -
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The Hidden Window Mystery by Carolyn Keene
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNancy Drew visits her cousin in Virginia hoping to locate a missing stained-glass window...Categorized as:
children classics crime law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure book children-books -
South by Southeast by Anthony Horowitz
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt looks like Tim, the world’s worst private detective, and Nick, his brainy kid brother, are in trouble again. They’re dead broke. But money is the least of their worries when a mysterious man bursts into their office and offers Tim a wad of cash for his coat. Minutes later, the stranger is dead and Nick and Tim are left to puzzle over his final words... -
Spiderweb For Two: A Melendy Maze by Elizabeth Enright
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsRandy and Oliver Melendy awake one morning full of gloom. Their brothers and sisters are away, the house seems forlorn and empty, and even Cuffy, their adored housekeeper, can't pick up their spirits... -
The Ghost Belonged to Me by Richard Peck
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"More death! More, if you do not stop it. Others lost, like me in the black water. Save them!"When Alexander first sees the eerie glow in the dormer window of the barn, it sets his heart pounding. And when he ventures into the barn in the dark of night, his breath catches in his throat. Suddenly Blossom Culp's words come back to him: "You can make contact with the Unseen...Categorized as:
children classics humor law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure book children-books -
Nightmare Town: Stories by Dashiell Hammett
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIntroduced by Colin Dexter, one of England's greatest writers of detective fiction, here are twenty long-unavailable stories by Dashiell Hammett, the author of The Maltese Falcon and one of the finest writers of the twentieth century.In the title story, a man on a bender enters a small town and ends up unravelling the dark mystery at its heart...Categorized as:
classics crime law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies fiction -
The Ministry of Unladylike Activity by Robin Stevens
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe start of a thrilling new World War Two mystery series from the number-one-bestselling and multi-award-winning author of Murder Most Unladylike.1940. The world is at war, and a secret arm of the British government called the Ministry of Unladylike Activity is training up spies...Categorized as:
crime children law-enforcement friendship family mystery middle-grade historical-fiction
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