Mystery and SuspenseBy: Kayla KasseesENGL 486

All Unquiet ThingsBy: Anna Jarzab

Summary

Carly’s ex-boyfriend, Neily, is still getting over their breakup when he suddenly finds her dead by the Empire Creek Bridge. She left him for a bad boy named Adam Murray. Carly called Neily the night of her death, but he refused to answer due to his resentment towards her. Audrey, Carly’s cousin, is convinced that they have accused the wrong person. Audrey and Neily dig into the past to find the truth about Carly’s death. There are many twists and secrets revealed as they figure out the true murderer of Carly Ribelli.

All Unquiet Things Trailor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi48VgHd8Tg

Dead LetterBy: Betsy Byars

Summary

Herculeah Jones finds a mysterious letter in the lining of a coat she buys from a local store called Hidden Treasure. She thinks it is a cry for help and tries to investigate what happened to this person, Amanda Cole. As she begins to figure out the mystery she finds out that she is too late. She notices she is being stalked by a black car who will do anything to keep this murder a secret…

Th1rteen R3asons WhyBy: Jay Asher

Summary

Hannah Baker is a classmate of Clay Jensen. He finds a box of cassette tapes on his doorstep two weeks after she committed suicide by overdosing on pills. The seven two-sided cassette tapes are recordings of Hannah explaining the thirteen people who caused a reason for her death. The tapes are sent to each of the thirteen people explaining in some way their responsibility for her death. These tapes reveal some of the most shocking stories, truth, and sides to Hannah Baker that no one knew. These recordings change Clay’s life forever.

Thirteen Reasons Why Trailor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vikVdZu-YA&feature=related

Sherlock HolmesBy: Arthur Conan Doyle

Summary

This is a comic strip version of various Conan Doyle novels. Numerous artists created the illustrations. The tales included with this graphic novel is The Adventure of The Copper Beeches, Captain Sharkey, The Los Amigos Fiasco, Master, Two Great Brown-Pericord Moto, How the Brigadier Came to The Castle of Gloom, The Adventure of The Engineer’s Thumb, and The Ghosts of Goresthorpe Grange.

Common Theme

The common theme presented in each of these four novels is the ability to create suspense. The murder cases and haunted scary settings provide the mysterious hook into the text. Mystery novels insist that the reader keep their eyes glued to the text as a character struggles for survival, is being chased, or is close to solving the murder case. This genre can motivate reluctant readers keeping them engaged in the story.

The Mystery of death…How these and other suspense murders can be used in the classroom

Activities

Define mystery and suspense.

Find other themes or genres that fit the novel.

Students create their own murder cases and act them out or have other students solve them. Give them evidence from the crime or murder and let the students create the who, what, where, when, and why to the story.

Depict or express their thoughts of the novel through pictures or words. This could be formed into a collage or a collection of ideas.

Discuss clues leading to the final solution. Record the clues.

Learn how to fingerprint.

Turn a nursery rhyme into a mystery. This can also develop rhyming skills and the use of poetry.

Picture Books

Where In the U.S.A. is Carmen Sandiego? By: John Peel

Detective Blue By: Steve Metzger (rhyming book)

Other Books

Rebecca By: Daphne du Maurier

Spies of Mississippi By: Rick Bowers (Non-fiction)

Diary of an Agent’s Sister By: Jordan Bell

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time By: Mark Haddon

Dr. Jekll and Mr. Hyde By: Robert Louis Stevenson

Sudden Moves: A Young Adult Mystery By: Kelli Sue Landon

The Fall of the House of User, The Tell-Tale Heart By: Edgar Allan Poe

Film

Psycho, Rebecca, Vertigo, The Birds, The Lady Vanishes By: Alfred Hitchcock

Jaws

Friday the 13th

Saw

Taken

Songs That Create the Feeling of Suspense…Jaws Theme By: John WilliamsPsycho By: Bernard HerrmannMurder Mystery By: Nate EvansHalloween By: Michael MyersFriday the 13th Theme By: Jason Voorhees

Suspenseful Poetry

“Dead Man’s Dump” By: Isaac Rosenberg

I Know Suspense – It steps so terse By : Emily Dickinson

The Street By: Octavio Paz

The Raven By: Edgar Allan Poe

The Haunted Palace By: Edgar Allan Poe

The Sleeper By: Edgar Allan Poe

The Spirits of the Dead By: Edgar Allan Poe

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