Become a “mystery master” as we read together some of the greatest mysteries of all time, including Edgar Allan Poe, Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie, and more! For middle school students.

Total classes: 12

Duration per class: 45 minutes
Prerequisite: None
Suggested grade level: 6th to 9th grade
Suggested credit: One full semester Literature or English

Instructor: Kevin O’Brien

Instructor email: kevin@classeswithkevin.com

Course description: In this course, students will strive to become “mystery masters”!  We will read some of the greatest mystery stories of all time, including tales of detectives such as Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, Nancy Drew, and others. Plus, mini-mysteries will be read and solved in several class sessions.  

Course outline:

Introduction and Mini-Mysteries
Edgar Allan Poe
Sherlock Holmes
Father Brown
Literary Criticism and Murder Mysteries
Agatha Christie - “The Affair at the Victory Ball”
Agatha Christie - “Witness for the Prosecution”
Nancy Drew
The Hard Boiled Detective - “The Bouncing Betty Caper”
The Hard Boiled Detective - “I’ll Be Waiting”
Mysteries and Movies: Benoit Blanc, the newest detective
Murder Mystery Dinner Theater

Course materials: Public domain mysteries will be provided FREE by the instructor as PDF files.

Homework: Auto-graded quizzes plus a Final Exam. Plan on about two or three hours of homework, mostly reading, per week.