8 Mysteries About Cryptids and Cryptozoology

Some people knit; others fix up old cars. Morgan Carter tries to find cryptids when she’s not tending her bookshop in Door County, Wisconsin. But her hobby becomes serious when she’s asked to look into some mysterious deaths. Several bodies found in the water appear to have been mauled by a large creature. Will she get to the bottom of the crime, or will she become another victim of this nameless creature? It’s the first book in the Mystery Hunter series, which just saw book four, Monster in the Moonlight, drop in January.

Probationary Constable Peter Grant was in the right place at the right time … or wrong place, wrong time. He’s keen to make something of himself in London’s Metropolitan Police. But when he gets assigned guard duty over a crime scene, it’s not the kind of work he wants to be doing. That is, until he talks to a witness, who turns out to be a ghost. He finds himself the newest member of the Folly, a formerly dormant part of the Met focusing on magic or weird things. Now he’s befriending genius loci in rivers and other waterways, facing off with otherworldly beings, and trying to stop more horrible crimes. The series has 15 books and novellas so far, including graphic novels; the most recent is Stone and Sky (2025). Peter and his mentor, Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, have to solve cases involving a wide range of mythical creatures and cryptids.

Jericho James is a private investigator of the “weird” stuff. Often, that means discrediting people’s cryptid sightings. So she thinks her case in Stillbridge, Maine, will just be another regular case. But she ends up stumbling into a group of scientists in the forest who are working on a cure for a mysterious virus. Unlike her other cases, she might find herself face-to-face with an actual cryptid or two. It’s part mystery, part paranormal, part romance. 

Storymancer, a 17-year-old vlogger, knows something is off about the seemingly wholesome town of Wispy Falls. His six-year-old brother went missing in the woods, but he’s the only one who seems to care. Storymancer’s brother, incidentally, is not the only one to go missing in the woods. Other things don’t sit right, either, like the Bloodmoon Ritual and all the cryptid sightings. Will Storymancer get to the bottom of the unsafe town, or will he be the next person to go missing? This one’s told through a variety of different media, including video and radio transcripts and message boards.

This award-winning series focuses on Jake Nelson, a sixth grader, who has just moved to Washington State from sunny Orlando, Florida. Being the new kid is bad enough, but he manages to make an enemy on the very first day.  He’s also got a passion that might make fitting in a bit harder: he’s been investigating Sasquatch. Jake gets hired for the first time by a girl named Jasmine, who has seen something scary and wants to get to the bottom of it. Will he find like-minded kids who are interested in him and his quest, or will he find himself the butt of a joke again? It’s the first in the Sasquatch Hunters Series.

Instead of spending the summer with her BFF, rising sixth-grader Ada Ru finds herself stuck in Scotland with her family. She’s lonely, bored, and (a tad) scared of the rumored Loch Ness Monster nearby. But when she meets Dax and Hamish Bean Timmy, she finds herself drawn into their race to be the first group to find Nessie. Will they find the mysterious monster, or will they find something even stranger along the way?

In this graphic novel, Lily needs a good story for the school newspaper. So when her little brother Henry tells her about a possible Bigfoot sighting, she decides to investigate. Then things suggest that this is more than a rumor: claw marks and animal hair seem to circle the school’s football team. Lily and Henry form the Cryptid Club with their babysitting charge, Oliver, to figure out if Bigfoot is really visiting their school. It’s the first of four books, which also include Nessie, Chupacabra, and a Jackalope!

Naomi is not having a good summer. She finds out that her parents are splitting up and that she and her twin brothers are going to summer camp. Naomi likes her nature in a book, thank you very much. But now she’s got to face the world firsthand at Camp Twisted Pine. Thankfully, she befriends her fellow cabinmate, Jackie, who seems to share Naomi’s distaste for the camp. Jackie is hard of hearing, so Naomi learns sign language to communicate with her new bestie. But things start to go sour when rumors abound about something not quite human roaming the woods. When other campers, including Jackie, go missing in the woods, Naomi has to marry her book skills and real-life outdoor skills to find her friend and fellow campers.