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Series · middle grade

A Girl Called Justice

by Elly Griffiths

A Girl Called Justice series by Elly Griffiths has 4 known books (4 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with A Girl Called Justice (2019). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is The Spy at the Window.

Books
4 known books (4 novels)
Published
4
First published
2019
Status
ongoing
Last checked

Start here: A Girl Called Justice (2019) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Cover of A Girl Called Justice

A Girl Called Justice (2019)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. A Girl Called Justice

    Novel

    A Girl Called Justice (May 2019, 320 pages) opens the series by sending eleven-year-old Justice Jones to Highbury House, a Sussex boarding school for the 'Daughters of Gentlefolk,' after her mother's death -- where a body found in the snow gives the young sleuth her first case.

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  2. The Smugglers' Secret

    Novel

    The Smugglers' Secret followed almost exactly a year later, on May 14, 2020, matching the first book's 320 pages, and sends Justice Jones investigating a haunted-seeming smugglers' lodge on the Sussex marsh near Highbury House.

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  3. A Ghost in the Garden

    Novel

    A Ghost in the Garden continued the series' annual May pattern on May 13, 2021 (320 pages), the third entry, centering on a literal ghost that appears in Highbury House's walled garden.

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  4. The Spy at the Window

    Novel

    The Spy at the Window closed the series on May 26, 2022, considerably shorter than its predecessors at 208 pages, as the approach of the Second World War reaches Highbury House with the arrival of an evacuated boys' school in 1939.

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About A Girl Called Justice

Elly Griffiths's only series for younger readers sends eleven-year-old Justice Jones to Highbury House, a boarding school for the "Daughters of Gentlefolk" on the edge of a Sussex marsh, after the death of her mother. Justice is a super-smart, super-observant sleuth in the Golden Age tradition -- equal parts Nancy Drew and a young Miss Marple -- who can't help noticing the things adults miss: a missing maid, a suspicious new teacher, a body that shouldn't be where it is. Griffiths sets the series in the 1930s, with the shadow of the coming Second World War lengthening across the school as the books progress, and gives Justice a small, loyal circle of friends and a genuine detective's eye rather than a formulaic school-story sidekick role.

Across four books, Highbury House hosts a body found in the snow, a haunted-seeming smugglers' lodge, a literal ghost in the walled garden, and finally the arrival of an evacuated boys' school as war breaks out in 1939 -- each mystery grounded in real period detail about servants, class and the closing world of interwar English boarding schools. It's recognizably Griffiths's voice at child-reader scale: atmospheric setting, a fair-play puzzle plot, and a heroine whose cleverness is never undercut by the adults around her. Fans of her adult mysteries will recognize the same instinct for making place and period do real narrative work; young readers get a properly plotted whodunit that doesn't talk down to them.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in A Girl Called Justice?

Four: A Girl Called Justice (2019), The Smugglers' Secret (2020), A Ghost in the Garden (2021) and The Spy at the Window (2022).

What order should I read A Girl Called Justice in?

Publication order, starting with A Girl Called Justice. The series moves forward through 1937-1939 at Highbury House boarding school, so reading in order follows both Justice's friendships and the approach of the Second World War.

Is A Girl Called Justice connected to Elly Griffiths's adult mystery series?

No -- it shares no characters or setting with Ruth Galloway, the Brighton Mysteries, Harbinder Kaur or Ali Dawson. It's a separate series written for a middle-grade audience.

What age group is A Girl Called Justice for?

It's a middle-grade series, generally recommended for readers roughly 9 to 12 years old, following a boarding-school sleuth in the 1930s.

Is there a fifth A Girl Called Justice book coming?

No fifth book has been announced as of August 2026; The Spy at the Window (2022) is the most recent entry, and Griffiths's newer work for this age range has not continued the series.

Reading order last verified .