Below is the complete list of Elly Griffiths’ Justice Jones books in publication order. For this series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Justice Jones Books in Publication Order
- A Girl Called Justice (2019)
- The Smugglers’ Secret (2020)
- A Ghost in the Garden (2021)
- The Spy at the Window (2022)
About Justice Jones
Elly Griffiths’ Justice Jones series is a children’s mystery series set in the 1930s, following a clever young heroine who is sent to boarding school and quickly finds herself surrounded by secrets, suspicious behavior, and crimes that adults would rather explain away. The series begins with A Girl Called Justice and continues through mysteries that combine classic school-story atmosphere with detective fiction, giving young readers a heroine who is observant, stubborn, and determined to uncover the truth even when no one expects a girl her age to do anything of the kind.
Justice Jones is the daughter of a barrister, and that background matters to the way she thinks. She has grown up around questions of evidence, fairness, guilt, and innocence, so mystery-solving is not just a hobby for her. When she arrives at Highbury House Boarding School, she brings with her a sharp sense of justice and a refusal to accept easy answers. The school setting gives the first book a strong traditional mystery shape: unfamiliar rules, new classmates, intimidating staff, hidden histories, and a closed community where danger can feel both contained and inescapable.
A Girl Called Justice introduces Highbury House in a wintry, old-fashioned style that suits Griffiths’ strengths as a mystery writer. Justice is grieving the death of her mother, adjusting to life away from home, and trying to understand a school where something does not feel right. The case involves a suspicious death, and Justice’s investigation depends on close attention to small details, strange behavior, and inconsistencies in what she is told. The book has echoes of classic boarding-school fiction, but Griffiths gives it a proper mystery spine rather than treating the setting as mere nostalgia.
The later books expand Justice’s world while keeping her intelligence and moral certainty at the center. The Smugglers’ Secret moves the action away from school into a seaside holiday setting, where caves, coastal legends, and suspicious activity create a different kind of adventure. This shift is useful because it shows that Justice is not only a school detective. Her curiosity travels with her, and she is just as willing to investigate danger outside the walls of Highbury House.
The Ghost in the Garden returns to a more atmospheric mystery style, using rumors of haunting, hidden fear, and the uncertainty of what people believe they have seen. Griffiths handles the ghostly elements in a way that suits younger readers: eerie enough to create suspense, but still grounded in clues and investigation. Justice is not easily frightened into abandoning logic, which makes her a satisfying detective. She may be young, but she trusts careful observation more than rumor.
The Spy at the Window brings the series into a world of espionage and political tension, reflecting the uneasy 1930s backdrop. Without turning the books into heavy historical fiction, Griffiths allows the period setting to matter. Boarding schools, social class, travel, gender expectations, and the approach of wider European conflict all shape the atmosphere around Justice’s cases. The mysteries remain accessible for children, but the historical texture gives them more depth than a simple puzzle series.
Justice Jones works because it blends three appealing traditions: the boarding-school story, the classic clue-based mystery, and the bold young-detective adventure. Griffiths writes Justice as bright and brave without making her unrealistically invincible. She can be lonely, frustrated, and underestimated, but she keeps asking questions. The result is a series with charm, suspense, and a strong sense of period, built around a heroine whose name reflects exactly what she cares about most.