A Mystery Story for the 8-11 y.o. crowd

The Secret of Crossbone Hill, by Wilson Gage

Wilson Gage is the pen-name of Mary Q. Steele, who was married to writer William O. Steele. Mary was interested in nature and bird-watching (she said that she loved nature, just not in a very athletic way) and she incorporated this interest into most of her books. Her mother was Christine Govan, said to be one of the leading Southern writers of children's books in her time, and her father wrote history books. The family was from Tennessee, where Mary lived for most of her life.

This isn't grand literature of the likes of Swallows and Amazons or The Cricket in Times Square, but it's also far from too twaddly for leisure reading. There's quite a bit of nature lore in it, as it's set in a southern swamp. Bird watching features strongly. This is the sort of mystery that ends up all having a perfectly harmless explanation, the most mysterious bits having been largely created by the children's' overactive imaginations.
The brother and sister in this one bicker a bit more than I like, but that's my strongest criticism. Wilson Gage wrote many books, and all the ones I've seen are books boys in particular would enjoy.

Another title of hers is The Ghost of Five Owl Farm, and the first time I saw it I put it back without further investigation because we aren't really interested in ghost stories. However, the old saying about not judging a book by its cover holds true, like many cliches. The 'ghost' turns out to be a man who is studying owls in his free moments. He simply doesn't realize that there are new residents in the house that goes along with the old abandoned barn where he's been observing owls, and the new residents don't know what to make of the strange noises, mysterious shapes, and occasional odd flashes of light (raccoons triggering the tripwire for his camera, as he attempts night photography on the nights he can't be out at the barn).

If you're looking for an author whose characters and subject matter appeal to little boys, you'll want to keep your eyes open for more Gage books, and look deeper than her titles.