The popular Netflix series Outer Banks recently concluded after a successful five-season run. A comfort show for many, the show incorporates treasure hunts, the rich-poor divide, and solving mysteries as part of its action-adventure plot.
With plenty of family drama, teen angst and, romantic subplots, Outer Banks balances its suspense and coming-of-age elements quite well against a golden, summery backdrop.
And if you’re as obsessed with the show as us and looking to fill that OBX-shaped void in your heart after that finale, you should check out the books below, most of which are aimed at a YA audience.
Who knows—you might find more than buried treasure within these pages!
Here are six adventure mystery books like Outer Banks.
Outer Banks: Lights Out
Instead of watching re-runs of OBX, you can step into the same world via the original YA novel by bestselling author Alyssa Sheinmel. It follows JJ and John B on a thrilling adventure!
A fishing getaway trip goes dangerously awry, and there’s also a forbidden Pogues-Kook romance thrown in for good measure, making for an entertaining and engaging read.
With chapters from the perspectives of both John B and JJ, this book captures the characters, themes, and spirit of the show really well, and is a must-read for Outer Banks fans!
Paper Towns
If the coming-of-age elements and relationship dynamics in Outer Banks really captured your heart, you’ll also enjoy Paper Towns by John Green. The book also has a central mystery about a girl who chooses to suddenly disappear without a proper goodbye to anyone.
The novel follows the perspective of Q, a teenager about to graduate from high school, who’s been in love with his neighbour, Margo Roth Spiegelman, for a long time, but is too shy to do anything about it.
One day, Margo shows up at his window for an unforgettable midnight adventure, and then promptly disappears the next day, leaving behind a set of cryptic clues that Q is to determined to solve.
With plenty of literary and philosophical allusions, a road trip, and high school shenanigans thrown in, Paper Towns is an utterly memorable and emotional read.
We Were Liars
An unputdownable thriller, E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars also features wealthy teenaged characters getting up to mayhem and mischief on a private island, unfolding during an unforgettable summer.
The story mostly focuses on the wealthy Sinclair family, and revolves around something that happens to the young Cadence on the summer of her 15th year that she can’t quite remember. Two years later, she and her friends—the “liars” of the title—turn detective and try to find out exactly what happened.
Dark, sinister, and packed with twists and turns, We Were Liars is a stunning book. It’s best to go in blind and try to avoid any spoilers, and boy, will you not see that ending coming!
Rivers of London
If you’re in the mood for an urban fantasy adventure mystery series to get properly invested in, you’ll have a blast with Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series, composed of several novels, novellas, short stories, and even graphic novels.
The titular novel follows Peter Grant, who ardently wants to become a detective and can speak with the dead. He gets involved in a mysterious murder involving the uncanny and the supernatural.
He has to somehow solve not one, but two cases about ordinary people who are getting possessed and turning into frenzied killers. There’s also a feud brewing between the ancient deities of the River Thames.
Filled with action, adventure, and intrigue, Rivers of London is a fun and fast-paced read, and like the first season of OBX, it will make you want to stick around for more.
Meddling Kids
If you love Outer Banks, you might have also grown up watching Scooby-Doo and reading Enid Blyton novels, in which case you’ll also very likely enjoy the nostalgic Lovecraftian adventure mystery novel Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero.
This novel carefully balances horror, comedy, and suspense to deliver a massively thrilling and entertaining tale. It follows a group of former kid-detectives who reunite in their mid-20s to solve a case that had troubled them years before, and embroiling themselves in eldritch horrors.
Smartly-written yet unafraid to be silly at times, Meddling Kids is a roller-coaster ride that will also make you laugh throughout.
Treasure Island
Finally, one can’t really go wrong with the classics, and die-hard OBX fans should read the OG treasure hunt novel by none other than Robert Loius Stevenson.
Treasure Island, published way back in 1883, inaugurated the adventure mystery genre that Outer Banks so richly draws from.
With pirates, buried gold, and exploring deserted islands all carefully embedded in a coming-of-age narrative set in the 18th century, Treasure Island still remains an enthralling read.
