The Highland Falcon Thief - M.G Leonard and Sam Sedgman

Harrison Beck is reluctantly joining his travel-writer Uncle Nat for the last journey of the royal train, The Highland Falcon. But as the train makes its way to Scotland, a priceless brooch goes missing, and things are suddenly a lot more interesting. As suspicions and accusations run high among the passengers, Harrison begins to investigate and uncovers a few surprises along the way. Can he solve the mystery of the jewel thief and catch the culprit before they reach the end of the line?

I'm a little late to the party with my review of this rip-roaring adventure but boy was it worth the wait. Those of you who, like me, read an exceptional amount of children's fiction, will no doubt be familiar with M.G Leonard's Beetle Boy series (a firm favourite of mine) and she has joined forces with friend, and debut novelist, Sam Sedgman in this action-packed adventure.

The Highland Falcon Thief follows Harrison Beck (Hal for short), a young adventurous lad, stuck on a train with his boring (or so he thinks) travel-writer uncle. The train is a luxury affair, with the royal Prince and Princess joining them later on the journey, much to the excitement of all on board. However, when items of high value start to mysteriously disappear rumours are rife that a thief is on board and even Harrison himself is put under suspicion. Along the journey Hal plays detective with the help of his Uncle Nat and new friend Lenny, carefully studying all the guests to discover just who is up to no good.

Hal's detective work is accompanied by amazing illustrations throughout, as he scribbles caricatures of the characters he meets and jots down key details. For me, these really added to the story as chapter books with pictures for older primary children are often hard to find and I loved how the pictures followed Hal's realisations.

Leonard and Sedgman's description of the highland scenery around them must also deserve a mention as it helps to spectacularly bring the scenes to life. I loved reading about the research and journeys that had gone into creating the books in the authors' notes section at the end - an interesting insight into the writing process.

The Highland Falcon Thief is perfect from Year 4 upwards. I know my Authorfy club have loved reading extracts as part of our Authorfy sessions and I already have a long waiting list for the book! I can't wait for the next instalment of the Adventures on Trains series!

A classic adventure guaranteed to thrill those budding detectives.

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