Reviews

The Highland Falcon Thief is the first book in a fun, middle-grade mystery series.

Harrison (Hal) Beck is a fantastic main character. I loved following him, his friend Lenny, and Uncle Nat put the pieces together to solve the mystery of the jewel heist on the Highland Falcon.

The mystery had Agatha Christie vibes and I thought it was a great way to introduce that style of mystery to a younger audience.

This book had plenty of dangerous moments, clever moments, and funny moments. I loved the illustrations and I liked that Hal’s drawings helped him solve the case.

This book had tons of fun facts about railroads and trains, which I enjoyed.

I also liked how this book dealt with the topic of Hal processing the idea that he’s about to be a big brother.

I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

cmyers99's review

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adventurous funny informative inspiring mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

veecaswell's review against another edition

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5.0

Kids these days get books like this? Take me back to being seven, I'll have these books please.

missbibliography's review

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3.0

Harrison Beck, aka Hal to his friends and family, is about to go with a kooky uncle on a train ride. The train is the Highland Falcon, and it’s going for it’s last royal ride. Passengers include the prince and princess, high society and most likely, a jewel thief. What at first seems like a boring four days on an old steam engine quickly turns into an adventure of a lifetime.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and read through it fairly quickly. I would say the characters were fun and easy to relate to. Hal felt like a typical boy being sent on a trip, and the cast of suspects was fun and different. It felt a little CLUE-ish but in a good way. The setting was different from most children’s mystery novels and actually might be a good way for a teacher to have her class talk about the invention of the steam engine or learn about the UK. For me, it was the mystery/ plot line that just didn’t hit the mark. It felt a little slow in happening, and then the mystery was resolved super quickly. In the meantime, I felt like there weren’t very many clues given to the reader. I like to read a mystery where I can kind of solve along with the protagonist. This one was not it. 3/5 stars.

jadeyrae's review against another edition

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4.0

7.57 on CAWPILE

mary_pan's review

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4.0

Honestly I enjoyed this one so much.

It was cute in a way and even tho the beginning was kinda slow for me (and has my first middle grade...) I tried to push over it.

And it was the best decision ever... Like the ending was kinda brilliant in Disney channel way and that just brought back memories of 2000/early2010 shows.

Hope the rest of the series is as good or better

feglet98's review against another edition

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5.0

Trains and mysteries, two of my favourite things! Brilliant book recommended by my niece, thoroughly enjoyable.

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