A review by lmn9812
The Highland Falcon Thief by M.G. Leonard, Sam Sedgman

4.0

As a devoted fan of Maya's BEETLE BOY series, I knew I had to read her latest offering as soon as possible. I adore mysteries, and this one had everything I needed: it was tightly plotted, well researched and TOOK PLACE ON A TRAIN!! The research and innate train knowledge that had gone into the writing of this book was clear to see--and from reading the acknowledgments I am confident in attributing a lot of this knowledge to Sam Sedgman, Maya's talented co-writer and a really exciting talent in KidLit. Despite this, the train facts didn't dominate the narrative, but were woven in in a really subtle way. I also really enjoyed the illustrations, and the fact that Hal, our protagonist, was also an artist--a skill that comes into use in his subsequent mystery solving. This was a fabulous mystery middle grade, and I am really excited to read the sequel when it's released!