Murder on the Safari Star by M.G. Leonard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
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Murder on the Safari Star is the 3rd-installment of my new favorite Middle Grade series. I adored the first two books and this one was more of the same.
After train journeys in his native-UK and in the USA, it’s now February holiday and this time Hal is joining his Uncle Nat in South Africa for a trip on the classic Safari Star.
Arriving in South Africa, Hal is itching for a new mystery. Having successfully solved mysteries aboard the Highland Falcon and the California Comet, Hal has earned himself a bit of a reputation; a young-Sherlock, if you will.
I love how quickly these books kick-off. The authors definitely know how to grab the Reader’s attention. Within 10%, we’re already in South Africa, boarding the train and meeting the players of our soon-to-be mystery.
As with the earlier stories, there is a character Hal’s age on the train, Winston, who he quickly befriends and works with to solve the case. Bonus, Winston’s pet mongoose, Chipo, who brings a heavy dose of cuteness to the story.
Cute animals aside though, you should be warned, this mystery is the most sinister and dangerous yet!
We have a death on the train. The person involved was in a locked room. Most people suspect it was an accident, unfortunate, but nothing to be too alarmed over.
Hal, who was outside the room at the time, doesn’t believe it was an accident, but he’ll have to prove it, if anyone is going to believe him. The investigation begins.
I was so intrigued by this one. The person involved was absolutely vile and had insulted, or angered, pretty much every other passenger on the train, including his own family. This left Hal with a lot of suspects.
I loved how it was a classic and true locked-room mystery. How could the killer have pulled it off?
It was fun watching Hal try to work through it all. There was even a scene where his Uncle Nat helped him to reconstruct the crime to try to find answers. It was adorable.
I became quite invested in certain characters and felt my heart-rate rising as they fell under suspicion. It was gripping until the very end.
Overall, this was an absolutely fantastic installment to the series. It was an incredibly fun mystery to try to solve. The quality of the locked-room set-up would make Dame Christie proud!
I would absolutely recommend this series to Readers of all ages. The books are always engaging and fast-paced, with a great group of characters and wonderful illustrations.
10-out-of-10 recommend!
