Murder on the Safari Star, MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman, Pan Macmillan, ISBN: 9781529013108
MURDER on the Safari Star is a kids’ mystery novel packed with interesting characters, intrigue, light-hearted fun, puzzles to solve and suspense. It’s mostly set on a steam train called Janice that travels on safari from Pretoria, South Africa, to Victoria Falls bridge on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. I would recommend the book for children aged from nine to 12, but I’m sure an advanced younger reader would enjoy it, and possibly teens would get plenty of pleasure out of it. Adults, too!
The protagonist is Harrison (Hal) Beck who loves to investigate crimes he finds himself in the middle of, on train trips with his Uncle Nat. He uses sketching as a way to organise his thoughts and come up with solutions to the puzzling crimes that take place on the trains. In Murder on the Safari Star, the crime turns out to be a murder, something a bit more sinister than Hal is used to, but he’s up for the challenge. Before even boarding the train, he makes friends with young Winston and his yellow mongoose Chipo. Winston is the safari tour guide Liana’s son. In-between learning about the incredible animals in the African savannah, including during a visit to Kruger National Park, Hal also learns about rhino poaching and the colourful and sometimes troubling characters on the train. He also has some nasty experiences with reptiles, but I don’t want to give too much away.
I enjoyed this book. It was well-written with a good balance of intrigue, light-heartedness, character development, and interesting titbits about South Africa and its animals – some a fascinating surprise. The mystery was well-developed, and as usual with children’s fiction, where the kid is the one who solves the crime, it could be construed as a bit far-fetched that he worked it all out at such a young age, but in the end of this one, it makes sense.
As a fan of light/cosy mysteries, I found this book a delight to read as it was well-rounded and interesting, keeping me hooked until the end. The authors kept us guessing almost right to the end as to who committed the crime. I’d actually be keen to read a few more of the Adventures on Trains books. I found Hal an engaging, sympathetic and real character. Although he was extraordinarily bright for his age, he showed genuine emotions like fear, hurt, sadness, disappointment. It’s better when the ‘investigator’, especially as a child, shows a natural fear – it makes it more realistic. Uncle Nat was also a decent character, and I’d like to discover more about him in the other books of the series.
I loved the illustrations. They added to the vibe of the book, and the illustrator, Elisa Paganelli, was super generous with the illustrations, adding plenty of value to the book. I think they didn’t take away from sparking my imagination but just helped to ground me in the vibe and feel of the book and its characters – great for a kids’ book. They also would help orientate the younger reader with the setting and characters.
Even the notes on train facts at the end were interesting to read.
I give Murder on the Safari Star 4 out of 5 stars purely because it didn’t blow me away as something that would stay with me for a long time afterwards. But, few books do – it was engaging entertainment I’m sure many kids would enjoy.
