Trains. Mystery. Scotland. If you like any or all of those, The Highland Falcon Thief is the right book for you. And it’s the first in a projected series, called Adventures on Trains.

In this first book, Harrison Beck’s parents send him on a train trip, the last journey of the historic Highland Falcon steam train, with his uncle, while Harrison’s mother is giving birth to his new baby sister. Harrison, knowing nothing about trains, is expecting a boring journey with all adults, but he meets a stowaway his age on the train. And the two of them become friends and fellow detectives in order to solve the case of a jewel theft. Can Harrison and Lenny find the thief and the princess’s missing diamond necklace before the Highland Falcon retires from service?

Lots of information about trains and railway history is woven into this mystery. And the solution to the mystery is satisfactory, even if it’s a bit ugly. Harrison and Lenny are brave and intrepid characters, and Lenny’s Indian British heritage adds a bit of diversity to this middle grade mystery story.

“You would have to look for a long time to find an engine more impressive and downright beautiful than this one,” Uncle Nat walked toward the nose of the train and laid his hand on it, patting it as if it were a horse.

Copying his uncle, Hal laid his hand on the metal casing and was surprised to find it was warm and vibrating. The locomotive sighed out a puff of steam, as if it were alive—a dragon, ancient, powerful, and ready to fly.