(1) 4-6 Moonwind Mysteries series. Translated by A. A. Prime. In this sequel to The Night Raven (rev. 9/23), young detective Mika has reason to suspect that some of the children at her orphanage have taken to thieving. Instead, she discovers they've been taken under the wing of an elegant, savvy performance artist, Henrietta, who has promised them an ideal home at her distant estate, the Apple Farm. First, though, they will help Henrietta with her knife-throwing show at a gala dinner where a priceless Japanese gemstone will be exhibited. When Mika meets Henrietta, even she feels the pull of the promise of a real home and agrees to help her -- until, with a little reading of the newspaper and quick, critical thinking, Mika realizes that "something doesn't quite make sense." This second Moonwind Mystery has a more somber tone than the first, perhaps because, although the book is set in 1880s Stockholm, the orphans' precarious futures and heartfelt longing make for a vulnerability that rings true here and now. Rundberg vividly conveys the part that hope plays in feeding the soul. At the same time, this is a wonderfully eventful mystery, with unpredictable plots, schemes, and a successful get-out-of-jail attempt engineered by a team of juvenile explosive experts -- not to mention indomitable Mika and her sidekick, unkempt and unorthodox police detective Hoff.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(1) 4-6 Moonwind Mysteries series. Translated by A. A. Prime. This English translation of Rundberg's lively historical mystery, set in 1880 and winner of several prestigious prizes in its native Sweden, is something to celebrate. Twelve-year-old Mika has lived all her life in Stockholm's public orphanage; she's its child-minder and maid-of-all-work as well as a server in a local pub. She is exceptionally spirited in her humor, kindness, courage, and perceptiveness, and when her astute observations attract the attention of police detective Valdemar Hoff, he enlists her help in a murder investigation. Could a copycat murderer be imitating a man who was recently executed, the serial killer known as the "Night Raven"? This is a captivating murder mystery, and more. Mika's awareness of her disposability--"I'm an orphanage kid...and a girl besides...I have to pay attention to detail all the time because my life depends on it"--is only one of the ways Rundberg sheds light on the most vulnerable. At the same time, his prose is quick, earthy, and comic: Hoff's hands are "as big as toilet lids"; he smells like "an old horse blanket"; and the rhapsody of the coming spring is noted by "the smell of thawing latrines." Joyous, funny, suspenseful, and serious--an unusual and winning combination for middle-grade readers. Let's hope its three sequels appear in Prime's English translation, too.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023