Murder on the Safari Star

M. G. Leonard's Murder on the Safari Star is a steam-train mystery for 10 year olds, full of wildlife, faded luxury and one very suspicious roll of cash.

What happens

Hal Beck is twelve, and he draws everything. Trains mostly. On Christmas morning his Uncle Nat hides a card inside a tin of charcoal sticks. They're going to South Africa at half-term, on a steam train called the Safari Star, all the way to Victoria Falls!

Before the train even leaves, Hal is sketching in the station grounds when he spots the train's owner, Luther Ackerman, taking a thick wad of money from a man in the trees. He draws it, of course. And he's sure there's a case on board.

Then he meets the passengers. It's a proper whodunnit line-up. A retired detective. A mystery writer who's hoping for inspiration (and is rather loud about it). A famous actor and his girlfriend. A quiet surgeon and his wife. And Mervyn Crosby, a rich, rude media boss who's brought his hunting rifle because he wants to shoot a rhino.

The murder in the title hasn't happened yet by the time the train pulls out. But you can feel it coming, and you can't help making a list of suspects.

What I love about this one is how much real stuff it packs in. Hal and Winston, a boy he meets at the station (with a pet yellow mongoose that eats spiders!), talk about poaching and trophy hunting. Uncle Nat explains why the Big Five are the Big Five. And the engine, a huge green locomotive called Janice, gets a guided tour from the footplate.

Hal's drawings matter too. He notices things because he's drawing them, and I think that's a lovely idea for any child who likes to doodle.

It gets serious in places. There's a murder promised in the title, and a lot of frank talk about animals being shot for their heads and horns. Crosby even offers to pay extra to strap a dead rhino to the train roof. A child who's very tender about animals might find that part upsetting, but everyone else on the train is firmly on the animals' side.

What to read next

This is the third of Hal's train adventures with Uncle Nat. The earlier cases get mentioned, so it's best to start where Hal's travels began, with The Highland Falcon Thief, when he's sulking at King's Cross about being sent on a boring train trip with an uncle he hardly knows.