Moonlocket

Name: Moonlocket
Author: Peter Bunzl
ISBN: 9781631633751

by Peter Bunzl

Ages 8–11 Reading age 9 Novel Set in the past adventurousspooky

An escapologist has broken out of prison, and Robert's past turns out to be tangled up with a locket the man is hunting.

A story about children and a grown-up villain, adventurous and spooky in tone. We would put it with children of 8–11, and at a reading age of about 9 for reading alone.

Worth knowing before you buy

Mild peril
A death or grief

None of this makes it a bad book — often the opposite. It is here so you can decide whether it is right for your child now or in a year or two.

Part of a series

This is book 2 of the Cogheart series, so there is more to read if it goes down well — which is worth a great deal with a reluctant reader.

Our take on this book

In a Victorian London of clockwork and airships, an escapologist called the Jack of Diamonds has broken out of prison, and his hunt for a mysterious locket turns out to be tangled up with the hidden history of Robert, one of the young heroes — forcing secrets about his own past into the light. Peter Bunzl's steampunk adventure, the second in the Cogheart series, blends a proper Victorian mystery with mechanimal foxes, a clockwork friend and a genuinely clever plot. There is peril and a thread of bereavement running through Robert's story, giving it emotional weight beneath the chases and reveals, though the darkness never overwhelms the adventure. For an eight- to eleven-year-old who likes their history with a twist of invention, it is an atmospheric, fast-moving read; it stands largely on its own but is best enjoyed after Cogheart, and it will send many readers straight back to book one and on to the rest.