Review: The Trapdoor Mysteries #3 + #4: Thief in the Night + The Lost Treasure

Review: The Trapdoor Mysteries #3 + #4: Thief in the Night + The Lost Treasure

Thief in the Night by Abie Longstaff, James Brown, Girl holding a lantern and looking into a dark spaceThe final two books in the series and we have new mysteries, pasts revealed, and more!

The second half of the series with new mysteries, this time we have a ghostly mystery in the third book, what is wandering at night around the mansion (and later in the mansion?) and who is that suspicion person that is conveniently near when “help” is needed? I really enjoyed this mystery and see Tally use her wits, smarts, and the help of some magic + the library to solve the case and save the day. The true culprit/what makes the noises was so fun, I loved that, it was original. I also liked Tally’s invention, though it looked a bit too good for a first try, haha.
And then in the second book we have a jewellery thief at large! Before Tally goes on a trip with her family we read about thefts happening and I liked that the culprit was also on board of the boat, I mean, you would think it is a bit magical, but given the time of this one and how little boats there were that went to somewhere, it fits. Plus, I like that the mystery continued on the boat because it had a more claustrophobic/exciting feel than when there is all the room to investigate. Now Tally had to use smarts to figure out how to find things out.

Plus, as has seen in the previous two books, Tally is discovering more about her family. In the second book we saw that she had definitely clues to the Lord of the house being her dad and in this one we see more of that and them forming a family. I loved that Tally was able to find her father and that he embraced her so warmly into his family. He already was a sweet warm man who was more than willing to teach Tally new things, but now he knows she is his daughter? Well, he is definitely trying to make up for all the time they lost so far. It just made me smile. And I love that in the last book they are on the search for Tally’s mom. She is not the only one invested, because Lord Mollett is also fully invested, he still loves her and he wants to get things right this time.

The Trapdoor Mysteries The Lost Treasure by Abie Longstaff, James BrownBonus points to Squill who was just the cutest thing! Plus, all the other animals that Tally rescues~

And the art is so much fun! I love the style and how well it fits with the story.

Oh, I did read a few of the footnotes, and I like the addition, but my ADHD just gets too distracted so for most I just skipped them.

But BUT I am severely saddened by the ending. I think it would have been better to have just one more book after the journey because now? It was just all to convenient. All too easy. All too simple. And yes, this is a children’s book for kids in the younger range, but that doesn’t mean you have to cut corners. Plus, I am invested in these characters and see them just be done like this, nah. Nah thank you. It didn’t spark any joy with me. Just sadness. These characters deserve much much more.

But despite the last book’s ending being eh I am happy I read this series completely now. It took a few years, but that is OK. I would still recommend it to everyone!

Book 3: Star rating, 4.5 stars

Book 4: Star rating, 4 stars

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