Urban-sketcher Hal and his uncle take the Eurostar from London to Paris and a night-train to Berlin in the fourth of MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman’s middle-grade Adventures on Trains series. This time calamity strikes off-stage: a man has been frightened to death in a train tunnel: Hal and Uncle Nat are invited to investigate - undercover.

There are bats, witches, codes, folklore, wartime secrets, an ancient curse, and references to Goethe’s Faust and Kästner’s Emil and the Detectives. The chapters are short and by the start of chapter two, the adventure is well underway.

Can Hal unravel the mystery before the deadly curse strikes again?

In the first three books, the trains themselves are among the chief delights: creating dynamic, dangerous, and unusual settings for Hal’s investigations. In Danger at Dead Man’s Pass, the investigation unfolds in a castle. There’s more of a Cluedo vibe: locked rooms, hidden keys, and detailed floor plans.

An enjoyable excursion, but I rather missed the strong flavour of the trains (and the sense of high-speed, rattling action) which was so distinctive in the earlier books.

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Kidnap on the California Comet by MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman: a fast-paced, railway mystery with magic, red herrings, and shady suspects galore.