Publisher's Weekly Review
A sharp-witted, orphaned 12-year-old helps solve a perplexing crime in this intelligent series launch by Rundberg, set in 1880 Stockholm. Three months before the book's start, a serial killer called the Night Raven was caught red-handed and executed--so it shocks young Mika when she overhears a cop say that a recent victim's final words were that the Night Raven had come for him. When a newborn arrives at the Public Children's Home, where longtime resident Mika takes up a mentor-like role for younger residents, she briefly forgets this impossible revelation, until the police report for the baby's surrender earns a visit from Det. Valdemar Hoff. Frustrated by his colleagues' ineptitude and impressed with Mika's keen observations, Valdemar enlists her help in investigating the Night Raven's possible return. And though Mika knows the work is dangerous, she perseveres, insisting that "if I can help catch him, I'll have done something with my life, even if I'm risking death." A rushed denouement shortchanges an intriguing setup, brilliant deduction, and an artfully crafted mystery. Still, Mika is a brave, resourceful heroine, and her warm relationships with Valdemar and her peers at the orphanage counterbalance the bleak backdrop. All characters cue as white. Ages 10--14. Agent: Carin Bacho Carniani, Koja Agency. (Nov.)
Horn Book Review
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. Deirdre F. BakerSeptember/October 2023 p.80 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In this Swedish import, 12-year-old orphan Mika gets wrapped up in a murder investigation. Set in 1880 Stockholm, this story opens with Mika receiving a new admit at the Public Children's Home, a mysterious baby handed to her by a boy who then vanishes into the night. But that's not the only odd happening of the night--there is also a murder. Detective Valdemar Hoff, who's looking into the murder, interviews Mika and is struck by how observant she is. A vulnerable orphan treated as disposable, Mika eventually explains that her survival depends on paying close attention to her surroundings. As the two investigate together, they realize that the murder resembles the work of the Night Raven, a serial killer who once terrorized Stockholm--and who was executed last year. Mika is clever, scrappy, determined, and moral, all of which makes her a compelling hero. Rundberg's sharp writing gives readers a window into the underside of a desperate city grappling with a devastating winter, police corruption, and the cruel indifference of many of its residents. Valdemar makes a good partner for Mika, rough-looking and no-nonsense, oblivious that others have much less privilege than him, yet governed by a strict sense of right and wrong. This gripping, fast-paced mystery comes together well, with Mika's deductions based firmly in logic and connections based in her own clear observations. The climax requires Mika to be as bold as she is clever, and the resolution promises more mysteries. Characters are cued as White. A thrilling and thoughtful period murder mystery. (Historical thriller. 9-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Set in Stockholm during the bitterly cold winter of 1880, this dark, intricate story features Mika, a 12-year-old girl. Left at an orphanage as an infant, she now helps the younger children when she's not working at a bar. Detective Valdemar Hoff recruits Mika after reading a constable's report that records her keen observations. Informally deputized, she agrees to help him solve a mystery involving a serial killer who was active years earlier, captured, and supposedly put to death. Now rumors suggest that "the Night Raven lives." It's a terrifying prospect since his victims appear to have had ties to Mika's orphanage. Rundberg creates an utterly convincing, consistently grim setting during a winter so cold that the orphans can barely collect enough firewood to keep from freezing. Dinner means watery gruel again, and Mika's dark humor includes references to cannibalism. Originally published in Sweden, the novel ends with justice done and, for Mika, a newfound sense of purpose. While not every mystery introduced is solved, this is only the first volume in the Moonwind Mysteries series.
