- Chapter Books
- Ages 10–14
- Mystery
The Queen of Thieves
Book 2 of 5 in The Moonwind MysteriesView the full series
The second Moonwind mystery sends orphan detective Mika after a wave of thefts and vanishing children in wintry 1880 Stockholm, with a sinister knife-throwing performer at the heart of it and Mika herself falling under suspicion.
- Best for10–14
- FormatChapter
- Length207 pp
- Read aloud~2 hr55 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Literary
- Conversational
Tone
- Suspenseful
- Exciting
- Dark
- Thought provoking
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Winter still has Stockholm in its grip, and orphan Mika is back at Detective Hoff's side when a rash of daring thefts sweeps the city. Then older children start disappearing from the streets and the orphanage, their trail leading to a mysterious knife-throwing showman and a shadowy figure known as the Queen of Thieves. As Mika digs deeper she finds herself accused of the very crimes she is trying to solve, and must lean on her ragged band of friends, the brick-carrying Girls, to clear her name and save the missing. Johan Rundberg's follow-up to the August Prize-winning The Night Raven deepens the found-family bonds while keeping the Nordic-noir chill: taut, atmospheric historical crime for confident readers, unflinching about poverty and exploitation but powered by loyalty and Mika's fierce cleverness. Translated from the Swedish by A. A. Prime.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
Aimed at confident 10-14s who enjoyed the first book or like suspenseful historical mysteries. There is real peril, criminality and hardship but less graphic death than book one, so it sits a notch gentler; still not a bedtime or sensitive-child read.
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- Best fit · 10–14
- Read aloud · 10–13
- Independent · 10–14
Prose load
Moderate
Visual support
None
Reluctant-reader friendly
Workable
Read-aloud quality
Workable
Preview before sharing if a child is sensitive to: violence, poverty or hardship, abandonment, scary imagery.
Bedtime suitability
1 / 5 · Wide awake
Sensitive-child
2 / 5 · Use judgement
Graphic intensity
2 / 5 · Mild
Best for
- Mystery lovers
- Confident readers
- Nordic noir
- Historical fiction
Avoid if
- Wants gentle bedtime
- Sensitive to violence
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
Mika is on the trail of a thief who steals children, then finds the finger of blame pointing at her. Her gang of street friends, the Girls, have her back, and the mix of danger, disguise and loyalty makes for a page-turner with real stakes.
- Being a detective
- Surviving danger
- Friendship and belonging
- The underdog winning
Why parents love it
The sequel keeps the atmospheric, well-written historical crime of the first book while leaning into found-family warmth. It's honest about poverty and exploitation without gratuitous horror, and it treats its young readers as capable of a serious, suspenseful story.
- Great writing
- Conversation starter
In the series
The Moonwind Mysteries.
5 books · open the series →
About the author
Johan Rundberg.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
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