Stuart Horten isn't keen on moving to a new town, is irritated by the triplet girls who are his new neighbors, and doesn't really care that he and his family have moved back to his father's hometown. But then he discovers that his great uncle Tony was a magician and he is quickly pulled into solving the mystery of his great-uncle's disappearance years ago.
A fun-enough read, but it wasn't as good as I remember it being when I read it a few years ago. *shrug* ( )

Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms
This book is about a boy who’s great uncle was a very good magician and disappeared when he was looking for his wife who had disappeared in a fire. Horten does not find him and lets another person wish to see him in a magic well. ( )

I loved this book, and read it aloud over several weeks with my kids, aged 10 and 7. Stuart is a real character, and his adventures kept us all entertained. We were thrilled to see that another book will be forthcoming! ( )

Fun mystery for middle grade readers ( )

Quirky characters, illustrations by the talented Edward Gorey and a vocabulary that will challenge curious middle readers create a fast paced, attention holding mystery. Stuart Horten is ten, small and relocating over summer vacation. His uncertainty grows when he sees the state the families new boring house in the dilapidated town of Beeton. He soon learns that he has family history in Beeton. The town was the former home of his uncle who disappeared under strange circumstances. Stuart finds a cryptic note about his birthright, and resolves to figure out what it means. This lightly adventurous modern story reflects on happenings in Britain around the time of WWII. Odd clues and a little magic inject intrigue to what might be a predictable genre in the hands of high level readers who feel forever trapped in the children’s section. This is the book for the child who tore through Snicket's “Series of unfortunate events” (HC) and does not know what to read next.