Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Book of Lost Things | 2013 | Cynthia Voigt | Buy |
| 2 | The Book of Secrets | 2014 | Cynthia Voigt | Buy |
| 3 | The Book of Kings | 2015 | Cynthia Voigt | Buy |
Max Starling’s parents are actors who vanish when their ship sails without him. Left alone and resourceful, Max sets up as Mister Max — a private investigator, emphatically not a detective — and starts taking on cases to earn money while working toward finding his parents. The Book of Lost Things (2013), The Book of Secrets (2014), and The Book of Kings (2015) form a complete trilogy.
Voigt writes Max as a practical, self-reliant kid who is good at reading people and adapting to situations — skills he learned growing up with actor parents who were always playing roles. The cases he takes on in each book are clever without being condescending, and the ongoing mystery of his parents gives the three books a satisfying arc. The Queenstown setting, vaguely Edwardian in feel, suits the detective story format well.