The Adventures on Trains series is one of my favourite middle grades so I was eager to read something else by Sam Sedgman. There's a lot in The Clockwork Conspiracy that reminds me of the Trains series - mystery, action, adventure, fast paced storytelling, great characters. 

Unfortunately what let the book down for me personally is a lack of logic - the central concept and several of the story points simply don't make sense. I know some people enjoy reading action or spy type stories which are deliberately unrealistic in this way, especially children's books, but I'm not keen on it and it did harm my enjoyment. 

That said, there's plenty I did like about the book, including the setting at the heart of Parliament (I learnt a few things!) and the fact that one of the main characters is the daughter of the Speaker of the House of Commons. As mentioned I also loved the characters, especially the main two kids. I would happily read further books based around the two of them.