Isaac loves doing stuff with his dad. Whether it is conducting science experiments in their backyard, rebuilding a classic motorcycle or helping him prepare Big Ben for England’s daylight saving.

Digory (Dad) is a horologist – someone who specialises in watches and clocks, and his job is to look after the world-wide famous clock Big Ben in London. Big Ben cannot be turned back like most clocks at daylight savings time, but must be stopped then restarted at the right time. While Isaac is assisting Digory with the exact timing of this, Digory mysteriously vanishes.

Digory is all Isaac has, so he’s worried what will become of him while the police begin their investigation, but luckily his godfather is the larger than life Speaker of the House in UK’s parliament. ‘Uncle Sol’ is glad to have Isaac stay with him in he meantime in his apartment inside Parliament, and he reintroduces Isaac to his daughter Hattie. They had only met briefly years before.

With her father so important and busy with his duties, Hattie knows the Parliament buildings better than anyone working there, and she shows Isaac her secret hideaways and rooftops she likes to hang out on. She also shows Isaac where she saw a strange man inside Big Ben the night his dad vanished.

All Isaac has of his dad is his watch which must have been dropped and broken in a struggle. Isaac, determined to track down his dad, realises the watch itself holds a clue. With Hattie’s knowledge and sneaky skills, they follow a trail of clues to a mysterious organisation Digory is part of, all the while avoiding not only the Parliament guards and security, but the white haired man Hattie saw that night. He wants something from them, but they have no idea what.

Despite warnings from Hattie’s dad, the police and complete strangers to stay off the streets, Isaac and Hattie never stop in their search to find Digory. They quickly find themselves in terrible danger, with the knowledge that many lives are soon to be lost, and the entire world’s time will be not only stopped but in complete chaos, all at the hands of a man with a God complex.

Can they save Digory, stop the madman and restore the world’s time – in time?

The Clockwork Conspiracy has no boring bits! From the beginning, this plot races along with action, mystery, tons of interesting time facts and conundrums to work out.

Characters Isaac and Hattie compliment each other. Hattie is fearless, sneaky and equipped with the knowledge of places to avoid the authorities while they look for Isaac’s missing dad, and Isaac is clever, determined and understands his father’s horologist work. Together they discover terrible things are going to happen with time itself.

This middle-grade novel made me realise how much time rules our lives from small to old age, and much of it is in positive ways. It provides the structure in which we live. Chaos reigns in this story where time not only rolls back for daylight savings but jumps when it shouldn’t.

A clever, fast-paced mystery from one of the authors of the hugely successful Adventures on Trains series.

Author – Sam Sedgman

Age – 9+

(2024, Bloomsbury, Clocks, Time, Action, Adventure, Control, God complex, Greed, Mystery, Science, Horologist, UK, England, London, Parliament, Big Ben, The Great Clock, Action, Adventure, Betrayal, Crime, Friendship, Greed, Mystery, Science, Clues, Puzzles, Rooftops)