Book Review: Kitty Hawk and the Hunt for Hemingway's Ghost by Iain Reading

Kitty Hawk and the Hunt for Hemingway's Ghost is the second book in the Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency series by Iain Reading. This series of adventure mystery stories that are one part travel, one part history, and five parts adventure. Kitty Hawk is the main character. She is an intrepid teenage pilot who has decided to follow in the footsteps of her hero Amelia Earhart and make an epic flight around the entire world. After flying across North America Kitty's journey takes her down south to Florida where she plans to get a bit of rest and relaxation before continuing on with the rest of her long and grueling flight. As Kitty explores the strange and magical water world of the Florida Keys her knack for getting herself into precarious situations sweeps her headlong into the adventure involving mysterious lights, ancient shipwrecks, barracudas and even sightings of the great Ernest Hemingway himself. This  story sweeps across the landscape and history of the Florida Keys all the way from Key West to the strange and remarkable world of Fort Jefferson and the Dry Tortugas.

Kitty Hawk and the Hunt for Hemingway's Ghost has the same mixture of mystery, adventure, and fascinating history wrapped together as drew me to the first book in the series, Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold. Kitty finds herself in trouble again by being more curious than might be safe. However, she is also smart and for the most part fairly practical about her survival. While Kitty makes some new friends in this installment, I think it was missing some of the interactions that made the first book so amazing. However, that dynamic is not one that could really be repeated. I really enjoyed the literary and treasure hunting twists woven in this story, and am interested to see what kind of mystery kitty finds next.

I would highly recommend Kitty Hawk and the Hunt for Hemingway's Ghost to readers that have enjoyed Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold. I also recommend the entire series (preferably in order) to all readers that enjoy mystery, adventure, and intelligent fiction that leaves the reader feeling satisfied and like they learned a little something along the way.