I am a cozy mystery lover and James Ponti does a good job with his mystery series for middle-grade readers. His Framed series are mysteries with plenty of action and humor but not too gruesome or violent. City Spies is his newest book and probably the beginning of a series. It is about five orphan kids from around the world who come together to live in Scotland to form a secret British spy team. They live in an old castle and when not spying go to a local private school. They each have their own specialty from hacking to sleight of hand and together form a team to stop villains.
The story starts in New York City where orphan Sara Martinez is facing juvenile detention and a ban from using computers for hacking into the foster care system software. A British spy sweeps in and gets her released into his custody. He brings her to Scotland to meet the other for kids who will be part of her new spy family. Everyone is named after the place they came. Sara now becomes Brooklyn. Her hacking abilities are needed for the team's next mission which takes place in Paris. They are acting undercover in an international youth summit contest and trying to prevent the villains from destroying the world. Interestingly, a virus attack is one of the problems they face. This book came out in March 2020 right on the brink of sheltering orders for protection from COVID 19. I wonder if James Ponti knew his plot would be this close to reality.
I enjoyed reading this spy adventure book and would rate it a 4 out of 4. I can't wait for the next book!