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The Butterfly Club #3
The Mona Lisa Mystery
The adventures of the time-travelling Butterfly Club continue . . .When the Butterfly Club asks the time thieves to go to Paris and steal a little-known painting known as the Mona Lisa, Aidan can only think of one man who can make things disappear – Harry Houdini.The three children and Houdini travel to 1911 Paris where they face their most difficult mission yet. To add to the challenge they soon discover they are not the only ones planning to steal the Mona Lisa. A group of artists also seem intent on stealing the portrait, as it contains hidden clues to a much greater treasure, clues that were placed there in Renaissance times by the Mona Lisa's creator Leonardo Da Vinci himself.
304 pages, Paperback
First published April 13, 2023
7 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
About the author
M.A. Bennett
17 books303 followersM. A. Bennett is half Venetian and was born in Manchester, England, and raised in the Yorkshire Dales. She is a history graduate of Oxford University and the University of Venice, where she specialized in the study of Shakespeare’s plays as a historical source. After university she studied art and has since worked as an illustrator, an actress, and a film reviewer. She also designed tour visuals for rock bands, including U2 and the Rolling Stones. She was married on the Grand Canal in Venice and lives in north London with her husband, son, and daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 16, 2023
I enjoyed this. It taught me a lot about Mona Lisa and Houdini and it kept me entertained throughout. My only problem is that the three young time travellers have no agency. They have hardly any thoughts of their own, and they do whatever the adults in the book tell them to do. They are quite pointless as characters, when you consider that Houdini and Vincenzo do all of the hard work. I have not read any of the other books in the series so perhaps it is different in the previous books, but I wish the three children felt more like main character and less like side characters. As it is, I finished the book wondering what the point of the children was.
I also thought it was about 100 pages too long, but that's probably just me. The first half of the book was excellent.
I also thought it was about 100 pages too long, but that's probably just me. The first half of the book was excellent.
October 2, 2025
This was such a fun and easy read, a good choice if you’re fighting a little bit of reading slump! I love middle grade books because they’re usually quick, light, and full of adventure, and The Mona Lisa Mystery was exactly that.
What first caught my eye were the red-edged pages. Then I read the synopsis and knew it would be something playful that doesn’t take itself too seriously. And it delivered.
I assumed it would be based on real historical events but until the ending I wasn’t aware how much. Vincenzo really was an Italian guy who stole the painting. And because of this theft it became one of the most well known paintings in the world. That’s unbelievable from today’s person’s pov. I’m really blown away.
I also liked how the book mixed real facts with fiction. It was done in a really fun and clever way. And even though this is part of a series and I didn’t read the earlier books, I didn’t feel lost at all, it definitely can be read as a stand-alone.
The only downsides I can point out are how easily everything solved and the children being taught exactly what to do. They didn’t plan anything, everything was thought out by Houdini.
What first caught my eye were the red-edged pages. Then I read the synopsis and knew it would be something playful that doesn’t take itself too seriously. And it delivered.
I assumed it would be based on real historical events but until the ending I wasn’t aware how much. Vincenzo really was an Italian guy who stole the painting. And because of this theft it became one of the most well known paintings in the world. That’s unbelievable from today’s person’s pov. I’m really blown away.
I also liked how the book mixed real facts with fiction. It was done in a really fun and clever way. And even though this is part of a series and I didn’t read the earlier books, I didn’t feel lost at all, it definitely can be read as a stand-alone.
The only downsides I can point out are how easily everything solved and the children being taught exactly what to do. They didn’t plan anything, everything was thought out by Houdini.
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October 2, 2024Page 149: In what universe did the Trojans give the Greeks the wooden horse as a peace offering, the Greeks accepted it but there were Trojans inside and they defeated the Greeks from iside their own citadel????
Like, it happened but the other way around!!!!the Greeks defeated the Trojans using that trick!!!
And i am Greek so I know my history
And this is not something you can mess up just like that!!
Like, it happened but the other way around!!!!the Greeks defeated the Trojans using that trick!!!
And i am Greek so I know my history
And this is not something you can mess up just like that!!
May 3, 2023
THE MONA LISA MYSTERY sees the kids travel forward in time, this time to explicitly undertake a heist.
I love heist books and all the cunning illusions, switches, and misdirections that come with the genre. And to make things even more fun, the heist is masterminded by none other than Houdini himself. It's such a fun plot, with plenty of trickery and broken locks. (Heist books also make it VERY hard to say anything about the plot with spoilers, suffice to say, I loved how they stole it and the various ways Leonardo da Vinci's notebook was used.)
The book is based on the real theft of the painting in 1911 and I loved seeing how the events were altered and adapted for this book. If you know the real story of the theft, then there are plenty of Easter eggs for you - but you still won't be able to guess how it pans out in the book.
This book also leans heavily into hinting that the Butterfly Club might not be as noble and virtuous as it seems. It also sets a spanner in the works for the kids' involvement in the next story and I'm interested to see how that's resolved (and how the issue of the Butterfly Club will resolve.)
Plus, with time in the kids' home period rapidly approaching the date that Luna's dad warned her to stay well clear of back in the first book, things are getting very interesting in the series-arc. Luckily, the fourth book is not too far away...
I love heist books and all the cunning illusions, switches, and misdirections that come with the genre. And to make things even more fun, the heist is masterminded by none other than Houdini himself. It's such a fun plot, with plenty of trickery and broken locks. (Heist books also make it VERY hard to say anything about the plot with spoilers, suffice to say, I loved how they stole it and the various ways Leonardo da Vinci's notebook was used.)
The book is based on the real theft of the painting in 1911 and I loved seeing how the events were altered and adapted for this book. If you know the real story of the theft, then there are plenty of Easter eggs for you - but you still won't be able to guess how it pans out in the book.
This book also leans heavily into hinting that the Butterfly Club might not be as noble and virtuous as it seems. It also sets a spanner in the works for the kids' involvement in the next story and I'm interested to see how that's resolved (and how the issue of the Butterfly Club will resolve.)
Plus, with time in the kids' home period rapidly approaching the date that Luna's dad warned her to stay well clear of back in the first book, things are getting very interesting in the series-arc. Luckily, the fourth book is not too far away...
August 10, 2023
I haven’t read the first two books, but now I need to!
This is the 3rd instalment in the Butterfly Club series, it is very fast paced story with a lot of historical details. The reader is taught about Harry Houdini, Vincenzo Peruggia, Leonardo Da Vinci as well as Mona Lisa. The book is a combination of mystery, history and science fiction.
A Secret Victorian society wants to change the future by sending its members into the future with the guidance of Professor Edward Lorenz. Aiden, along with his friends Luna and Konstantin feel like Houdini is the best man for the job when it comes to stealing the Mona Lisa.
A lovely book for KS2 children.
This is the 3rd instalment in the Butterfly Club series, it is very fast paced story with a lot of historical details. The reader is taught about Harry Houdini, Vincenzo Peruggia, Leonardo Da Vinci as well as Mona Lisa. The book is a combination of mystery, history and science fiction.
A Secret Victorian society wants to change the future by sending its members into the future with the guidance of Professor Edward Lorenz. Aiden, along with his friends Luna and Konstantin feel like Houdini is the best man for the job when it comes to stealing the Mona Lisa.
A lovely book for KS2 children.
September 12, 2024
Story was ok, but I had a feeling all the way through that something was off.
I didn't like how useless & clueless the kids seemed. Why were they not better prepared? Ok, so the boys got to use some skills, but Luna could have disappeared from the story and nothing much would have changed.
I didn't like how useless & clueless the kids seemed. Why were they not better prepared? Ok, so the boys got to use some skills, but Luna could have disappeared from the story and nothing much would have changed.
September 3, 2023
3.75 stars. This one is probably the best so far. Houdini did not disappoit.
February 9, 2025
Lovely YA story. Did not read the first two but that was not necessary. Only thing that bothered me is that the three main characters are just "followers" and do not have their own paths.
October 11, 2025
An interesting twist appears in this story, which enhances the series…
October 20, 2024
‘Obviously, if you are travelling to Italy, I won’t be seeing you around here again.’
‘Trust me,’ said Houdini, ‘we’ll be gone in the nick of time.’
This was a fun book. I liked the fact that every book has a different emphasis. Book 1 was repeating the same day multiple times, book 2 was about the historical archeology, book 3 was a heist/prison breakout.
The trickery and deception were fun, but compared to the previous two, the three main characters had little to do. Houdini did most of it, Aiden helped, but Luna and Konstantin felt secondary.
As setup for the fourth and final book, it worked well. Both Luna and Konstantin end the book with plot threads waiting to be resolved. Luna is doubting the butterfly club as a whole and Konstantin needs surgery from the future to keep his heart going.
I am very interested in how it will go and can’t wait to read book 4.
‘Trust me,’ said Houdini, ‘we’ll be gone in the nick of time.’
This was a fun book. I liked the fact that every book has a different emphasis. Book 1 was repeating the same day multiple times, book 2 was about the historical archeology, book 3 was a heist/prison breakout.
The trickery and deception were fun, but compared to the previous two, the three main characters had little to do. Houdini did most of it, Aiden helped, but Luna and Konstantin felt secondary.
As setup for the fourth and final book, it worked well. Both Luna and Konstantin end the book with plot threads waiting to be resolved. Luna is doubting the butterfly club as a whole and Konstantin needs surgery from the future to keep his heart going.
I am very interested in how it will go and can’t wait to read book 4.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews