The Good Thieves

'An amazing adventure story, told with sparkling style and sleight of hand' - Jacqueline Wilson

FOYLES CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019

A glittering, page-turning adventure set amidst the streets of New York, The Good Thieves is a modern classic from internationally bestselling author Katherine Rundell

Fresh off the boat from England, Vita Marlowe has a job to do. Her beloved grandfather Jack has been cheated out of his home and possessions by a notorious conman with Mafia connections. Seeing Jack's spirit is broken, Vita is desperate to make him happy again, so she devises a plan to outwit his enemies and recover his home.

She finds a young pickpocket, working the streets of the city. And, nearby, two boys with highly unusual skills and secrets of their own are about to be pulled into her lawless, death-defying plan.

Katherine Rundell's fifth novel is a heist as never seen before - the story of a group of children who will do anything to right a wrong.

'Read everything she writes' - Daily Mail

Get ready to go on an unforgettable adventure with Katherine Rundell…

“You can't really describe Katherine Rundell as a rising star any more, so fixed is she in the kid-lit firmament. Rundell flexed her historical thriller muscle in The Good Thieves which pitted a young British girl and an unlikely alliance of streetwise youngsters and circus performers against New York gangsters and crooked politicians: justice was served with relish .”

Rundell is an astonishing young talent and her books combine old-fashioned, edge-of-your-seat adventure with richly imagined characters... Read everything she writes Daily Mail
An amazing adventure story, told with sparkling style and sleight of hand Jacqueline Wilson
Rundell is the real deal, a writer of boundless gifts and extraordinary imaginative power whose novels will be read, cherished and reread long after most so-called "serious" novels are forgotten Observer
Captivating ... Not only is [Rundell's] latest an irresistible journey, but every inch of it is a delight … At its heart the book is about courage, friendship and love Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week
A new Katherine Rundell book is always an event, but this is another triumph and then some. A wickedly exciting heist with heart, I can but marvel at this new delight from one of my favourite storytellers ever Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Girl of Ink & Stars
Likely to be the best children’s book you’ll read this year The Times Children’s Book of the Week
Rundell orchestrates the fast-paced, thrilling action and vivid, endearing characters with the precision of a watchmaker Daily Mail
With a gripping plot and unforgettable characters, Rundell’s latest is another triumph Mail on Sunday Children’s Book of the Month
Purring mafiosi, breathtaking feats of nerve and a crackling sense of atmosphere throughout make this book a single-sitting treat, showcasing Rundell at the peak of her powers Guardian
A total showstopper of a story. Rundell’s finest yet Emma Carroll, author of Letters from the Lighthouse
I love the way Katherine puts Impossible on hold while she tells her wild, warm, shimmering stories Hilary McKay, author of The Skylarks’ War
The Good Thieves is another suspenseful and beautifully written book that will delight Rundell fans Telegraph
The Good Thieves is a story-telling spectacle – it glitters with adventure, family, friendship, and an irresistible sprinkling of impossibility Catherine Doyle, author of The Storm Keeper's Island
Increasingly, I feel that doctors should prescribe Katherine Rundell books to patients – all that wisdom, all that humour, all that irrepressible joy. The Good Thieves is, predictably, superb Abi Elphinstone, author of Sky Song
It’s full of mischief, vibrance, tenacity and wonder Cerrie Burnell, author of The Girl with the Shark's Teeth
Rundell’s books are as breathlessly intrepid as each sentence is elegantly sculpted i Weekend
Lights a spark in your heart from the very first line and sets it blazing with danger, daring, high-wire thrills and a vivid, unstoppable spirit of love and hope. I adored it Lauren St John, author of the Laura Marlin Mysteries
Another satisfying instalment in Rundell’s ongoing saga of adventure and derring-do. Filled with all the tension, justice and excitement you expect from her, The Good Thieves doesn’t put a foot wrong, as it plots and plans, twists and turns, flies and falls as Vita and her gang plot the heist of the decade, on the side of good A. F. Harrold, author of The Afterwards
A truly excellent book ... Stolen castles, daring heists, prohibition, pickpockets, animal adventure, the circus, a truly terrifying villain and four of the best protagonists I’ve ever encountered. Plus Katherine Rundell’s glorious prose Katherine Webber, co-author of Sam Wu Is Not Afraid
Katherine Rundell’s writing is always beautiful, but The Good Thieves hits a whole new level for me. It’s just dazzling! I adore fierce, vibrant Vita, and the plot is SO compelling Stephanie Burgis, author of The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart

Katherine Rundell is a bestselling author whose novels for children include Rooftoppers, The Wolf Wilder, The Explorer and The Good Thieves. She has won the Costa Children’s Book Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, amongst many others. She was a 2021 World Book Day author and has also published two picture books for children and three non-fiction books for adults, including Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne, winner of the 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize, and The Golden Mole and Other Living Treasure, shortlisted for the 2022 Waterstones Book of the Year. Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide.

Katherine spent her childhood in Africa and Europe before taking her degree at the University of Oxford and becoming a Fellow of All Souls College. As well as writing, she studies Renaissance literature and occasionally goes climbing on the rooftops late at night.

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