Agent Zaiba Investigates: The Smuggler's Secret

Agent Zaiba is back with another brilliant adventure!

Zaiba, Poppy, Ali and Mariam are off to the seaside, but there's no time to play on the beach when there's a mysterious artefact to discover and a theft to foil, involving shipwrecks, smugglers and secret passages.

This fun filled story has plenty of clues for young mystery fans to follow along with, as well as enough suspects to keep them guessing. The high stakes make this a good page turner and there's plenty of drama and twists, but it never veers into being scary, making Agent Zaiba a perfect introductory series to the mystery genre.

Zaiba herself is a brilliant main character, whose quiet confidence shows what children can achieve when they're taken seriously. She values all her friends' skills and makes sure they have the time to shine - and is patient if things don't quite go right.

Sosa's illustrations are, as always, a brilliant accompaniment to the story.

The Smuggler's Secret gently raises interesting questions about history and the ownership of items in museums, and it prompt some great discussions both in classrooms and at home.