Agent Zaiba Investigates: The Smuggler's Secret

The legendary Agent Zaiba and her Snow Leopard Detective Agency crew are back for a new mystery, this time on a weekend away to the seaside. Joining The history club, Zaiba and friends are given a unique opportunity to travel to the seaside to see a recently discovered shipwreck and mysterious artefact. They will need to guess what the treasure is before the great reveal and Zaiba’s unique skills give her the upper hand in figuring it all out.
The true mystery is harder to piece together but with help from family and friends, Zaiba slowly figures it all out. This spectacular and adventurous mystery features smugglers caves, overly dramatic actors and a hugely distinguishable family. Starting at the beginning and following the detective guidelines. Zaiba is able to put together a list of suspects and motives. At times it seems daunting but she is clever and things can sometimes click into place with just the right turn of phrase.
My daughter and I love this series, guaranteeing its purchase each time a new one is published. She is an inspirational character, treating everyone with kindness and fairness, even welcoming annoying cousin Mariam into the agency crew. I love Poppy and her fashionable personality and ability to question any suspect easily. Ali’s love of facts and information is adorable and quite handy in an investigation,
This is a series I hope to read more from!
My daughter is queuing up behind me to read this and I am sure she will give it 5 stars as well.

A brilliant story of Zaiba and her class when they go on a field trip to the Jurassic coast. There are smugglers, lost treasure and yet another case for her detective agency. this is a super series for younger crime fighters.

A great first read for the new year. I really enjoyed this book. I love a good mystery to solve and those written for children are just as good.

This was an easy read and I can definitely see it being enjoyed by children. I have not read the first three books in the series yet (I managed to get an advance digital copy of this one from NetGalley). The fact that I hadn’t read the previous books didn’t impact my enjoyment at all. (There are vague references to the previous stories but nothing that holds you back if you don’t know them.)

The characters Zaiba, Poppy, Ali and Mariam are very relatable. There is a massive amount of representation in this book which is one of the many things which make it a fantasy book.

The plot is interesting and has enough to hold your interest and keep you guessing without it becoming too complex.

The History Club are off on a weekend school trip to see a newly discovered artefact. Kept a secret until it’s upcoming reveal their first mystery is to try and work out what this priceless item could be.

Zaiba and the Snow Leopard Detective Agency UK Branch are up for the challenge - they also suspect that where such a valuable artefact is concerned there is a very high chance that a crime will occur. If it does they will be prepared.

Perfect for children (and adults) aged 8+