NetGalley November - The Missing Diamonds

I kept putting this book off. I know, I know. But, originally, my plan was to take part in this year’s Believathon, a readathon that focuses on middle grade books. But, my NetGalley TBR was getting out of hand so I decided to skip it and put this (and the sequel, which I also have) on the back burner. Then, my library’s audiobook app had this and I hit request so fast! Which is strange as BorrowBox has this on audiobook but not Audible. Go figure. 

Title And Author: Agent Zaiba Investigates: The Missing Diamonds by Annabelle Sami & Illustrated by Daniela Sosa

Publisher: Stripes Publishing

Physical, eBook or Audiobook: eBook & Audiobook

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review/write-up and audiobooked borrowed from local library via BorrowBox

Length: 256 Pages or 4 Hours 21 Minutes

At her cousin, Sam’s, Mehndi party, Zaiba gets her first mystery: who is the mystery VIP staying at the same hotel. With the help of her best friend, Poppy, and her little brother, Ali, Zaiba puts her sleuthing skills to the test. But when the celebrity’s dog goes missing, along with its priceless diamond collar, it’s up to the trio to save the day. But are they up to the task?

This is a middle grade mystery (probably on the younger side of middle-grade) but this was an utter joy to read. It was so much fun! I devoured this in one day and just loved it. It gave me strong vibes of Murder Most Unladylike meets The Worst Witch (I have no idea why my brain combined the two and went “That’s what this is!”). 

This is a fun crime mystery with action, adventure, friendship and huge rep as most of the characters in this book are British Pakistani. Nothing violent or scary and might be a bit easy/on-the-nose for older middle-grade readers, but this is such fun and cute and I loved it!

Quick note about the illustrations as I mostly audobooked this but I looked my eProof and the illustrations by Daniela Sosa are just as lovely and cute. Hang on, let me add one or two pics.

I had such fun reading this and I can’t wait to find time and read the sequel, The Poison Plot!