This series is SO much fun, definitely recommend! I enjoyed this so much. The mystery is great and really well put together. 4.5 stars.

Zaiba, Ali and Poppy make friends with Olivia and Flora who have recently moved to their village in an Old Manor House that needs a revamp.

The locals haven’t welcomed them with open arms and as such, Flora and Olivia’s parents decide to throw a party. However, mysterious things keep happening in and around the house and they are all starting to believe the house is haunted. When the lights go out and a brick is thrown through the stained glass window, Zaiba decides that it is definitely a case for the Snow Leopard Detective Agency branch to investigate. Will they discover if it’s a an evil Jinn or ghost or is it a neighbour who wants them out?

I liked the fact that the more I read, the more twists and turns it had about who the culprit might be. I thought i knew, then didn’t and was back to square one. I like how all the friendships come together and how Zaiba tries to bring in even the ones that haven’t been nice to her as she believes everyone deserves a chance.

Not only did we have the main story in the book, scattered throughout it, there are references to the history of the house. This is then carried on at the end with a more comprehensive history of Women’s football. As well as Ali’s recipes.

All in this is a lovely Year 3/Year 4 Mystery/who dunnit read. Would recommend the series.

The latest adventures of Zaiba, Ali and Poppy as they investigate more mysteries. The girls have befriended the new girl at school, Olivia, and are delighted to be invited to visit her home, Oakwood Manor. But, as well as being an old, rambling building with lots of rooms to explore it seems that the Manor is also haunted! Ali, ever the voice of science and reason, doesn't believe in ghosts but the children find themselves in a situation where they have a few hours to prove that there are only human forces at work when a housewarming party goes wrong.

Another lovely book with a great blend of (mild) peril, problem-solving and the power of co-operation. The returning characters continue to develop (young scientist Ali is still my favourite, I think) and new recruits are welcomed to the Snow Leopard Detective Agency (UK Branch). A great series for enquiring minds from about eight years old

Zaiba’s new friend Olivia has just moved into Oakwood Manor—a large, slightly dilapidated house with a colourful history. But strange things have been happening and Olivia is beginning to worry that either someone in the neighbourhood doesn’t want them there, or the house is haunted. But never fear when the Snow Leopard Detective Agency (UK Branch) is near, and with the help of her friends, Zaiba takes the case. When Olivia’s family throw a housewarming party to meet their new neighbours, it is the perfect opportunity for Zaiba to observe all the suspects and gather the evidence.

'The Haunted House' is the third 'Agent Zaiba Investigates' book—a gentle mystery series perfect for 7 to 9-year-olds who love exciting mysteries but might not be quite ready for murder. These books have a wonderfully inclusive range of representation and a strong thread of friendship, cooperation and kindness. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them and will definitely be getting this series for the school library

This is the third book in the series and I just love them so much! The stories are fun and exciting and also have such wonderful Pakistani culture rep. I love seeing a young Pakistani girl aspire to be a detective and follow in her mums and aunts footsteps.

This story had some new characters and I really loved seeing Zaiba’s detective agency grow. Honestly we don’t give kids enough credit they are smart and resourceful and can achieve so much more than we believe they can. They also know how to have fun as evidenced by the fact that they have so much fun at the party while investigating the haunted house!

This book introduced new kids and we see how some of them get a long immediately and some take time to learn to work together and it was great to see both sides and show how kids are different. We also get a bit of discussion about jinns and Islamic folklore so that was so great to see because I grew up with jinn stories as opposed to ghost stories and honestly this is why we need representation. So many of us grew up with jinn stories but it’s never in spooky kids books.

The story and how the kids have to catch who is haunting the house was so much fun and how they discovered the history and secret passages in the house. Zaiba is such an observant child and she picks up on so much and it’s so much fun to see them working out what’s happening. Ali is another character I love because for someone so young he picks up so many facts about all different things that end up being useful in catching the person. I love how they kids support each other and work off each others strengths and weaknesses. How Zaiba knows which of them is best for the each job.

This story like the first two is so much fun to read and I love the illustrations too. I love that we get to see Zaiba in Pakistani clothes and that she is told she looks beautiful and not made to feel as though she doesn’t fit in because she lives in the west. Everyone needs a friend like Poppy! I love Poppy because she loves make up and accessories and getting dressed up and she isn’t looked down for it. Contrasting with Zaiba who prefers to wear what’s comfortable and somehow always gets her clothes dirty. Neither is looked down on and it will be so important for kids to see that whatever they enjoy it is accepted.

I just need you all to go read these wonderful books and to give them to all the kids you know!

Another installment of Agent Zaiba Investigates and, like all those before, I loved it!

The stories are engaging and mysterious, the characters are wonderful and genuinely feel like children, which is good for a children's mystery story. As always Annabelle Sami's writing is engrossing and easy to consume. I cannot wait to share this addition to the series with my class.

I am looking forward to the fourth book!

Zaiba’s new friend Olivia has just moved into Oakwood Manor—a large, slightly dilapidated house with a colourful history. But strange things have been happening and Olivia is beginning to worry that either someone in the neighbourhood doesn’t want them there, or the house is haunted. But never fear when the Snow Leopard Detective Agency (UK Branch) is near, and with the help of her friends, Zaiba takes the case. When Olivia’s family throw a housewarming party to meet their new neighbours, it is the perfect opportunity for Zaiba to observe all the suspects and gather the evidence.

'The Haunted House' is the third 'Agent Zaiba Investigates' book—a gentle mystery series perfect for 7 to 9-year-olds who love exciting mysteries but might not be quite ready for murder. These books have a wonderfully inclusive range of representation and a strong thread of friendship, cooperation and kindness. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them and will definitely be getting this series for the school library.

This has a great plot for a mg book
Encouraging teamwork and acceptance it’s a solid book for any library

So fun!! I binged this whole series in a weekend and I love it so much: Zaiba's British-Pakistani identity is absolutely fantastically portrayed and I adored seeing a smart, determined girl solve mysteries while also being so connected to her cultural heritage! Zaiba's sidekicks, best friend Poppy and little brother Ali, are also fantastic, and I love that Poppy is interested in fashion and food and that that's shown to be an asset rather than trivial or silly! I've also passed the books on to my seven year old sisters (the actual target audience!) and they're absolutely hooked too!

With regard to this book specifically, I thought the mystery was the most compelling of the three (so far - I don't know if there are plans for more books), and it took me the longest to solve myself. The stakes seemed slightly higher than in the previous two books, and the general atmosphere felt a little creepier, which was fun!

This fun, charming, action-packed third installment in the Agent Zaiba series didn't disappoint. In fact, I think it's the best book in the series yet. The mystery is intriguing from the very beginning and the reveal was brilliantly satisfying. I absolutely love the characters in this series. I once again found my heart swelling with joy at the thought of all the South Asian kids reading this book and finding such excellent representation in Zaiba, who is a brilliantly smart, kind, inquisitive, and fun main character. I liked how the team grows in this book as well, which promises some fun dynamics in future books.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Haunted House is a real ‘who dunnit’ as readers try to solve this fun, spooky mystery along with Zaiba and her friends. A new family has moved into Oakwood Manor but someone doesn’t want them there. Is it a ghost or is it a member of the community who wants the old house for themselves?

Full of friendship, teamwork and trust, the children must use so many skills to solve the case. They learn to think on their feet, make careful observations, plan, analyse, and make logical links to work it out. The UK branch of the Snow Leopard Detective Agency is determined to prove ghosts aren’t real and discover the true culprit.

Oakwood Manor is a fascinating old house full of mystery – secret passageways, trap doors and stories of the past make it the perfect setting for this action-packed story.

One of the best aspects of this brilliant series is the link to Zaiba’s Pakistani heritage. Clothing, food, customs and traditions are a natural part of the story and give so many children the opportunity to see aspects of their own life reflected in the stories they read.

I love the added extras at the end of the story: plans for a fun sleepover, a recipe for delicious stuffed aloo burgers and some great jokes!

I hope there will be many more instalments in this fantastic series!

As usual, this book was cute and fun! I just love that Zaiba is unapologetically herself! The lessons she teaches herself and her friends are so great for younger readers especially and I truly appreciate that! She teaches about being open minded and making new friends even when first impressions aren't the best!

I also love that she's taken seriously by the adults around her because of the reputation she cultivated form the last two books! While you don't have to have read the other two, I definitely think it adds some fun getting to see more of our favorite little detective squad expand and grow stronger and smarter!

I loved the elements of a "haunted house" with secret passages and fancy libraries and all kinds of cool things! The mystery was slowly unraveled and I loved getting to solve it with the crew! Also, the food definitely made me really hungry and I loved that a recipe was included in the book!

Overall, this was such a fun and lighthearted mystery that I know younger readers will definitely enjoy!

This was a sweet quick mystery with likeable protagonist and side characters.
This was a quick read and quite funny at places. Zaiba was a strong leader with excellent detective instincts, Poppy was a lovable fashion-lover and Ali was the smartest of the bunch. Their friendship was cute and the theme was nice however I found the actual plot to be quite predictable.
The ghost mystery has been done quite a lot before so it wasn't anything new. I would have liked the adults to be a bit more memorable as there were quite a lot of them and I had to keep checking who was who.
The writing was simple and readable. The characters were good. The plot lacked a bit of suspense but it was a nice read!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the E-arc!

I absolutely love this series of books, so I was really pleased to receive an ARC of Agent Zaiba Investigates: The Haunted House. I was not disappointed!

This book somehow manages to exceed my high expectations. I Zaiba so much, she’s smart, kind, and always tries to include everyone. Her family and friends are great, and by this point I feel like I know them pretty well.

I particularly love the mystery in this story. It’s full of secret passages, hidden rooms, and intriguing clues. The selection of suspects is interesting, and all of them seem suspicious at one point or another.

The illustrations that pepper the book are of the always excellent quality. They really bring the story to life, and come across well on my kindle.

Overall, this is a fun and entertaining mystery, enjoyable for children and adults alike. I highly recommend it.

I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.

This is the third in the Agent Zaiba Investigates series and this time Zaiba, her brother Ali and her friends investigate the case of ghostly happenings at a spooky old house in their village. Zaiba has learnt all of her detective skills from reading detective fiction and also from her Auntie who runs a detective agency in Pakistan. They have set up their own branch of the Snow Leopard Detective Agency and work together to solve crimes.

I loved the diversity in the cast of children and how, despite their differences and disagreements, they worked together to solve the case. There were plenty of hints in the story and it was plotted carefully so a reader could work out what had happened if they managed to connect all of the clues.

It's a great, fast-paced story and makes such a refreshing change to read about a young British Pakistani girl being a detective. It also made a good change to see the police officers treat the children with respect when they had solved the case - too often you see the adults undermining the children, whereas here all of the adults were very respectful of what the children were doing and celebrated their success.

Overall, a really enjoyable book and a great next installment in the series.

Agent Zaiba is back in her best case yet!

Does Zaiba's new friend Olivia live in a haunted house? Ali says it impossible, but Zaiba believes a good detective should keep an open mind and follow the evidence. When supernatural occurrences threaten to ruin Olivia's housewarming party, Zaiba knows the Snow Leopard Detective Agency (UK Branch) will have to get to the bottom of this case fast - before Olivia and her family are driven out of their new home forever.

With a plot Scooby Doo would love, this MG mystery has just the right amount of ghostly creepiness for its target audience. Its fast paced and full of clues, red herrings and plot twists, making it hard to put down.

I love Zaiba, Poppy and Ali. Zaiba's quiet self-confidence shines in this story. Her ability to pick herself up whenever she begins to doubt that she might not be able to do something is admirable and makes her an inspirational character for readers to look up to, without her feeling 'perfect' or arrogant. She believed in herself and her own abilities and I really hope young readers take some of confidence back into their own lives. Poppy remains queen of fashion and food (a refreshing pairing!) and I really want to try the recipe for Ali's delicious sounding aloo burgers (I just need to find a substitute for the cashews first due to allergies) There were some great new side characters in this story too, and an appearance from a very special person is Zaiba's life.

This series is going from strength to strength and I can't wait to find out what Zaiba gets up to next.

Thank you Little Tiger for sending me a copy to review.

I’ve been eagerly waiting for the next adventure with my favourite British-Pakistani detective and so I was thrilled when I was granted an advanced read of ‘Agent Zaiba Investigates: The Haunted House’ through Netgalley. After successfully solving cases involving missing diamonds and poisoned cup cakes, Agent Zaiba returns to solve a third case and adds a few new members to the Snow Leopard Detective Agency UK Branch along the way.

The Booker family are thrilled to have moved into Oakwood Manor, a house steeped in history, and Zaiba is delighted to have made friends with Mr & Mrs. Booker’s daughter, Olivia. The family are looking forward to having their new neighbours over for a house-warming but some strange occurrences are threatening to derail everything. Step-up Agent Zaiba and her backpack of detective goodies to solve whether Oakwood Manor really is haunted or if there is another explanation for the strange happenings…

This is another cracking read in the ‘Agent Zaiba Investigates’ series which has the perfect mix of spooky, suspense and mystery with a big helping of Pakistani culture. With an ancient house that has all the traditional haunted house traits - set in the quieter part of town next to a dark forest - and filled with secret passages and hidden rooms, readers are in for a fast-paced narrative with plenty of heart-racing moments. Like the other reads in the series, the book follows a traditional detective style. Follow the clues and gather the evidence, interview the suspects, identify the red-herrings and then gather everyone together for the grand revealing of the culprit - hopefully achieving all of this before the arrival of an inept police chief.

The Agent Zaiba books are a great introduction to the detective and mystery genre and are perfect for giving readers a taste of the joys of such reads. Whilst they lack the gore and deaths that appear in ‘The Murder Most Unladylike’ series they are still big on drama and are incredibly exciting reads. Amateur sleuths will have great fun discovering the clues with Zaiba and trying to piece together the evidence to identify the culprit. I hope readers do a better job of it than I did, I definitely need more detective practice before I’m ready to join Zaiba’s detective agency.

Author, Annabelle Sami, is big on increasing the representation of funny girls and diverse characters in children’s books and this is successfully achieved in her latest read. Zaiba, Poppy and the other girls all bring their own charm and humour and there are characters of different ethnicities and the inclusion of different family dynamics including mixed-race parents, a step-mum and a same-sex couple. It is so important that young readers can see themselves and their families represented in the books that they read. Loveable Zaiba is the star of the show and her delightful character shows readers the importance of friendship, teamwork and valuing others.

As in the previous books, Daniela Sosa provides the lively illustrations which are great fun and packed with character as well as providing readers with opportunities to pause as they build up their reading stamina. In addition to the story there is plenty of bonus content included at the back which amongst other things includes a bit of history, information on jinn, some very awkward dad jokes and a recipe for Ali’s stuffed aloo burgers. I am very much looking forward to the next case, Agent Zaiba Investigates: The Smuggler’s Secret.

Recommended for 8+.

With thanks to Stripes Publishing (an imprint of Little Tiger Group) and Annabelle Sami for the review copy that was received through Netgalley. Coming April 2021.

Thank you so much to Little Tiger Group and Netgalley for the earc to read and review.

This book was filled with diversity such an amazing range of characters and that was something that instantly makes you drawn to how good it was.

Zaiba, Poppy and her brother are at their new friends house and weird things keep happening, making the new residents very scared. Without hesitation Zaiba is on the case ready to help her friends feel safe and stop whatever is going on and do it quicker than the police ever could. Is the house haunted or is someone making it look haunted?

I loved solving this mystery with Zaiba and her friends it was so fun. I loved following the clues, trying to cypher who was who and what was what, who might be the culprit. I must admit I literally only had the tiniest idea who was it was doing everything so this book was incredible to follow along and solve. I thoroughly enjoyed solving this mystery.

Zaiba is one incredible character, she’s incredibly smart, the things she knows how to do are just amazing, she’s a great leader, an incredible friend and loves her family. I seriously found an attachment to her instantly she’s so well written. I also adored how she wanted to be like her Aunt Fouzia and also Eden Locket her favourite book character be a detective and she learnt all she knew from them.

This book is so much fun, I can see the younger demographic enjoying it so much, it’s got good representation, a great cast of characters, a lot of fun mysteries to solve, great lessons on how to be a good friend and it’s written so well. If you are looking fir something diverse, fun, easy to read but also incredibly exciting then seriously I recommend this book highly.

I cannot really say more on how much I loved this book because I did love it, there wasn’t one thing that I didn’t love and enjoy from this story. The mystery was so exciting to solve, there were wonderful characters, very easy story to follow, and most of all the time disappeared as I was literally escaping into this world.

Zaiba is a courageous, brave, strong and curious main character. She reminds me of the delight I used to have when reading Nancy Drew. I feel that many children will see themselves reflected in her character and that of her family.

This mystery will keep young readers wondering who the culprit is...if there even if one?? #nospoliers.

AH! Agent Zaiba strikes once again! My sister and I absolutely adored this story; Zaiba continues to be amazing and inspirational. It's impossible not to love her character and be constantly awed by her adventures.