Mickey and the Animal Spies

This is a detective story about a school girl, Mickey, whose passions for cracking codes and deciphering clues lead to membership of an elite network of spies – COBRA.

Mickey is a little young for this covert unit, and that’s not the only reason she stands out from the other spies: she’s the only human being. Mickey is a dedicated problem solver, though, and soon convinces the monkeys, rats, sloths and snakes that she has what it takes to join the squad…just in time to help them crack the case of the stolen diamonds and the missing dog.

It’s a seemingly simple case of theft and the team set about finding the clues that will lead them to the diamonds and the dog. However, thanks to Mickey, they soon realise that the plot is much thicker than they’d anticipated, and doubts emerge over which members of the team they can truly trust.

This book works well as a conventional detective story – a whodunnit for animal lovers – with plenty of intrigue and a narrative that twists and turns all the way to the final chapter. Mickey’s sense of adventure and love of codebreaking make her an interesting lead character, and her rapport with the animals in the story is humorously observed. The lethargic sloth and over-attentive spider monkey are particularly fun.

With lots of elements of Mickey’s life left unexplored, and an infinite number of animal characters that could join COBRA’s cast, Mickey and her team could certainly reform again soon to crack their next case.

Read an interview with author Anne Miller.