Mark Anchovy: Pizza Detective; William Goldsmith

William Goldsmith is onto a winner with his debut children’s book. A theft of a valuable piece of art, secret messages, attempted murder, and child detectives who pose as ice-cream vendors, kebab makers and pizza deliverers…

Meet Colin Kingsley, wanna-be detective. School child by day, pizza delivery boy by night, and latest recruit to the Golden Spatula League. The GSL are a secret organisation of child detectives who use their part-time catering jobs as their cover. GSL recruits live a life of luxury, thrills, international travel and danger, and earn a cool salary which means they can retire at sixteen. Colin has attracted their attention due to his amazing photographic memory powers. His first mission…under the alias Mark Anchovy, Colin must head to Italy and track down Big Alan Fresco and find a stolen painting worth a cool 20 million.

Mark Anchovy: Pizza Detective is a cracking mystery read where the action is non-stop. Readers will quickly find themselves swept into a world of James Bond gadgets, stowaways, kidnappings, burning buildings, explosions and assassins. There is plenty of humour, largely thanks to the abundance of pizza-themed puns - have you read the Dough Vinci Code or heard of the art thief Al Fresco?

It is an easy read with relatively short chapters and the text is supported by black and white illustrations. I particularly like the pizza slices at the start of each chapter. Readers will have great fun trying to solve parts of the mystery along with Colin (aka Mark Anchovy) as he and his GSL pals race their way around the streets and underground sewers of Rome.

If you like your pizzas with a big dollop of mystery and topped with crime, gangsters and extra anchovies then you’ll love Mark Anchovy: Pizza Detective. I am very much looking forward to the next delivery - Mark Anchovy: War & Pizza is out next year.

Recommend for 7+.