‘This book was a delight to read – living, breathing history at it’s best’ The Breadcrumb Forest is left wanting more

This book was a delight to read – living, breathing history at it’s best, wound up in a genius and  original loo-papered plot and all the joys of a secret agent expedition. Jenny Moore writes with bags of detail and chortling humour, the characters were unique and memorable and the plot was busy but hugely entertaining. The only big disappointment for me was the lack of pictures. Some black and white sketches would have been very welcome at certain points in the plot (pants, portaloos, piranha toothed dogs – that kind of thing!)

This story is an shining example of how history should be brought to life. Okay, so not every has access to their own photo booth or portaloo time machine, but Jenny draws the reader in by presenting facts in an engaging and vivid way. I feel like I learnt as much about Roman Britain as I did about agenting and time travel.

 At 219 pages, this felt like a hefty read for junior fiction but a lighter read for those entering middle grade territory. Maverick have always been a favourite publisher of mine for picture books but this is the first older fiction novel I have read from them and I was definitely left wanting more. With plenty of other centuries to explore, I very much hope to see Jenny Moore’s brilliant Agent Starling again soon.