Operation Midnight Museum

About this book

The Clockwork Hummingbird has been stolen, and you have until sunrise to get it back.

It is ten past midnight when your watch buzzes three times. That is the Nightjar signal. Somebody has taken the golden Clockwork Hummingbird from the Bellweather Museum of Marvels, the museum opens at nine, and eight people were inside tonight. Any one of them could be the thief.

With Echo's voice in your earpiece, Pockets at your side and Nutmeg the ferret in your backpack, you are the newest agent of the Nightjar Agency. Crack the codes, follow the clues from room to room, cross off the suspects one by one, and name the thief before the Mayor arrives.

How it works: every chapter of the story ends with a coded message from headquarters, or a taunting note left behind by the thief. Decode it with the Field Manual, write it down, and when a message is a clue, use the Evidence Board to cross a suspect off the Suspect Board. After 24 messages, only one name is left.

• 24 coded messages in 8 real spy ciphers, taught from easy to hard: backwards and mirror writing, shift code, pigpen, Morse code, grid code, zigzag code, keyword alphabets and a book cipher that uses the agency handbook printed in the book
• A Field Manual that explains every code in plain words, a cut-out Decoder Wheel, and a Training Camp with 24 practice drills
• 8 illustrated suspects, an Evidence Board, a Mission Tracker, interview notes and a museum map
• Bonus training on every other page: 6 mazes, 6 logic puzzles, 6 quick codes and 6 spot-the-spy puzzles
• Fair and fully checked: every code decodes, every clue rules out a suspect, and exactly one thief fits all seven clues. No QR codes, no screens, no internet needed
• Agent ID card, debrief quiz, Certificate of Codebreaking and a complete answer key

Screen-free fun for car rides, rainy days, sleepovers and spy birthday parties. A great gift for kids ages 8 to 12 who love secret codes, mysteries and puzzles. Mission 1 of the Nightjar Agency series.