Published By: Nosy Crow
Pages: 256
Released On: 04/06/2026
Reading Age: 9-12
When Maisie travels with her dad to the Pyramids to research his book, How to Break Codes, she thought they’d mainly be looking at hieroglyphs. But after being drawn into a race to discover a secret tomb, Maisie finds herself having to survive a scorpion attack, a sandstorm and a hot air balloon ride after becoming lost in the desert.
With adventure at every turn, Maisie is in for a surprise as what she really discovers is another truth about herself. But is she ready to face it?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Nosy Crow for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I love this series, even if I am 3x the recommended reading age. The series so far looks as thus:
- Maisie vs Antarctica
- Maisie vs the Himalayas
- Maisie vs the Pyramids
This instalment was right up my street as I love Ancient Egyptian stuff so I found this entertaining and fascinating.
As an adult reader, you know enough about children’s books to know it’ll all end up okay in the end. But that’s not the important bit. The important bit is the story of how they get to that end, and it’s that that’ll keep younger readers hooked.
It’s quick and easy to read and you’ll fly through it, no matter your age. It’s action packed and full of content and will definitely hold the interest of any young reader. I think it’s a brilliant series to use in schools as a class read, especially if it links to something they’re studying.
I think Maisie is a wonderful character. As a child she is hard to relate to, so I don’t try. But she’s strong willed, confident, intelligent, and brave. I love reading about her adventures. I often find her dad to be a bit of a wet weekend but together they work well. One thing I really don’t like is how dismissive her dad is of her. I understand he’s the adult and she’s the child, but he keeps putting her in these dangerous situations and even though she’s saved them countless times, he still won’t listen to her, and I just want to grab him by the collar and shake some sense into him.
I am going to contradict myself here. This feels like an eternal series as there are so many places the characters could go and so many adventures they could have. However, each story is effectively the same (not necessarily a negative) and I wonder how many books it’ll take for readers to find it a bit samey. Although I admit the recommended reading age readers probably wouldn’t mind.
There’s heroes and villains – the villains are quite pantomimey I admit but I liked that; a range of characters, but not too many or too complicated, it’s quick and easy to read, exciting and tense, and just a whole lot of fun. But I do think he needs to be wary as to just how long he can stretch this idea out before it becomes stale. But I will keep reading them for as long as he wants to write them.
Books By Your Bedside 