Reviewed by Jo on
A story runs throughout; Mr X has stolen the Maze Stone and has used it to turn Opera City into one giant maze. Our hero Maze Detective, Pierre, is the only one who can stop Mr X as he can work out a way through the mazes, solve the challenges Mr X has left throughout, and try and catch up with him to retrieve the Maze Stone. The child takes the place of Pierre in this story, finding the routes through the mazes, and finding all the hidden objects.
The illustrations throughout this book are incredible. They are so highly detailed, and there is so much going on. Pierre the Maze Detective is slated as Japan's answer to Where's Wally? and you can see why; the illustrations are so intricate, at first glance, they don't even look like mazes. There is so much detail and so much colour, this book is a feast for the eyes and a work of art.
As well as working your way through the maze, there are various items that you have to find on each page, a few that are the same throughout - a red trophy, green and red chests, gold stars - but also extra challenges along the way, like finding the monkeys Mr X let loose, or a Countess' lost hat. These objects are incredibly tiny, and I personally found it quite frustrating looking for them; there's so much going on, I found it strained my eyes a bit, and it would take such a long time that I got a little bored. However, I think children will love the challenge of finding these objects as much as I enjoyed searching for Wally as a child.
This is a wonderful book that children will adore. It will keep them quiet for hours - perhaps a great way for parents to get the chance to sort out dinner on Christmas day, with the children occupied!
Thank you to Laurence King Publishing via Midas PR for the review copy.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 25 October, 2015: Finished reading
- 25 October, 2015: Reviewed