Timmy Failure is my son’s favourite book character. He’s not a kid that loves books but Timmy Failure has really grabbed him and we always read a new Timmy Failure book together.  Timmy is one of those characters who is so clueless that it’s funny.  He likes to think he is incredibly smart and the world’s greatest detective, but he is far from it.  It is Timmy’s ridiculous antics that appeals to my son and keeps him wanting to read the next book to see what he gets up to next.  Timmy’s latest ‘volume of Greatness,’ Timmy Failure: Sanitized for Your Protection has just been released and it’s everything that we’ve come to expect from this hapless detective.

Shenanigans abound as Timmy Failure finds himself on a road trip with none other than notorious criminal Molly Moskins. Travelling halfway across the country to help your mother’s boyfriend settle into his new job would be inconvenient for any detective, let alone the founder, president and CEO of Total Failure Inc, the world’s greatest detective agency. Timmy has a case to solve, and nothing can stand in his way. If he is to arrest Corrina Corrina and solve the YIP YAP case, Timmy, his sidekick polar bear Total, and Molly Moskins must go on the run!

Timmy Failure: Sanitized for Your Protection takes readers on a shenanigan-filled road-trip with Timmy and Stephan’s cast of wacky characters.  If things weren’t crazy enough with Timmy trying to solve a case by himself, in this book he is joined by the rather loopy Molly Moskins.  If you’ve read any of the other Timmy Failure books you’ll know all about Molly Moskins (AKA Tangerine Girl) and the HUGE crush she has on Timmy.  Timmy’s mum is now best friends with Molly’s mum, Esther, and the two families are going on holiday together.  Before they do though, they have to survive the cross-country trip to help Doorman Dave (Timmy’s mum’s boyfriend) move house.  Timmy has to put up with this huge inconvenience while trying to solve the YIP YAP case, one of his toughest cases so far.  Of course, Timmy is a hopeless detective whose cases are easily solved, but try telling him that.

We love seeing the same characters popping up again and again in the series and it’s great that Molly Moskins has more of a starring role in this story.  She’s willing to do pretty much anything that Timmy asks (which often gets her in trouble) but we also find out how clever Molly is.  Stephan introduces us to more wacky characters in this book too, including Molly’s weird baby brother Snot, map-loving Mr Moskins, and Killer Katy Kumquat (cleaner and superhero).

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I have the others in the series but there is still plenty to love about it.  Stephan’s comic illustrations are one of the main reasons I keep coming back to this series and they certainly add extra humour to the story.  The series is perfect for fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Tom Gates and you don’t have to read them in order so you can start with whichever book in the series you like.