Agent Z is a code name used in a series of four children's books written by British author Mark Haddon, best known for his 2003 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. In the first published versions of the books, Haddon also did the artwork for the covers and a number of illustrations inside (the cover pictures were changed for later editions). The Agent Z series is set in the present day in an unnamed British town. Agent Z Meets the Masked Crusader (1993) Agent Z Goes Wild (1994) Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars (1995) Agent Z and the Killer Bananas (2001) Agent Z is not an actual living person in the books but a 'front' used by three schoolboys, Ben, Barney and Jenks, who have been friends for years, and who also call themselves the Crane Grove Crew. The mission of Agent Z is to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting and the deserving in a battle against boredom. The missions take the form of practical jokes, and with the culprits usually leaving a Z mark (like Zorro) on the scene of the prank. The Crane Grove Crew have their own secret base in a boarded-up, derelict park-keeper's cottage on the edge of the park near where they live. With a few exceptions that emerge in the stories, no-one knows of the identity of Agent Z, and the boys say they have made a pledge of secrecy never to reveal the identity of Agent Z. In 1996 Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars was adapted for television by the BBC. Source: Wikipedia (en)