Alice Eclair is an agent with an unnamed agency.
That is a true statement even though she is only 13 years old and, when not in school, spends most of her time helping her mother in the bakery shop her mother owns called Vive Comme L'Eclair. The question we are presented with, sort of, at the very beginning is why she is an operative. How she became one is told straight off with:
"Notes had begun to appear a year ago. The first was delivered to the shop, a simple puzzle in an unsigned birthday card. Then there were crosswords, ciphers and treasure hunts, which Alice solved in a flash. Alice had thought it a fun game and suspected everyone of being their author, even Madame Éclair with her love of mystery books. But as the notes became more serious, Alice realised that her mother had nothing to do with it. Someone was training her to be a spy and, although it would have been a surprise to most thirteen-year-olds, it was not a surprise to Alice. "You are capable," the tenth note had said. "And you know why." From then, the notes began to direct her to parcels hidden around Paris containing presents of skeleton keys, a lockpick set and notebooks full of secret codes that she read deep into the night with a torch under her blankets. And then, four months ago, Alice had been sent on her first mission, to pass a secret note to a woman who was waiting for her by one of Paris's bridges. It had been her first real test, and she had aced it. More missions had followed: collecting parcels, intercepting notes, eavesdropping in cafés. Tonight, though, was different. Tonight was going to be her biggest mission yet."
We will be traveling with her as her missions get bigger and more dangerous. She will learn to work with other, older operatives and she will gain a lot of experience in a very short period. One of the most important items she will learn is that when she, a kid, behaves as a kid, many people around her might see her but nobody really notices her. This will prove to be a terrific asset.
So will the fact that she has a pretty good cover identity considering she is an excellent baker, thanks for her training with her mother and her own innate skills. Show up with a box of pastries, the confections are what is noticed.
Hence the catchy blurb for these adventure: Baker by day, Spy by night.