In the paper, we firstly study the algebraic structures of $\mathbb{Z}_p \mathbb{Z}_{p^k}$-additive cyclic codes and give the generator polynomials and the minimal spanning set of these codes. Secondly, a necessary and sufficient condition for a class of $\mathbb{Z}_p\mathbb{Z}_{p^2}$-additive codes whose Gray images are linear (not necessarily cyclic) over $\mathbb{Z}_p$ is given. Moreover, as for some special families of cyclic codes over $\mathbb{Z}_{9}$ and $\mathbb{Z}_3 \mathbb{Z}_{9}$, the linearity of the Gray images is determined.