A Mystery at Lili Villa

It's definitely more of a 4.5 though.

I got the arc of this little middle grade mystery novel on a whim, because I hardly pick up MG these days. But I do remember seeing it a few times on Yali Books's Twitter account and thought why not.

And this turned out to be so fun and entertaining. I think this book is a perfect crossover for Children's and Middle Grade readers, providing the innocence for younger readers as well as the adventure elements for budding teenagers. And as an avid reader of Enid Blyton's Famous Five series in my childhood, I couldn't resist reading this one. Though it felt younger, the vibes were very similar to FF and I enjoyed it so much, as well as kept wishing I had these kind of desi books when I was that age. The writing is simple and fast paced, and the author immerses us so deeply in the story that we completely believe in the talents of the little child detectives. Just in such a short book, I could feel the atmosphere of Elathoor, get to know the whole cast of quirky characters better, and also fall in love with the three tenacious cousins who were so brave and determined to find the truth, even if a tad bit reckless.

To conclude, this is a cute and interesting little mystery novel that I think kids will really enjoy, and I would definitely recommend to any desi parents who have kids in this age range. It's a cool change instead of always going for the Enid Blyton or Nancy Drew classics. There is a hint at the end that this might turn out to be a series with the three cousins turned sleuths, and I couldn't be more excited for the next installment.