Solve the Mystery with Ashwin and Rashi. Ashwin’s little sister Rashi is plain annoying. She’s decided to follow Ashwin around everywhere. While visiting Rajasthan, Ashwin starts seeing things, and Rashi smells a mystery. But is Ashwin faking it, or are his visions true?
My Review of Royals of Rajasthan
Royals of Rajasthan reminded me of Satyajit Ray’s Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress), a Feluda mystery. In fact, the author’s note does mention Feluda as one of her writing influences.
A family vacation in Rajasthan snowballs into a serious problem when Ashwin has an odd experience. His parents are worried enough to seek help.
The hand-drawn illustrations are the best part of the book. They add a personal touch to the story. The author has drawn them herself. (How talented can one person be?)
Children will love the drama and the suspense of this quick read. The author does a good job of describing a typical family vacation with shopping, food, and sightseeing.
I can barely wait to know what happens in the next book.
Cousins Arj, Tam, and Mira are spending their summer vacation in Elathoor, a little village in Kerala when their family home, Lili Villa, is broken into and some jewelry is stolen. The Terrific Three set out to solve the mystery but soon discover that there is no shortage of suspects. Is it Pinching Kodavis or Dumdumchecchi, the milking lady? Is it the mean fisherwoman who starves the cat or the retired nurse who owns a luxury car? Or is it Mani with his upside-down Russian secret? Who could the thief possibly be? In a throwback to unscheduled summer vacations, this cozy mystery will charm young readers with plenty of sibling sparring, some intrepid sleuthing, and an endless parade of mouth-watering snacks.
My Review of A Mystery of Lili Villa
Put Enid Blyton’s Five Find-Outers and Dog in Kerala and the result is A Mystery of Lili Villa!
I love the fact that we have something comparable for children in India with people, places, and situations they can easily relate to. Summer vacations are a time of fun, adventure, meeting cousins, eating delicious food, and generally running wild.
Little moments like Tam asking her mother why she got to eat only one curry in Bengaluru, whereas Arj and Mira ate five curries for lunch at Elathoor describe the difference in lifestyles in urban and rural areas.
When a story is narrated from the point of view of children, we get to see unique perspectives that escape us as adults. Based on how the children view the people in their life, they give them fun names – Dumdumchechi (milkmaid), Fan Fixer Faekku (electrician), DoubleMean (fisherwoman), Well-Cleaner Mani (well maintenance guy), Pitamma (cook), Kodavis (driver), and so on.
The dynamics between a mixed group of children has been captured well. The eldest become leaders, grabbing the plum tasks for themselves and handing over the boring jobs to the youngest ones. Or leaving the younger ones out of exciting “adventures.”
The innocence of the children, their inquisitiveness, the way they stayed clear of the elders, and the way they see everything from a childish lens — the author is adept at conveying all of it.
Most children love to play detective and the children at Lili Villa are no different. Interestingly, the parents have removed access to gadgets and screens for the summer holidays. This forces the children to rely on their deductive powers to solve the mystery. It reminded me of simpler times when children spent summer afternoons making up games and activities to kill boredom.
The flavor of Kerala is present in every page — through the mouth-watering descriptions of food, the outfits, the way people address each other, the marketplace, and a fishing scene.
Pitamma, the cook, whips up one hot feast after the other – kadala-puttu, appams, dosas, pazhampori, natholi, unnakkai, vadas. Even the snacks she makes sound so appetizing.
I enjoyed this short yet immersive book immensely. It made me so nostalgic that even I felt a bit sad when the “summer vacation” ended and Tam had to return to Bengaluru.
(I received an e-copy of the book from Lonely Pages Book Tours with a request for an honest review.)
About Arathi Menon
Arathi Menon is an author and a columnist, currently based in London. In She published her first book Leaving Home With Half A Fridge in 2015. She has received a highly commendable mention at the 2018 FAB Awards and was a part of a group exhibit at the Tate Modern, London in 2019 and 2020. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. She loves a good story, all animals, and pink tuck.
Rea and the Blood of the Nectar takes you on dizzying flights of imagination. I had such fun exploring the realm of Astranthia with Rea Chhetri, the rebellious and bitter girl who discovers that there’s a whole new side to her family.
The strength of this book lies in the world-building and the sensitive portrayal of complicated familial ties. Astranthia is a beautiful, foliage-themed realm and Doshi’s descriptions are a treat to read.
I could relate to Rea’s emotional tug of war in her relationship with her twin, Rohan, and the bias that she thinks she sees in the way her mother and grandmother treat her twin.
I enjoyed the way the author freely wove Indian terms and names into the narrative without “othering” it by using italics or any other method.
You’ll find the whole package in this book — family strife, friendship and bonding, heartless villain(s), manipulative rulers and gullible common folk, magic, and high-voltage fight scenes that had me on tenterhooks.
Of course, being part I in the Chronicles of Astranthia, the book ends on a cliffhanger that hints at more action in the forthcoming books.
I think teens (and dreamy adults like me!) will enjoy Rea and the Blood of the Nectar immensely.
(I received a review copy from Lonely Pages Book Tours with a request for an honest review.)
“Rea and the Blood of the Nectar is a gateway into pure imagination, with a fast-paced plot that will hook you and characters that will endear you. A wonderful debut.” – KACEN CALLENDER, National Book Award winner for King and the Dragonflies and bestselling author of Hurricane Child
“From the tea plantations of Darjeeling to the flower-filled land of Astranthia, Rea and the Blood of the Nectar is an adventure filled with mythical monsters and marvelous creatures, magic and mayhem, friendship and family struggles. Rea is a fierce heroine whose courage and determination carry her forward to save her twin brother even when the path seems dark.” – RAJANI LAROCCA, author of Midsummer’s Mayhem, Red, White, and Whole, and Much Ado About Baseball
Perfect for fans of the Aru Shah books and The Chronicles of Narnia.
A middle-grade fantasy about twelve-year-old Rea Chettri, who portals into an otherworldly realm to go on a secret quest to find her missing twin brother Rohan. The clock is ticking in this fast-paced, thrilling, and exciting adventure rife with evil creatures, a ruthless villain, and unforgettable friendships.
It all begins on the night Rea turns twelve. After a big fight with her twin brother Rohan on their birthday, Rea’s life in the small village of Darjeeling, India, gets turned on its head. It’s four in the morning and Rohan is nowhere to be found.
It hasn’t even been a day and Amma acts like Rohan’s gone forever. Her grandmother, too, is behaving strangely. Unwilling to give up on her brother, Rea and her friend Leela meet Mishti Daadi, a wrinkly old fortune-teller whose powers of divination set them off on a thrilling and secret quest. In the shade of night, they portal into an otherworldly realm and travel to Astranthia, a land full of magic and whimsy. There with the help of Xeranther, an Astranthian barrow boy, and Flula, a pari, Rea battles serpent-lilies and blood-sucking banshees, encounters a butterfly-faced woman and blue lizard-men, and learns that Rohan has been captured. Rea also discovers that she is a princess with magic. Only she has no idea how to use it.
Struggling with the truth her Amma has kept hidden from her, Rea must solve clues that lead to Rohan, find a way to rescue him and save Astranthia from a potentially deadly fate. But the clock is ticking. Can she rescue Rohan, save Astranthia, and live to see it all?
Rea and the Blood of the Nectar is Payal Doshi’s stunning #ownvoices middle-grade fantasy debut about understanding complex family dynamics, fighting for what is right, discovering oneself, and learning to make friends.
About Payal Doshi
Payal Doshi has a Masters in Creative Writing (Fiction) from The New School, New York. Having lived in the UK and US, she noticed a lack of Indian protagonists in global children’s fiction and one day wrote the opening paragraph to what would become her first children’s novel. She was born and raised in Mumbai, India, and currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband and three-year-old daughter. When she isn’t writing or spending time with her family, you can find her nose deep in a book with a cup of coffee or daydreaming of fantasy realms to send her characters off into. She loves the smell of old, yellowed books. Rea and the Blood of the Nectar, the first book in TheChronicles of Astranthia series is her debut middle grade novel. For more information, visit her website, www.payaldoshiauthor.com, or follow her on Instagram @payaldoshiauthor and on Twitter @payaldwrites.
You’ll be holding your sides, doubling over with laughter, when you find out how Bernice takes a “plunge!” Adorable, adorable, and simply adorable–that’s how I would describe this book.
Bernice is a feisty, carefree young girl with a literary bent of mind and a taste for adventure. She’s sniffing out mysteries where there aren’t any, thus driving the local policemen crazy. Her idol, actress Crystal Bell, is robbed in the story and Bernice puts her mind to “investigating” the case. You can only imagine the mayhem that ensues.
I loved how the author drew Bernice as a spunky, spirited child with a colorful imagination. Her experiments in the kitchen and her harum-scarum ways may annoy her family members, but she has a heart of pure gold. We get to see how she strikes up a fast friendship with a mysterious man, Ike.
Lovely writing, steady pacing, and a sparkling young heroine–what more do you need? I invite you dive into this book and join Bernice on her wild adventures. Don’t miss it!
Bernice Peppercorn’s imagination fills her mind and her notebooks with adventure and intrigue. She sees crimes where there are none and races to the local police station daily to fulfil her civic duty.
When a real robbery is committed in town, Bernice dives into detective mode and stumbles across vital clues that could help find the thieves. No one believes her except Ike, a one-legged fisherman who lives down at the wharf.
Bernice Takes a Plunge is an exciting and humorous adventure for middle grade readers.
About Ann Harth
Ann Harth writes fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. Strong, interesting characters creep into most of her books and stories, and many arrive with a sense of humour.
Before becoming a writer, mentor and developmental editor in Far North Queensland, Ann studied psychology, waited tables, bar-tended, picked strawberries, worked as a clown and punched keys on various tills. She also spent ten years working with children with special needs. Ann taught writing for the Australian College of Journalism for eight years before taking the leap into freelance work.
Ann has had a number of fiction and non-fiction children’s books published in Australia and the UK and over 120 short stories sold internationally.
After five years (2015-2020) she has stepped down from her position as Far North Queensland representative for The Society of Children’s Book Writers and illustrators as Bernice is eager to dive into another book.
When not tapping the keys, Ann stuffs a notebook into her pack and searches for remote places to camp, hike or explore.
Satabdi Mukherjee 