In A Mystery at Lili Villa by Arathi Menon, cousins Arj, Tam, and Mira dive into a thrilling summer adventure in the quaint village of Elathoor, unravelling a jewellery theft amidst a cast of quirky suspects. Rich with humour and vibrant village life, the story captures the essence of a magical, unscheduled summer, full of mystery and mouth-watering food.

This charming middle-grade mystery is both delightful and engaging, offering a heartwarming glimpse into the joys and intricacies of Indian village life while keeping readers eagerly guessing the culprit.

"A Mystery at Lili Villa" unfolds in a quaint village in Kerala, delivering a children's mystery that centers around Tam, a 10-year-old visitor from Bangalore, spending her summer with cousins Arj (11) and Mina (9) at Lilli Villa. Tam's idyllic expectations are disrupted when she hears mysterious footsteps on her first night, leading the trio to uncover a theft involving Sheila Ammayi's jewels. Local policeman Thombu, a friend of the cousins' parents, joins the investigation, revealing a tapestry of suspects with hidden secrets. The children, prohibited from using modern technology, embark on an old-fashioned sleuthing adventure, unearthing not only the culprit but a cascade of secrets. The narrative charms with its well-crafted mystery, likable characters, and a rich portrayal of village life, enhanced by delightful glimpses into Kerala's culinary offerings. The author's humor-infused glossaries add an extra layer of enjoyment to this engaging and picturesque read.

A Mystery of Lili Villa is a wonderful cosy mystery for Middle Grade age children set in Elathoor, Kerala, India, which has wonderful world building and characters that are excellently written by author, Arathi Menon.

Whilst the book is set for middle grade, I do think older children would enjoy it too as the mystery itself is continually engaging and like any good book that needs twists and turns at every step of the journey we as the reader are on with the children. It's a fun read, and the reader will remain on the edge of the seat as the three little heroes of the tale, cousins Arj, Tam, and Mira take on their roles as young detectives.

I loved how the story is written and the attention to detail with the inclusion of Hindi words, descriptions of food that the family enjoys, and little acknowledgements of the world the story is in. You can feel the heat of the sun, the tickling sensation of dust of a building that's rarely used, and of course, the luscious smell of the food that's mentioned. Everything about A Mystery of Lili Villa is immersive, and I really loved this story.

I would recommend this for the mystery itself, for a tale set elsewhere and for the overall wonderful storytelling for any child who loves to be kept waiting for the successful conclusion.

THIS WAS SO CUTE.
Oh my goodness I immediately recommended it to so many friends. Although the story focuses on children, it is not a "childish" story. The children wanted to help in the best way they knew how. The crew is smart, resourceful, and tenacious. Although there were sad moments in the story, I still found it heartwarming overall. It was a fast, beautiful read.

I can't wait to introduce my 4-6th grade students to this mystery novel set in Kerala. It has everything to grab their attention and hold it until they turn the very last page. Thank you Arathi Menon for this engaging mystery novel full of excitement and culture.

Thank you NetGalley and Yali Books for an eARC to read and review.

This was cute. My kid loved it! We read it together before bed. He liked the characters and the graphics.

This book made me feel nostalgic, had good imagery diversity, scenery, and an adorable and heartfelt plot to shape it!

Mystery book for kids with PIC character? So amazing. I was skeptical at first about whether I will enjoy this book or not because mystery is not my usual genre and I read a lot of MG book but almost never read children book again. But this book was pretty nice. The characters was cute and so normal-10-year-olds, the plot was not heavy but such an easy and light escape.. And the food description made drools haha

This was a very fun read with amazing characters, a beautiful setting and engaging writing! The mystery was fun to read about and the writing was extremely refreshing. I loved that it was set in Kerala. Overall this was a great quick read and I would definitely recommend it!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the free e-arc!

Enid Blyton’s Five Find-Outers meets Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew in this small-town mystery set against the beautiful backdrop of Kerala, India. For a desi kid, summer vacations are more than school holidays: they’re the perfect time for meeting up with distant family, delicious food, running wild while the elders napped in the afternoon, and having all the fun that the rest of the year can’t promise. Understandably, Tam cherishes the summers she spends with her extended family in the South Indian state, especially at Lili Villa—the family home where her cousins, Arj and Mira, would be waiting for her.

From the various names given to the many familiar faces they keep seeing everyday to the familial dynamics where the eldest children dominate any adventure by saving the most boring tasks for the younger ones, Menon does a great job of reflecting the desi viewpoint through a childish lens. Brave little kids, Tam, Arj, and Mira decide to uncover a robbery that took away Tam’s aunt’s jewellery; starting with just one clue: the hole in the roof, and a list of suspects consisting of everyone who recently had access to Lili Villa.

Children playing detective is not just cute but also a journey you wish to experience alongside them and the narration easily sets a younger tone that conveys the excitement of it all. Accompanied with the cultural influences—from food descriptions, like appams, dosas, and vadas, to busy marketplaces and fishing—this debut is easily a charming read.

This middle grade mystery story was adorable! I really loved all the lush descriptions of the characters, locations, food and more. Each new character that gets introduced has a unique personality and story, which is endearing as the children investigate the mystery themselves.

The kids were the best part of the story (as they should be, but still) and had very believable actions, attitudes and lines of thought. Yes, they had arguments and disagreements, but they were realistic and suitable for their age.

The mystery itself was well thought out, and the secrets that different characters had led to wonderful scenes. Overall it was a really fun mystery filled with lots of vivid scenes and descriptions.

I think this book would be a perfect little mystery for my middle schoolers. I enjoyed it till the end. I chose this book because of its diverse background. The characters are Hindi and Malaysian. I liked how there was no shortage of suspects and loads of humor along the way.

Thanks so much to @netgally and @Yallibooks for this advanced reader's copy for an honest review.

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.)

Reminiscent of the Secret Seven and Famous Five series by Enid Blyton, “Mystery at Lili Villa” takes us to a beautiful village in Kerala, India.

Ten-year-old Tamara, from Bangalore is visiting her cousins Arjun (11) and Mina (9). She is looking forward to a summer filled with delicious food and exploring the village with her cousins.

However, her first night there, she hears strange footsteps and next day brings the discovery of footprints, a hole in the ceiling and missing jewelry.
The police don’t seem too inclined to solve the case and the children decide to become detectives.

Now starts the adventure!

With danger lurking around the corner, shady characters and hidden secrets, the cousins put on their investigating caps and solve the mystery.

Each child has a distinct temperament, and the competitiveness between them to solve the mystery is engaging.
A loved how the book has been narrated from the children’s perspective and so we get to see the world and the characters, through their lens.

This was a sweet and fast paced read. I enjoyed learning about the culture and cuisine of Kerala.
The glossary at the back will be of benefit to those who are unfamiliar with Hindi and Malayalam words.

There were some places I found the writing to be disjointed and flat; there might also be some cultural instances which North American children might not relate to.

“Mystery at Lili Villa” a cute and energetic read.

I could relate to so many things in this book. Spending summer vacations in Kerala and playing with cousins all day long was exactly what I did. The characters in the story were like the people I meet and it felt so realistic. There were also many Malayalam words and dishes in the book.

Set in a small village in Kerala, Arathi Menon’s A Mystery at Lili Villa is aimed at middle graders. But I think older kids and adults will enjoy it just as much as I did!

Arathi Menon’s descriptions of village life, viewed through the eyes of these young cousins, amazed me throughout the story. Their impressions of the foods, their surroundings, and most importantly, the people in the community, are vivid and expressive. Colors, flavors, sights, and scents, their commentary is simply wonderful. I couldn’t stop chuckling out loud over some of them. Truly, Arathi Menon has a marvelous sense of humor.

These friends solve a fantastic mystery, which plays out over the course of several weeks of their summer vacation. There’s plenty of action and age appropriate drama, plus a few teaching moments regarding interpersonal relationships which will appeal to the targeted audience.

I’m glad to see that Arathi Menon plans to continue this series. I highly recommend it to mystery fans, Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys? Get ready to take a back seat to Arj, Tam, and Mira!

This is absolutely the adorable trio solving a challenging  and risky mystery for their age.
There are few reasons why I like this book . One, it is an Indian version of Famous Five (except, there's 3)Next, we  also we learn about the Malayali culture and terms, and their mouth watering food!

In terms of the style of language, the author was well detailed in explaining the story even for someone who is not familiar with the mallu culture.  This book is ideal for mystery loving children of ages 8-13.

3.5 stars

<i>A Mystery at Lili Villa<i> is the type of mystery book I'd have liked to read as a child. Set in Kerala, with characters that look like me, with family dynamics like mine, with food items that my <i>Paatti</i> makes for me, all I can say is Indian kids are lucky. It's only as an adult that I realise how important it is to have yourself represented in books, especially as a child. Your culture isn't weird; it's just not similar to what other parts of the world practice.

Twenty years back, all we had when it came to mystery and adventure was Enid Blyton in our libraries -- a remnant of the bygone colonial era -- and we lapped up those books because we didn't have much else to choose from. Diversity in the publishing sphere has improved by leaps and bounds over the past couple of decades, but a lot of focus is on the young adult genre. That's why I adore that Arathi Menon and Yali Books chose to focus instead on younger kids.

The book was well written and engaging -- it had all the right "sound" words to amuse the younger folks, while also including longer words that improve vocabulary. I volunteer in my free time, teaching English to younger kids, and what I've learnt is that kids want content that keeps them interested, but don't want it dumbed down -- they like intelligent plots. They like clever twists. They like all the shocks and surprises that come by in a novel.

Arathi Menon delivered on all that, and more.

She's got a knack for writing something that kids would really enjoy. Arj, Tam and Mira are well-rounded characters, and behave the way kids do in real life. Some of the things they did -- I've done those things too, and that realness of the characters is another reason why this book would endear to the younger audiences.

The only reason why this doesn't have a higher rating is because one of characters' name was the same as what a prominent Indian politician is referred to as in popular media, and that distracted me and kept from enjoying the book completely. I don't think any adult would like to be frequently reminded about the terrible state of today's politics when they're reading this book out to their kids. (This criticism is from an adult's point of view, since I assume kids won't be that invested in current affairs.)

Other than that one naming-glitch, this book was a fun read, and promises to keep kids engaged. Apparently there's a sequel scheduled, and I'll reiterate what I said earlier -- Indian kids today sure are lucky! :)

Thanks to Yali Books for inviting me to read a copy of this book through NetGalley!

P.S. I'll be asking my Paatti to make me some nendram pazham bhajji, which is a dish similar to pazham pori, mentioned in this book. All the mentions of food made me so hungry, lol!

A really fun summer mystery for those middle grade kids in your life! The characters are relatable and engaging with the readers. This is sure to keep the readers attention from start to finish! Who doesn't love a good mystery!

A Mystery at Lili Villa
by Arathi Menon
Pub Date 31 Jul 2021
Yali Books, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles
Children's Fiction | Middle Grade | Mystery & Thrillers



I am reviewing a copy of A Mystery at Lili Villa through Yalu Books, Independent Book Publishers Association and Netgalley:



Arj, Tam, and Mira are cousins who are spending their summer vacation in Elathoor, a little village in Kerala when their family home, Lili Villa is broken into the thief steals some jewelry. As the terrific three set out to solve the mystery they soon discover there is no shortage of suspects. Is the thief 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?





A Mystery at Lili Villa is inspired by the authors own childhood adventures in small-town Kerala, author Arathi Menon creates a cozy picture of village life, complete with a cast of memorable characters and a parade of mouth-watering food. This book is laced with tongue and cheek humor, as well as offers a window a world where summer vacations are a magical time, free from rules and schedules, and where the only way to tell time is by keeping track of the snacks.



I give A Mystery at Lili Villa five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!