'A Mystery At Lili Villa' by Arathi Menon: Blog Tour Review of A South Asian Middle-Grade Mystery

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Today I’m excited to participate in the Book Tour for A Mystery at Lili Villa by Arathi Menon hosted by Lonely Pages Book Tours! A Mystery at Lili Villa is a Middle-Grade Mystery set in Kerala, India and it was published on July 31, 2021, from Yali Books.

Title: A Mystery At Lili Villa
Author: Arathi Menon
Publisher: Yali Books
Pub. date: 31 July 2021
Series: Terrific Three Mystery #1
Page count: 172
Source: Lonely Pages Book Tours
Genres: middle-grade, #ownvoices, mystery, contemporary

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.

I was super excited to finally read a middle-grade novel with South Asian rep! Looking back, I don’t think I have ever read any contemporary South Asian middle-grade novel ever, so yay! And how cute is that cover? I absolutely love the green-yellow-orange theme of it and I would love to see this as a paperback on my shelves!

Tam is visiting her cousins Arj and Mira in Elathoor, Kerala for their summer vacations. They live in this really beautiful bungalow named Lili Villa and their days are usually filled with impromptu science experiments in the estate and enjoying the absolutely mouthwatering delicacies cooked by Pitamma.

One day Tam hears someone sneaking around outside the house at night and she’s terrified. Then the next day they discover that their aunt’s jewellery has been stolen in the middle of the night. While Thombu, the sub-inspector, carries out his own investigation, the Terrific Three decide on finding the thief using their own methods, starting with a long list of interesting suspects, including the unpleasant driver Kodavis, the always-complaining milking lady Dumdumchecchi, DoubleMean the fisherwoman, and many more!

A Mystery a Lili Villa really warmed my heart because it reminded me of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and Secret Seven but with a South Asian twist. From the summer vacation vibes to the biking and the food they pack along for their sleuthing, this story made me really nostalgic for my middle-school days when I would get lost in a good Blyton mystery for hours. That being said, I feel like POC middle-school kids nowadays are so lucky to have POC authors writing books like these that are a lot more relatable and representative of who they are.

Menon really understood her audience well, and used interesting characters and food to capture her young audience. Literally every character in this book had an interesting backstory that the three children find out while they carry out their investigation, and it really teaches young children to empathise more with people who they see everyday and take for granted.

At the same, Menon also takes time to point out important morals, including manners, in the subtlest way. I really liked how Arj takes his role as the eldest very seriously and tries to set a good example as well as point out when the other two are being disrespectful or rude. There was also some character development, especially in Mira, that I think would be inspirational to the reader as well.

The real star of this book is honestly the wonderful South Asian rep. There is food, there is culture, but there is also the modern-day trifles that a younger audience could easily relate to, like Tam preferring shorts to the long skirts she keeps tripping over. I loved that story was set in Kerala and the reader gets to see bits of village life while the investigative work progresses. Menon even included multiple glossaries, but worded in such a fun way that even a child would love to read it!

A Mystery in Lili Villa is a wonderful South Asian middle-grade mystery novel that reminded me of my own childhood reading Enid Blyton mysteries. A Mystery at Lili Villa is a valuable addition to the South Asian middle-grade literature shelves in libraries that would enthrall children with its authentic descriptions of culture, food and life in India that is both relatable and fun at heart.

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Tam’s ammavan was unpredictable. He had yelled at her for half an hour for dropping a piece of cake, but when she and Arj had pushed the TV down in a fight – breaking it into a million pieces – he hadn’t said a word. He even got them a newer, fancier TV the very next day.

He continued talking, but Tam and Mira had stopped listening. They watched Arj’s mouth move like a goldfish: open, close, open, close. They kept nodding their heads, pretending to understand every word.

“An alibi is proof that a person was somewhere else when a crime was committed. For example, if Mira was killed–“
“Why me?”
“And Arj was one of the suspects–“
“Why me!”
“Then all Arj has to do to prove his innocence is to claim he was playing chess with Sheila Ammayi at the exact time of the murder.”

“Smoking is bad for your health.”
“I know. I know. I will quit next month. I swear on Rukmini.”
Mira was skeptical. Everyone in the village knew Dumdumchechi swore on a cow for everything and never followed through on anything.

The detectives’ heads were buzzing with theories about Taramma.
Tam had the most outlandish ones. “Taramma is a don–queen of all the thieves in Kerala. She probably gets her enemies killed and eats their eyeballs for breakfast.”

Arathi Menon is an author and a columnist, currently based in London. 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.