The Lucky House Detective Agency
Scarlett Li, illustrated by Sian James
Knights Of

Living in Leighton-on-Sea, eleven year old Felix and his best friend Isaac absolutely love detective stories and both boys spend a lot of time helping in Felix’s family’s Chinese takeaway, called Lucky House Takeaway.

One evening during a specially busy time the family’s lucky money plant brought from Hong Kong – Optimus Prime they call it – crashes to the ground. Mum is devastated and so the boys decide to use their detective skills to find out who knocked over the precious plant and prevent bad luck from befalling the Lee family. Their initial list of suspects comprises everyone in the takeaway at the time, including regular customers and Felix adds Nina Ding his cousin and nemesis ‘know it all Nina’ they call her.

As they’re repotting the plant, the boys find an old coin with Chinese characters and begin asking around about it. Could the accident by any chance have anything to do with a long lost Chinese treasure? They ask Mr Tsui, who tells them about an old box linked to a visit from Li Hung Chang, a Chinese diplomat from the 1800’s. A vital clue or a red herring?

With an interesting cast of characters, a wealth of information about British-Chinese culture and incidents aplenty, this well-plotted, exciting story is a fun mystery for KS2 readers that will certainly keep them guessing. With Felix’s final “The Lucky House Detective Agency is open for business. Let’s roll.” I wonder what mystery will come their way next?