Anisha: Accidental Detective

Anisha has an enormous family: countless cousins, grandparents, aunties and uncles all live in the neighbourhood, and each of them is gearing up for the social event of the year…Aunty Bindi’s wedding to Uncle Tony.

This would be more than enough for any story, as there is great drama and comedy to be found in Bindy’s struggle to juggle all the hair-dying, mehndi-applying, dress-fitting and food-prepping (live lobster curry, anyone?). But Anisha hasn’t time to involve herself with any prenuptial excitement, as her Uncle Tony has been kidnapped and Anisha has found the note! Determined not to add to Bindi’s stress, Anisha grabs her best friend, Milo, and sets about finding the culprits before it’s too late to save the wedding.

Through some smart thinking and plenty of luck, Anisha and Milo soon deduce that the kidnapper must be a member of the family, and, as you might expect from such a big, dramatic family, there are plenty of suspects!

Readers will find Anisha easy company and will enjoy spending time with her. She knows her family are crazy and weird but loves them all. Even when she’s accusing her grandma of kidnapping, she does it with warmth and affection! As she makes her way through her list of suspects, she treats readers to an insight into her family’s favourite traditions, and even translates a few words in Gujarati and Punjabi. Impressively, Anisha and her family simultaneously feel totally normal and utterly extraordinary.

As Anisha desperately tries to find Uncle Tony before the wedding starts, she is forced to confront the fact that someone in her perfectly bonkers family has betrayed everyone for their own selfish gain. As someone who holds ambitions to find the world’s first cure for meanness, this does not sit well with Anisha. Anisha’s kindness is nearly matched by her curiosity and, despite the title, it’s clear that she’s hooked on detecting and that more Anisha stories will be coming along soon.