If you love your mysteries with a twist of culture, comedy and community spirit, you’re in for a treat. Scarlett Li's Lucky House Detective Agency is the first in a delightful new series that blends classic sleuthing with mouthwatering Chinese food, rich traditions and a whole lot of heart. Today, we’re thrilled to chat with Scarlett about the inspirations behind the story, her childhood dreams of being a detective, and how her own family’s history shaped the world of Felix, Isaac and the Lucky House takeaway.

Written in collaboration with the brilliant team at Storymix, this mystery is more than just a whodunit – it’s a celebration of heritage, friendship, and the joy of working out a good puzzle. From the jade money plant to dim sum Sundays, Scarlett shares how she wove familiar customs and personal memories into the story, and why writing this book was “a joy!”

Our expert reviewers loved the “packed with clues, case notes and red herrings” mystery, calling it “an ideal introduction to the genre” and praising its “wonderful community of characters.” Joy Court describes it as “a really cracking mystery, packed with diverse representation, humour, lively illustrations… [that] deserves to be a big hit.” Andrea Reece adds that the “well-plotted junior detective story” is “full of incident and just the right number of red herrings,” with “delicious” descriptions and a celebration of “intelligence and community.” Read on to discover more about Scarlett’s journey, favourite childhood reads, and what’s in store for the Lucky House gang next!

Q. Were the characters in The Lucky House Detective Agency drawn from your own childhood?

A. Lucky House Detective Agency was written in collaboration with Storymix, a book packager who invited me to work with them, so the process was slightly different. Storymix had devised the Lucky House storyline before I was brought on board, but the process was wholly collaborative with myself and Storymix bouncing ideas back and forth throughout. I brought to the story my experience as a kid growing up inside Chinese restaurants in Australia. I could relate a lot to Felix as like him, I emigrated from Hong Kong when young. My mum worked in Chinese restaurants in Western Australia, so I grew up around hardworking Chinese immigrants labouring in the food industries. I also interviewed British Chinese people who had grown up in UK Chinese takeaways to authenticate the character of Felix and the depiction of his family in Britain. I loved writing this book – I found it a joy! 

Q. We loved the way Chinese customs, superstitions and home life were woven through the story. How important was it to you to share these traditions with your readers?

A. Storymix had already woven these elements into the storyline long before I came on board. But the concept of luck within Chinese culture is one I am familiar with. My Por Por (maternal grandma) and Tai Por (maternal great grandma) were devout adherents of luck and fortune so from them I knew of all the things you should do or not do to create luck and fortune. Woe betides if I dared wash my hair on my birthday for that would mean I was washing out all the luck of the new year. In terms of Chinese customs, manners etc, I tried to show elements of how I imagined Felix’s family would have behaved. One broad aspect of Chinese culture I touched on is the concept of ‘keeping face’ which Felix’s mum explains as a way of giving others respect. But to what level you take it is very individual. I also wanted to show that in Nina’s family, the concept of luck is tied in with wealth, prosperity, material gain and one’s position in society whereas Felix’s family view of luck is more about health, family happiness and wellbeing and having the means to support themselves to enable these things. 

Q. The descriptions of the Chinese food in the book were mouthwatering. Are you a keen cook yourself?

A. No - I am a keen eater!  The two main food scenes in the book – dim sum and the family meal on their day off in the takeaway were so much fun to write. I eat dim sum regularly and have been doing so since I was in my mother’s womb. I suggested to Storymix that we add the scene with the family meal in the takeaway to show what Chinese families might actually eat. My experience was that it is not the same food that is on the customer menu as these dishes initially originated to suit Western palates. 

Q. Were you a fan of mystery books when you were a child? Did you have a favourite author or series?

A. Yes! I loved mystery books. I am old so when I was a kid – it was Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew, Pat Hutchins, the Black Hand Gang, The Famous Five. In fact - my childhood dream was to be detective.

Q. There are some really exciting Chinese authors working in the UK children’s book market including Kelly Yang, Sue Cheung, Daishu Ma and Shirley Marr. Do you have any recommendations of authors we really should read?

A. Maisie Chan is one of the few British–Chinese authors writing wonderful contemporary middle grade kidlit. Others writing fantastic middle grade in other genres include Tania Tay (writing as Crystal Sung) Eric Huang, Siobhan McDermott, Anne Chen and Narissa Chung.  In the picture book arena, some Chinese authors and illustrators I know of include Eva Wong Nava, Lucy Tandon Copp, Natelle Quek, Sharon King-Chai and Felicity Main. In Australia, there is Remy Lai, Alice Pung, Gabrielle Wang and of course, Shaun Tan who is from my hometown of Perth! I wish both lists were much longer.

Q. The Lucky House Detective Agency ends at the start of a new mystery for the sleuths. How long do we have to wait to read more?

A. Watch this space!

Q. Was it always your dream to be a writer?

A. I’ve always written for as long as I can remember. When I was little, I used to write plays and force my friends to be in them. I then wrote some pretty bad poetry. Writing has always been how I made sense of things. I’ll always write. 

Q. Any tips or advice for fellow writers trying to get their first novel published?

A. Love writing and invest in what you are writing so if you abandon it, it feels like you are abandoning part of yourself. Use mind games to trick yourself to keep going when it is hard (which is often) Collaborate with and support other writers but run your own race. Learn to listen to feedback. Just Keep Going.