"A delicious new detective mystery starts at the Lucky House Chinese takeaway."
June 2025 Debut of the Month
Given the huge popularity of mysteries , this new series is an ideal introduction to the genre for slightly younger readers. It is packed with all the elements that they will need in order to understand how mysteries work: case notes, clues, suspects and red herrings! It would make a wonderful book to share and solve the mystery together. It is also a book with a wonderful community of characters living in Leighton on Sea where our main protagonists, best friends Felix and Isaac are often to be found helping out in Felix’s family takeaway: The Lucky House. But when the family’s lucky money plant, (a beautiful jade plant Felix’s Mum brought from Hong Kong) is damaged and they discover a strange coin in the soil, they know they have to work out what’s going on. Can there really be a long-lost Chinese treasure at the heart of the mystery?
When Felix reluctantly agrees to recruit his ‘Know-it-all’ cousin Nina, The Lucky House Detective Agency is born. Initially the suspect list includes all the regular customers who are endearingly referred to by Felix and his Mum by their orders: ‘Sweet and Sour Granny’, ‘Only Chips Please’ and ‘No Peppers. ’ The reason given for this habit is a witty moment of pure enlightenment (because their names ‘all sounded the same. John. Tom. Joan.’) The whole story is suffused with British-Chinese culture and the reader gets a real insight into the traditions, family values, beliefs and lots of mouthwatering descriptions of food.
It is also lovely to see how easily Felix and Isaac move between their homes and cultures and how warmly welcomed they are in each. Isaac is of Jamaican origin and lives with his single parent father. In fact, we get a real picture of the whole diverse community around The Lucky House. Every side character has a back story. Felix is very proud of his family and what they do for the community, even if it seems he must disobey his parents in order to crack the case.
When Felix’s recklessness causes Isaac to get hurt, he has to learn that actions have consequences and that detecting can be dangerous. The nuances of their feelings, as friendship twists and turns, is very well described. Packed with diverse representation, humour, lively illustrations and a really cracking mystery, this series deserves to be a big hit. - Joy Court
Felix Lee and his best friend Isaac love detective stories so when a crime – of sorts – occurs in Felix’s parents’ Chinese takeaway, the Lucky House, they’re determined to solve it. Who knocked over Optimus Prime, aka the Lees’ lucky money plant and can they save the family luck?
At first, the list of suspects features everyone in the takeaway at the time, including regular customers, though Felix also adds his nemesis, super smart Nina Ding. As they set about solving the mystery though, it gets bigger: could the accident that befell Optimus have something to do with long lost Chinese treasure?
This is a very good junior detective story, well plotted, full of incident and just the right number of red herrings and false trails. Felix, Isaac and Nina (who gets involved of course) are great characters and the busy setting of the takeaway, plus regular descriptions of the meals Felix’s mum cooks for family and friends give it an added deliciousness.
The story celebrates intelligence and community, and how good to have a British-Chinese family in the spotlight.
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