Talk and Q&A with Serena Patel

Suitable for: Year groups 3 and 4 

Serena is the author of the award-winning series, Anisha, Accidental Detective which is now being developed for television. Serena loves books that make you laugh out loud or that have a twisty mystery to solve, even better if they have both! She believes all children should be able to see themselves in books and in the power of stories to make us believe we can achieve anything we set our minds to. Serena lives in the West Midlands with her family and two mischievous cats.

10-year-old Anisha’s ultra dramatic Aunty Bindi is getting married tomorrow so tensions are already running high before the ​‘wedding of the year’ – and things only get worse when Anisha gets a note saying Bindi’s groom Uncle Tony has been kidnapped, and won’t be released until the wedding is cancelled! It’s up to Anisha to find Uncle Tony with the help of her best friend Milo, and she has a hunch the culprit is somebody close to the family. She needs to use her scientific skills of logic and deduction to track down Uncle Tony in time for his wedding.

This is a highly amusing, fast-paced debut in a very promising new detective series. The humour is deft, the dialogue great and Anisha’s multi-generational British Indian family is a wonderful world to escape into. This book is delightfully illustrated by Emma McCann in an expressive and amusing way – and the graphic elements of the text make this book accessible and a fun read. Great for children who like to laugh while they’re reading!