Lulu & the Dance Detectives: Mystery at the Hotel Español

Flamenco or flamingo? It seems there might be some confusion as the costumes for Lulu's performance at the Hotel Español arrive, however, a costume mix-up might not be the biggest mystery at the hotel. We follow the ups and downs of Lulu and her dance troupe, as the friends work together to solve the mystery of a jewellery heist and maybe find time to perform too.

The language used will extend and amuse young readers e.g. rakish, along with words like fudgeballs and whizzy-fast! There are plenty of delightful illustrations scattered throughout the story, some full pages and others just small bursts of interest on the edges of the pages. Although they are only in black and white, Lily Uivel masterfully portrays a wide range of emotions and movement in these small vignettes, they were a highlight for me and added an extra layer of meaning to the story and are perfect for the emergent reader to break up the text.There is also a fun quiz at the end of the book 'What type of detective are you?' to see if you are a Nose (Analytical) or a Heart (Intuitive).

A fast-paced fun story for emergent readers and combined with the fun illustrations readers will be asking if there are more Lulu and the Dance Detective stories they can read! Spoiler alert, Book 2 will be coming soon!