What will you do when your uncle gets kidnapped RIGHT before the wedding?

I have been meaning to read this book for probably over a year now. Last week the libraries finally opened and during the time they were closed (5+ months) they added this book. I was so happy. I was just dancing. Thankfully, no one was around, haha.

In this book Anisha’s family gets ready to party as aunt Bindi is getting married. We see various preparations, tons of drama as aunt Bindi is quite the dramaqueen, but things really get exciting when Anisha finds a mysterious note in the mailbox. Her uncle has been kidnapped! And so begins Anisha’s first case and OMG, it was just so much fun to read. I had fun investigating along with Anisha and her friend Milo (and later also Anisha’s granny Jas) and figuring out the clues. Who would do this to aunt Bindi/the family? Why?

And it doesn’t just stay with a missing uncle, oh no, other things are happening as well! At times I just wanted to hug Anisha as things got quite stressful and she gets the blame for some of the things that happened. Which just made me furious. Just because she isn’t into a dress, doesn’t mean she would sabotage everything. Hello? Has she ever done something like that? From what I can see, no. So why would she do it now?

Next to exciting and musical and full of wedding, it was also quite humorous. Milo takes care of a lobster that was meant for curry. Granny Jas does some stuff. And there is more. I really liked that there was some humour added.

Who did it in the end? I knew it. And I would have definitely reacted way angrier than aunt Bindi and uncle Tony did and the others in the family. This is just not done. You don’t do that. Or any of the other things.

I liked most of the characters. Aunt Bindi was delightfully dramatic (maybe a tad too much), Anisha was a sweet girl who loved her family a lot, Milo was Milo, Granny Jas was definitely my favourite character, and the driver of Uncle Tony’s car was just such a fun character when we get to know him.

But will I be reading the next book? EHHHHHHHH, not sure. I mean, I am just so tired of the bully/nemesis trope and given that Anisha doesn’t just have ONE bully/nemesis, she’s got three, I am just not into that crap at this moment, or ever actually. It is a shame, as I would have loved to continue, but knowing this really put me off. I am just not looking forward to having a book with that.

I really love the art in this one.

I would recommend this book. It was quite interesting/fun to read and I like Anisha and her family and would have loved to be part of the wedding!