Julieta and the Diamond Enigma

Luisana Duarte Armendariz's Julieta and the Diamond Enigma is a museum mystery for 8 year olds, told by a nine-year-old who is VERY keen to see the world.

What happens

On the wall of her parents' study there's a map covered in pins, one for every country each of them has visited. Dad's blue pins are everywhere. Julieta has just two purple ones. Tomorrow that changes, because she's going to Paris.

Dad is an art handler at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and he's gathering art for a Kings and Queens exhibition. Mum runs the museum's conservation department. She's also very pregnant with Julieta's baby brother, so she's staying at home.

Julieta is a lot of fun to be around. She reads Greek myths for fun and loves Athena. She bargains with her dad at half past five in the morning ("Counteroffer.") and wins. She drops Spanish words in as she goes, from corazón to elotes, the corn she ate far too much of in México.

She is also, let's say, a bit of a magnet for trouble. Last week she tried to straighten a painting at the museum and it ended up on the floor. So when a small bronze Athena goes missing on the morning they leave, guess who everyone looks at first?

Then it's Paris. They go up the Eiffel Tower, climb all 284 steps of the Arc de Triomphe and buy a charm for her bracelet. At the Louvre she meets the Regent Diamond, a stone the size of an apricot with a very long and very dodgy history. The handler who was meant to escort it has vanished. So Dad has to carry it himself, and the trip gets longer, with the baby due soon.

Things get much worse when the two of them catch someone in the act of taking the diamond. Suddenly Dad could lose his job, and it's up to Julieta to find out who's really behind it.

It's told in the present tense, straight from Julieta's head, so you're right there with her worries (will she be home in time to meet her brother?) as well as her jokes. There's lots of real art and history slipped in too.

What to read next

If they enjoy a clever girl, a family abroad and a museum full of secrets, try Violet and the Mummy Mystery. Violet's Aunt Matilde works at the museum in Cairo, and her naughty cousin Agnes loves a practical joke.