The Curious Case of the Sweet and Spicy Sweetshop

Nandini Nayar's The Curious Case of the Sweet and Spicy Sweetshop is a warm, funny mystery for 7 year olds about a sweet-maker who doesn't much like sweets.

What happens

Vishnu runs the only sweetshop in the village of Vasantnagar. His grandfather and father made it famous, and the family's secret Recipe Book holds 823 recipes. Not one of them is Vishnu's. Honestly, he'd rather go home and make himself a plate of spicy masala rice.

Then one rainy night a boy knocks on his door. He says he's Revati's son. Revati is Vishnu's big sister, who ran away years ago to climb mountains. Now she and her husband haven't come back from an expedition, and the boy has come to find his uncle.

His nickname is Laddoo. And he doesn't eat sweets either!

The next night there's another knock. A girl called Anu says SHE is Revati's child. She knows all about the mountains and the expedition. She also adores sweets and wants Vishnu to teach her every recipe. Laddoo is furious. Somebody is fibbing, and Vishnu is far too kind to send anyone back out into the rain.

It's a lovely set-up. Who is Anu really, and why does she want those recipes so badly? (Her suitcase is suspiciously heavy.) There are strange grey shapes drifting round the house at night too, and only Laddoo seems to see them.

The food is the best bit. Orange jalebis, watermelon barfi, pumpkin cinnamon squares, and hot khichdi on a wet night. It'll make your reader hungry, and it's a gentle way to meet Indian sweets they may never have tried.

There's real feeling underneath the fun. Vishnu is quietly lonely, stuck in a job he never really chose. Laddoo is worried sick about his mum and dad and trying hard not to show it. Watching the two of them slowly get used to each other is very sweet (sorry).

It suits a child who likes a mystery with a big helping of family and a sprinkle of the spooky.

What to read next

For another story about somebody desperate to make a truly brilliant dessert, try The Worldwide Dessert Contest. John Applefeller has come last in the big contest ten years running, and this year he's sure his giant apple pancake will win.