The Lu Quartet: Super Sleuths and Other Stories  

Kakoli Chakrabarty (Kalu), Malabika Majumdar (Malu), Bulbuli Sen (Bulu), Tultuli Basu (Tulu) are four girls who become students at a boarding school and shorten their names to coin themselves the “Gandalu” or Lu Quartet. Nalini Das artfully writes the all-girl detective team into clue-filled mysteries in this collection of 13 stories, all narrated by Tulu. The part-time sleuths, girls have their unique personalities to complement each other, as they share in adventures and solve mysteries. In “The Lu Quartet: Super Sleuths,” the four are introduced for the first time while they investigate the “haunted” mansion next door to their boarding school, peering upon hazy shadows in dark mango groves. “The Mystery of Tower Hill,” inspired by an explorer who had traveled to a mysterious tower in the forest and wrote a book about it, fires up the girls’ curiosity and drives the detective quarter to see it out. “The Mystery of the Jade Buddha,” in which an ornate jade buddha belonging to one of the schoolteachers was stolen, the Lu Quartet continuously finds themselves entangled in mysteries and must work together to unveil what happened. Brilliantly brought to life by Das, the tales of the Lu Quartet were translated by Swapna Dutta and are well-translated despite some unusual sentence structure. In addition to 13 riveting short stories, there are 32 extra pages offering insight into the author, translator, and Lu Quartet characters; it also includes activities and a glossary of the Bengali words used in the stories; finally, it gives readers the opportunity to create a review of the book by themselves!  Kakoli Chakrabarty (Kalu), Malabika Majumdar (Malu), Bulbuli Sen (Bulu), Tultuli Basu (Tulu) are four girls who become students at a boarding school and shorten their names to coin themselves the “Gandalu” or Lu Quartet. Nalini Das artfully writes the all-girl detective team into clue-filled mysteries in this collection of 13 stories, all narrated by Tulu. The part-time sleuths, girls have their unique personalities to complement each other, as they share in adventures and solve mysteries. In “The Lu Quartet: Super Sleuths,” the four are introduced for the first time while they investigate the “haunted” mansion next door to their boarding school, peering upon hazy shadows in dark mango groves. “The Mystery of Tower Hill,” inspired by an explorer who had traveled to a mysterious tower in the forest and wrote a book about it, fires up the girls’ curiosity and drives the detective quarter to see it out. “The Mystery of the Jade Buddha,” in which an ornate jade buddha belonging to one of the schoolteachers was stolen, the Lu Quartet continuously finds themselves entangled in mysteries and must work together to unveil what happened. Brilliantly brought to life by Das, the tales of the Lu Quartet were translated by Swapna Dutta and are well-translated despite some unusual sentence structure. In addition to 13 riveting short stories, there are 32 extra pages offering insight into the author, translator, and Lu Quartet characters; it also includes activities and a glossary of the Bengali words used in the stories; finally, it gives readers the opportunity to create a review of the book by themselves!