Book Review: Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls

Book: Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls (Lulu Dark book #1) by Bennett Madison

Cover Design by Lauren Monchik
Cover Illustration by Lulu

Edition: Paperback

Description:

Lulu Dark is not like other girl detectives. She doesn't speak Arabic, she doesn't have a helicopter pilot's license, and she has never used a nail file for anything other than its intended purpose.

so when someone nabs Lulu's favorite purse—a one-of-a-kind, and stunningly tacky, knock-off—she isn't exactly pleased about being thrust headfirst into a mystery. After all, she's already got her hands full with her outrageous best friends: karate-chopping space cadet Daisy and sweet-but-oblivious Charlie.

But Lulu refuses to let some purse-snatching fink take what's hers, so she dives deep into the fray.

There Lulu finds herself grappling with some complicated questions and a number of sketchy characters, including a rock star, a rich socialite, a loony landlord, and a serious case of mistaken identity.





Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Review:

Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls is a funny and suspenseful mystery that follows as Lulu Dark, a very strong-willed and opinionated 16-year-old high school junior, reluctantly tries to solve a mystery. She had no desire to solve mysteries but when her favorite purse went missing during a night out with friends Daisy and Charlie, she was determined to get it back. Lula didn't have a lot of clues at first but I like that she had a few hunches and went with them. Some paid off while others led to more questions.

I feels like the writer really had a lot of fun with so many scenes because Lulu's investigation led to some funny, embarrassing and scary moments. But nothing that didn't seem like a 16 year old reluctant detective would find herself in. There are some energetic, fun and messy conversations in this between Lulu and her friends, frenemies and potential suspects.

As the story unfolds, Lulu's investigation was becoming more than a stolen purse mystery. It was turning into something much more worse and it may put her life in danger. Add to all of this are all these rumors about her partying all night and making out with wannabe rock star Alfy Romero. It hurt the most when Charlie, one of closest and oldest best friends didn't believe her about the rumors. He was mad for a little while but he was back to being there for her. Meanwhile, her slightly air headed best friend Daisy was there for her especially in a scene where Lulu really needed help.

I like that there was a little bit of romance developing between Lulu and Charlie but it was slowly being developed. You could tell he liked her especially when he seemed jealous over those rumors. I like that it didn't feel rushed and there was a cute little payoff. And I'm sure their budding relationship will be focused more in the second book.

As much as I enjoyed reading this, I did have a problem with the author have written Charlie use the word retarded in one scene. It was when Lulu and her friends were trying to figure out a plan for investigating a suspect. This book was published in 2005, so it's not as if the author didn't know it's a hurtful word to use. I'm always surprised when that word is used in books.

This was a fun and interesting mystery with the writing having a good balance of humor and drama. I have mixed feels about the reveal and what happened to the suspect. I get why the suspect seemed to be handled with kid gloves but I also felt like more should have happen in regards to how the person was dealt with in the end. This was a good story and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.