Lulu and the Dance Detectives #1: Mystery at the Hotel Espanol

Aucklander Sally Sutton has been writing picture books, children's novels and plays for two decades. Her stories are celebrated for being 'busy with joy, and colour, and words that boing off the page' (The Spinoff) - making reading her stories a magical moment between parent and child. Sally has been awarded several Storylines Notable Book Awards for her work, and in 2009 she and illustrator Brian Lovelock won the Picture Book category of the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults for Roadworks. Her 2018 story about a cat's amazing true journey, The Cat from Muzzle (illustrated by Scott Tulloch), was a bestseller.

Read more about Sally at www.sallysutton.co.nz

After receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts, Lily worked as a props maker and designer. But since before she could remember, she had loved to draw more than anything else. She would spend all of her spare time sketching and studying illustration.

When Covid arrived, Lily and her partner, Rory Stewart, left their life in London and rushed home to New Zealand. Stuck in the house and trying to rebuild a life that had been abruptly scattered, Lily decided to give herself a chance. She has now illustrated over 10 picture books, including Melanie La’Brooy’s The Wintrish Girl (University of Queensland Press) and Nicole Miller’s Celia Seagull and the Plastic Sea (Little Love).

Lily lives in Days Bay with her assistant, She-Ra the dog, and Rory.