The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley


Review by Elleanore G. Vance

Are you a Nursery Crimes reader? Did you follow the Beaudelairs on their Series of Unfortunate Events? Do you love Fairy Tales? Then i have a book for you!

The first in the Sisters Grimm mysteries containing nine stories in all, we meet Sabrina (11) and Daphne (7) Grimm. They were orphaned last year and since have been kicked around to several very unsuitable foster homes. As far as they or anyone else knows, they are all alone in the world.  

Imagine their surprise to be told a woman they have never met is claiming to be their Granny Relda, someone the girls believed to be dead, shows up to take them home. The authorities don't really care, they just want the Grimm Girls out of their hair. So the Sisters' new home is Ferryport Landing, New York with "Granny" Relda and Mr. Canis, her helper.  

The girls' reactions are totally understandable and relateable. Sabrina is suspicious and distrustful. She clearly remembers their parents saying Granny was dead, so who IS this woman and what is her plan? Daphne, on the other hand, is immediately at home and trusting of these strangers. This elemental conflict between the girls gives the rough feeling of real siblings ; unlike some other fictional siblings (Hardy Boys, cough cough)

Published in 2005, I found these books in my adult years. I braved the strange looks I got in the children's section of the Noblesville Public Library (being an adult person sans children) to find each subsequent installment, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.  

This is a mystery set in a fantasy town. Some might have let the mystery lag and focus on the fantastical setting, but not here. Even though it was written with children in mind, this isn't a lazy mystery by any means. This ISN'T Nancy Drew, my friends, it is so much better! 

If you're a child, shopping for a child, or just a child at heart; if you have a love of who-dunnits and fairy tales: I urge you to take the trip with Sabrina and Daphne to Ferryport Landing. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐4/5

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