Once Upon a Crime: The Brothers Grimm Mysteries, Book 2

Paula brackston is a brilliant writer and her alter ego, PJ brackston puts those skills to good use allowing her humor and wit to shine through in these imaginative , wildly amusing, wonderfully clever faerie tales. I am so glad ms brackston exists and creates genius literature in so many genres. I adored every one of her mystical witchy tales and gobbled the gorgeous writing style with hunger,
And now seeing her apply that genius to a more light hearted storytelling craft is just one more delight.
I can't get enough!

I very much enjoyed both books so far in this series, but it's quite obvious that they were written and meant to be read Once Upon a Crime first and then Gretel and the Case of the Missing Frog Prints second. I don't know why they were published out of order with OUC being described as a "prequel," because this book ends chronologically exactly where GCMFP begins. There's a lot of exposition and universe building in OUC that would have been helpful when reading the first book in the series, GCMFP. I'm sure this unusual publication order had more to do with marketing (perhaps because Gretel's name is in the title of GCMFP?) or production schedules and not the author's intention.

Although both books are enjoyable and understandable in the current series order, I would recommend reading the second book (GCMFP) first and the first book (OUC) second! I like this series not only for its whimsy, storybook elements, and enjoyable mix of characters, but also because it has a smart, funny female protagonist, Gretel, who happens to be a private detective, a premise that lends itself well to myriad fun adventures in future books.

I wasn't really excited by this series at first but now can't wait for the next book!

Once Upon a Crime is in many ways a weaker story than Gretel and the Frog prints. overall I found this book less clever and Wiki then book one however if you are looking 4 what happened to Gretel before book one this is the story. in some ways it's rather unfortunate that the books were published in this order. clearly they were not written in this order. if you're just getting into this series then by all means read Once Upon a Crime then Gretel and the Frog prints. overall this is still a fun book and I am very much looking forward 2 books 3. keep reading does a fine job reading this story even though this book is her Les range than the previous one.

this book was very entertaining, the kind that makes you laugh and smirk.
the story was fast paced and twist and turned.