• The Fairy-Tale Detectives

  • The Sisters Grimm
  • By: Michael Buckley
  • Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
  • Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (1,514 ratings)

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The Fairy-Tale Detectives  By  cover art

The Fairy-Tale Detectives

By: Michael Buckley
Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
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Publisher's summary

The recently orphaned Sisters Grimm find out from their Granny, who they thought was dead, that they're descendents of the legendary Brothers Grimm. Now they must take over the family responsibility of being fairy tale detectives in a town where fairy tales are real. Their first case: a giant is destroying the town and it may have something to do with a boy named Jack and a certain famous beanstalk.
©2005 Michael Buckley (P)2005 Recorded Books, LLC

What listeners say about The Fairy-Tale Detectives

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Nice Book for Kids

I am an adult but bought this book because it looked interesting. It is set in our present day and follows two sisters who are the decendants of the Brothers Grimm. They are thrown in the middle of a mystery involving fairy tale characters. It was an easy listen and helped pass the time while I did my cleaning. Although this is really for kids, it can be enjoyed by adults too. There are some unresolved questions at the end of the story so I am thinking that this book may have a sequel.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • CB
  • 10-08-19

great performance

great performance. made the already colorful story come alive. highly recommend this book for tween agers especially, plus the young at heart

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

not compelling enuf to keep me on the treadmill

ok, but not good enuf. didn't finish it.
didn't really care how it came out!

(looks like 15 words to me!)

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Cute story

This was a cute story with those from the tales we know and love. I like the generational twist it involves. An easy read to fill up some time

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Fun, Funny, Fairy, and the Kitchen Sink

Ever since their parents vanished a year and a half ago, eleven-year-old Sabrina Grimm and her seven-year old sister Daphne have been escaping from bad foster homes. And in the opening scene of Michael Buckley's The Fairy-Tale Detectives (2005), the first novel in his popular Sisters Grimm series, the girls are taken by their pinch-faced case worker Ms. Smirt to Ferryport Landing, NY, a quaint town without movie theaters, malls, or museums, to live with a dead woman. It develops that the woman, their grandmother Relda Grimm, is alive and well, and among the things the girls will soon discover is why their father lied to them that she was dead and what happened to the girls' mother and him.

They will also learn that nearly every fantastic being and artifact that ever appeared in any fairy tale, legend, or myth really existed and did the things that have been written about them, so that, for instance, a collection of Grimm's Fairy Tales is a history book and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow a true story. We don't encounter such things in real life today because when the age of fairy tales was ending around the start of the 19th century and fantasy beings--Everafters--were being persecuted, they moved to America, where with the help of Wilhelm Grimm they settled in the mostly unsettled woods and fields of Ferryport, thinking to find there an unmolested haven. As time passed and more normal Americans began moving to Ferryport, however, persecution loomed again, so some Everafters tried to wage a pre-emptive war on humanity, but were prevented by a Baba Yaga spell limiting all Everafters to the five square miles of the town for as long as at least one Grimm descendent remains alive. So for 200 years the Everafters have kept a low profile, mostly hiding their magical natures and items, and the Grimms have been playing detective troubleshooters to defuse any problems arising between fairy folk and humans.

That premise permits Buckley to use any fantasy character (including Snow White, Little Bo Peep, Glinda the Good Witch, the Three Little Pigs, the Queen of Hearts, Gepetto, Ichabod Crane, and Mowgli) or item (including Excalibur, Cinderella's fairy godmother's wand, magic beans, and "the" magic mirror) he chooses. It's part of the trend in movies like Shrek (2001), books like Neil Gaiman's American Gods (2001) and TV shows like Once Upon a Time (2011-) to combine figures from various fairy tales, myths, and legends (often in our own world, often revised so that, for example, traditional villains become heroes and vice versa) to revivify such stories and their characters and to make them more relevant to today's readers. And it's fun to meet fantasy characters from beloved childhood tales rubbing shoulders in a new story.

But such stories may turn into inconsistent anything goes affairs, as when Relda Grimm tells her granddaughters that not all fairy tales are true, saying "For instance, a dish never ran away with a spoon," but why or where Buckley draws the line is fuzzy. Similarly, if fantasy stories are true histories of real events, how could characters who got killed in them appear alive now, like the Hansel and Gretel witch and Grendel? Worse, a diminishing of magic, a numbing of wonder, and a mundaning of fantasy may kick in the more disparate familiar characters are tossed together in a story, especially when, instead of fantastic effect, an author pushes page-turning action (as when the sisters ride on Aladdin's flying carpet--complete with a "kamikaze" dive, a car chase, and a moment when the rug "screeched to a halt"), and gives fantasy characters banal personalities and relationships (as when Beauty and the Beast bicker over being late for a ball), all of which is too much the case in The Fairy-Tale Detectives. The mystery genre itself is about solving rather than evoking mystery, and if fantasy characters are real, what happens to fantasy?

Kvetching aside, The Fairy-Tale Detectives is enjoyable. Although Buckley's writing mostly lacks poetry, magic, and wonder, it is exciting, funny, and vivid, and has some heightened moments, like when the sisters walk through the mirror, and some great lines, like "You would hug the devil if he gave you cookies," or "Who could tell what a woman who had swords hanging over her bed was capable of?" The sisters are spunky (if a little too snappy), loyal, vulnerable, and strong, and their growing realization that they may finally have found family and home is moving. Other characters like Relda Grimm and Mr. Canis (her lupine border, bodyguard, and friend) and Elvis (her 200-pound, slobber-tongued Great Dane) are appealing. I liked Puck, the 4,000 year-old self-proclaimed Fairy Prince and Trickster King who has decided to stay in the form of a twelve-year-old boy till the sun burns out. And Prince Charming makes a fine mayor: arrogant, snide, and power-hungry.

The reader L. J. Ganser's appealing voice and energetic manner are fine (especially for Sabrina and Daphne), with one exception: he's unconvincing and inconsistent with foreign accents like Relda Grimm's slight German one and Prince Charming and Jack the Giant Killer's thick English ones (especially when Jack says things like, "You can't keep a bloke like me down, can you? Nosiree-bob!").

Finally, although Catherynne Valente's The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland on a Ship of Her Own Making (2011) is more magical, being written with rich, poetic, and wonder-filled prose and peopled with characters of the author's own devising rather than with ones plucked from classic fantasy stories, kids must love The Fairy-Tale Detectives, and adults who like (sub)urban fantasy, everything-fairy-and-the-kitchen-sink stories, and exciting, funny, page-turning kids' books should like it too.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A delightful, family freindly listen

I purchased this book on a whim, and as I listened to the first hour I realized that I thought my daughter might like it as well. SO I started over with her in the car, and wow was I correct. My daughter (5y) LOVED this book. Every time we got in the car she demanded that we listen to it. I myself found it very enjoyable as well. The plot/storyline is light and innocent and the "monsters" (for lack of a better term) are not too scary or loathsome, in fact they tend more to the comical than anything else. The world of Fairyport Landing (or is it Ferryport Landing?) is interesting. It is kind of a like a lighter, less gruesome version of ABC's "Once Upon a Time???s" Town of Storybrooke. It is fun to hear how some of our favorite fairy tale characters cope with life in Modern America, I actually laughed at Jack's (from Jack in the Beanstalk) day job.
Overall I would highly recommend this novel to those of you who are looking for something to listen to with young children, especially daughters.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A twist on fairy tales

Would you consider the audio edition of The Fairy-Tale Detectives to be better than the print version?

Haven't read it.

What did you like best about this story?

Finding out what our favorite fairy tale characters are up to now,

What does L. J. Ganser bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She brings to the story many different inflections. This allows you to imagine what they sound and look like. Although when you read a book you form your own sense of what they look and sound like.

Any additional comments?

I just got the audiobook because I was looking for something with mystery that was dealing with brutality, murder and violence for a change. I was extremely delighted with the story. I am getting the next one. Hope it lives up to the first.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Hysterically demented takes on the old favorites

The Fairy-Tale Detectives breathes hysterically funny new life into all the old favorites. In the world of Sabrina, Daphne, and Relda Grimm the folk of fairy tales are alive and living as neighbors, friends, and even enemies. Watching a favorite character cope with the modern world, display unexpected foibles, or interact with characters well outside their own stories is intoxicating and fun. The sisters and their friend Puck display all the affection, friendship, and spirited rivalry one would expect in siblings, all the while making parents thank the heavens their children can't get up to magical hijinks. I've rarely read a series of books so creative, engaging, and full of laughs. Reading them never fails to lift my spirits. The only downside the books have is the stitch you'll get in your side.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

First audio book I ever Listened too.

Years ago before audible was a thing. I found this gem at my local library on CD. It's been more than 10 years and I had to listen to it again. It would be great if they made a full series pack so the price was better. But, it's what sparked my audiobook addiction. I have over 100 titles I've gone through and a few I've listened to more than a dozen times.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Even for adults!

I admit, I'm caught up in the new TV servies Once Upon a Time and perhaps that was what first intreguied me about this book series, and rightfully so! I can't help but enjoy the parallels between the fairy tale characters and their real world facade (similar to the TV show I mentioned). The girls are endearing and the characters are interesting and amusing. The narrator does a wonderful job performing the voices and carrying the story. I wish I had a little one to enjoy this series with me! It is a nice, light read.

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