Three Pickled Herrings by Sally Gardner –NO

Gardner, Sally Three Pickled Herrings (Wings & Co #2)  176 pgs. Henry Holt, 2013. $12.99 Content: Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G Violence: G

Emily and Buster (Who looks like a boy but is really a wingless fairy who is really 100 years old) run the Wings & Co fairy detective agency. Things are not going so well, they haven’t had a case, Emily can’t even unlock the case that holds the fairy wings, and the pair don’t get along. They finally get a case, a man comes to them with a tale of woe, and they agree to help. In the meantime, they cross paths with a few other mysteries including the missing dog Doughnut and how his owner died.

I absolutely did not like this book. To me, it feels like it is a dated British mystery novel written for adults, with lots of high level and colloquial vocabulary, then someone went through an added a bunch of nonsensical kids stuff like fairies and talking cats, to make it more palatable for younger readers. It was just so bizarre, stuffed with a plethora of boring characters, and just plain over the top that I could not buy into the story. The cover is unappealing and the content is just confusing and difficult to read. I would not add this to my library; there are more current and well-written mysteries for students.

EL –NO Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.