The Third Pig Detective Agency

The Third Pig Detective Agency by Bob Burke
The Friday Project, 2009
149 pages
YA; MG; Fairy Tales; Mystery
4/5 stars

Source: Library

Read for Overlooked YA Book Battle.

This is a cute little mystery story.  The third pig is Harry Pigg of "The Three Little Pigs," who built his house of bricks.  He has turned his attention to solving crimes in Grimmtown.  One day Aladdin comes to him and commands Harry to find Aladdin's stolen lamp.  Through a tangled twist of lies and deception, Harry manages to solve the case and bring everything to a satisfying conclusion.

I was really excited about this because I love fairy tales and mysteries.  I thought they were well-combined here in a light and humorous way.  Harry has a straightforward way of speaking to the audience and the pacing was excellent (it's a pretty short book).  There were many twists and turns as Harry keeps running afoul of different dangerous people and having to scramble to get out of traps.

Personally I would have liked a bit more fairy tale but there were many references; I just wanted more.  The inclusion of Aladdin threw me a bit because I kept his stories separate from the Grimm fairy tales; this proves that various oral literary traditions should be thrown together in order to provide more amusement.   Keep an eye out for the sequel The Ho Ho Ho Mystery involving the disappearance of Santa Claus!

Overall: A quick mystery with a likable detective; recommended for fans of Jasper Fforde.

Hosted by Irena at This Miss Loves to Read.