I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this after I added it to my Amazon wish list but my mother-in-law kindly bought it for me for my birthday and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The basic premise is that the traditional fairy tale characters such as Snow White, Prince Charming, Jack (of Jack and the Beanstalk fame) and the Big Bad Wolf (of Three Little Bigs Fame) etc. are living in New York as part of an exiled community. Each character has an obvious past which most will be familiar with and the quirks of the characters are recognisable and hinted through out the story, usually whilst mentioning the amnesty that occured when the community was exiled. This amnesty (all previous crimes were stricken from the record to allow a fresh start in the new world) forced a community to form with unlikely partnerships.
The Big Bad Wolf is now a reformed detective trying to control his previous anger issues, this volume focuses on the murder of Snow White’s sister, herself the deputy mayor of the community. The story is very easy to pick up and the artwork whilst not represented by the cover is crisp and very well drawn. I personally was happy to find that the cover art was not the style used throughout the book but I’m sure some would prefer otherwise.
Overall it’s a cleverly written “whodunnit” with the backdrop of recognisable fairy tale characters. I’m not sure how this will follow on to other volumes but I think I may have to pick up another volume to find out.
