Summary: The A&A Detective Agency #1 (The Fairfleet Affair)
Asha and Alex are two besties who’ve founded a detective agency. Their first real gig comes when the beloved eccentric chairman of a museum in their small town goes missing, sending a note to three of his board members, one employee, and the A&A Agency to find him before 2 weeks are up. The kids jump into the investigator, talking to the Archivist and the other three members of the board to track down Mr. Fairfleet and revealing many secrets about the billionaire and his board members and testing Asha and Alex’s friendship in the process.
The Good
The best part of this book is Asha and Alex’s friendship and their sense of humor. I chuckled plenty at their interactions and it will be a relief for the kids looking for representation of platonic boy-girl friendships. If you enjoy banter in your stories, you will love this one. Their mystery solving styles complement each other nicely and I loved watching them solve a mystery even adults couldn’t figure out.
The directors are truly eccentric, which adds a quirky vibe to the story, and there’s a lot of museum prowling. I think kids will especially enjoy the story’s villain, who is “bad” in a hilarious way. Asha and Alex’s parents are conveniently absent most of the time, which allows for plenty of exploration. While I’m sure how I feel about Fairfleet reasons for his actions, everything from the mystery was satisfyingly resolved and I’d love to read the next book in the series when it comes out.
The Not-So Good
Soneela Nankani’s narration is also probably the only reason I could finish this book because the pace is quite slow. There are things happening but not everything is compelling enough to keep you reading, so I often put down the physical book to get into other books halfway.
Content Notes
Here are some specifics to know about the content.
Content Warnings
- Death: None
- Alcohol/substance abuse: None
- Sexual content: None
- Violence: None
Diversity
- Ethnic: Asha is of Indian descent.
- Sexual orientation: None
Recommended for ages: 9+
Good for Kids Who Like:
- Art mysteries
- Summer stories
- Friendship stories
- Books about amateur sleuthing
- Sisterhood of Sleuths by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Publisher Details
More Book Reviews
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- Minerva Keen’s Detective Club by James Patterson and Keir Graff
- Montgomery and the Case of the Golden Key by Tracy Occomy Crowder
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