A hardboiled PI under a curse gets hired to find the next Tooth Fairy. To be honest, I did not think this would work, and I was pleasantly surprised when it did. This isn't noir with fairies painted on nor is it fantasy with a bit of noir brushed into the background. This is an actual, successful combination of the two genres. It's quirky and fun. (Provided by publisher) ( )

Someone is killing tooth fairies and Blue Reynolds, PI and human lightning rod has been hired to find and protect Izzy the half-fairy who is next in line for the job. Unfortunately Izzy really doesn’t want to be the tooth fairy or Blue’s protection. She figures, perhaps rightly given that Blue doesn’t always seem all that good at his job, she’s better off on her own.

The Fairyland Murders by author JA Kazimer is a fairy tale/noir detective hybrid. Blue’s detective is typical of the noir genre: hard drinking, and cynical, with money woes and a stylized inner dialogue. He is also, like any good noir detective, a bit of a sexist but, happily, Izzy, despite her pink wings, is no damsel-in distress in need of protection. Since the tale is set in a fairy tale, Blue also has the ability to attract lightning although he doesn’t seem any better at controlling this than he seems at detecting.

The Fairyland Murders by author J.A.Kazimir takes a while to get off the ground but once it gets past all the introductions to Fairyland and its denizens, it’s a pretty decent urban fantasy. It has enough action to keep it interesting and enough humour to keep it fun. It’s the kind of story that’s just right for those times when all you want from a book is entertainment. ( )

At first, I didn't really enjoy this book but it turned out to be interesting. I look forward to reading more of J.A. Kazimer's future work.

*Copy received from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. ( )

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

THE FAIRYLAND MURDERS was a interesting mixing of noir detective stories with fairy tales. With this mixture of a gritty murder mystery with light fanciful fairies and princesses you get an at times bizarre world filled with some hilarious interactions between characters. There are some neat references to fairy tale characters and fairy tales. I liked the mystery as it expanded on the tooth fairy mythos making the tooth fairy the center of the fairy world. I like the random cameos of familiar fairy tale characters and this blending of two different genres was really well done.

While I enjoyed most of the secondary characters, I wasn't to taken with Blue Reynolds, the stereotypical noir detective at the center of this story. First of all his 'power' of being a human electrode seemed out of place in a fairy tale/noir detective world. Also, he seems to be very bad at his job considering he has multiple cases open which he is nowhere near solving. Along with being bad at his job he has the classic tragic back story all good detectives must have except all we know is that he was cursed at some point which I guess is the start of a story arc for the rest of the series. I just kind of wanted to know more about it to get the hang of this character better. Blue also comes off as really sexist and many of his comments about women were off putting. I get that that is kind of what noir detectives speak like but Blue came off as really harsh many times.

There is a lot going on in THE FAIRYLAND MURDERS and at times it was a bit confusing but that didn't hurt my enjoyment too much. Perhaps in the next book the ideas and story will feel more settled. I enjoyed this genre mash-up and seeing a different take on fairy tales. I wasn't a fan of Blue Reynolds as he just didn't seem to fit in this world and came off as really incompetent, mean, and sexist. ( )

Received a review copy.

I really loved Curses! and Froggy Style, and was hoping for more of the same: scummy underbelly-of-Fairyland characters getting dragged into mysteries and solving crimes. No issues there--and it was a nice little mystery, too, with dark, nasty little elements that you usually only see in a suspense. The plot was faboo.

However, the main character, Blue, didn't knock it out of the park for me--either because Little Boy Blue doesn't have too rich of a fairytale tradition, or because the author held back the interesting bits of his backstory that would have made the character for me. Plus, the book's not as goofily quotable. So I have to give it four stars, but that's mostly in comparison to Curses! and Froggy Style. ( )