Fairy Garden #5
As an enthusiast of mystery and fantasy novels, I am always delighted to find a series that manages to blend the two in an effective and engaging way, and Daryl Wood Gerber’s Fairy Garden Mystery series does just that. Her fifth book, A Twinkle of Trouble, follows our heroine Courtney Kelly during Carmel-by-the-Sea’s Summer Blooms Festival. Her fairy garden shop Open Your Imagination is hosting a booth this year alongside many other local shops and influencers. Other than excitement for the event itself, Courtney is glad for the distraction. Her stalwart companion Fiona has been gone for a bit, having returned to the fairy realm to see her family. Worry for her righteous fairy friend, and what reception she might have received at home, Courtney is determined to focus on the festival as well as some other new side projects. Not to mention her blossoming romance with local restaurant owner, Brady Cash.
Carmel-by-the-Sea is an idyllic little seaside village, with plenty of enthusiastic gardeners keeping the neighborhood overflowing with beautiful gardens. But the happy flowering atmosphere wilts when Courtney’s friend Genevieve is found dead near the festival. Her curious nature and sense of justice drives Courtney to ask around town and see if she can dig up any clues to help the Police. Things get even more complicated when another body drops. More than a few of her newer friends start to seem like foes. This drives Courtney to dig deeper and ask more probing questions than her friends might like to answer. Luckily, she has plenty of friends that aren’t on the suspect list to help her out. Her very determined Fairy partner returns to help out as well, along with her network of magical little friends. Only those who are truly open to seeing fairies, to believing in them, can see them, which makes fairies rather invaluable investigators. Fiona isn’t bashful at all about peeking over shoulders, exploring gardens, observing suspects and reporting back whatever she happens to find. She is always ready to lend a little fairy magic to help people be more at ease and open up to Courtney when she is asking them questions.
I highly suggest the Fairy Garden Mysteries for anyone who loves a bit of the fantastic mixed into to their mystery. Daryl Wood Gerber has created a world with fairies and magic that draws readers in. Not only for the murders Courtney faces, but also to see how the adventures of Fiona and her fairy friends will play out. There are two worlds existing parallel to each other, and only those that believe and are open to the world of fairies can hope to be a part of both. Seeing who is and is not aware of the fairy’s existence is its own little mystery, as it is near impossible to predict who will be able to spot one next. Daryl Wood Gerber also does one of my favorite things in her books, including an index at the beginning that identifies who all the reoccurring characters are, and their relative posts in Carmel-by-the-Sea. This index makes it a perfect series for new readers to hop into the series with any book that happens to pull to them. Be it delightful fairy gardens and gardening tips, fairy antics, or traveling with Courtney as she helps unravel not one, but two, murders, there is a little bit of something for everyone. – Carla Schantz