Blog Tour: Fairday Morrow and The Talking Library by Jessica Haight and Stephanie Robinson, illustrated by David Sanangelo

The first mystery of The Detective Mystery Squad (The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow) has been solved and now Fairway, and her best friends Lizzie and Marcus are looking forward to her first Halloween party at Begonia House, the old Victorian her parents are converting into a Bed and Breakfast.

Then, one night a week before Halloween, during a wild thunderstorm, a branch of the old oak tree is blown through the window of Fairday’s bedroom. Before her dad moves her out because of broken glass, Fairday discovers a note, in fact, the third one that week. Written in a rhyme, the note read

"The Librarian has been double-crossed. Many words will be lost. Lest the bookworm goes away, story ink is how books pay. We seek the one who wears the shoes - only they can hear the news."

What could it mean? Fairday can’t wait to talk it over with Lizzie and Marcus. But, just as they arrive so does a giant spider named Sanir, who can speak to Lizzie, and who leads them to a trap door in the closet under the stairs. Plunging into the darkness, the trio free fall through darkness, passing by three windows - one with curtains, a vase of red roses, and a silver spoon, a second with closed blinds and a ticking sound, and a third window with colored jars behind a broken window. What could that mean? 

Landing and finding more riddles which they are finally able to figure out, the friends meet Fas, the librarian for the Talking Library, a library where all the real first editions of all stories ever written are stored. It seems the Talking Library and Fas desperately need to get in touch with Eldrich, the Myxtress. It was she who tricked and cursed Ruby Begonia (see Book 1) so that when she was trapped in this part of Begonia House, she served as the Housekeeper for the Talking Library. Once the curse was broken and Ruby left, the stories in the Talking Library became vulnerable. Now, it seems the Library has a bookworm who is beginning to eat the words from the real first editions. The possibility that they could disappear forever looms unless this mystery is solved. In fact, Fairday had already noticed that in her prized copy of The Wizard of Oz, and in the copies of Charlotte’s Web in school, words were already missing and nobody noticed.

Finding the bookworm sounds like no easy task, but the DMS are on the job. Can they find Eldrich and rid the Talking Library of this evil bookworm before books vanish forever? 

Fairday Morrow and the Talking Library is really a fun mystery to read with shades of Alice in Wonderland (in fact a discombobulated Alice even makes an appearance. The Begonia House seems to have an abundance of mysterious secrets that it is releasing one at a time. Interestingly, Fairday’s parents are totally unaware of the magical side of the house, despite all the renovations going on. 

And it turns out those sparkly red high heeled sneakers that fit Lizzie at the end of The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow play a pretty important role in this novel, too. Not only that, Lizzie is in for some surprises about her family that explains a lot.

Besides an engrossing story with great plotting and interesting fleshed out characters, there are some fun full page black and white illustrations scattered throughout the story. Fairday Morrow and the Talking Library will surely appeal to readers who like mysteries, character friendships, and, especially, solving riddles - there are lots of them.

I can’t wait to read the third DMS mystery.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was sent to me by the authors, Jessica Haight and Stephanie Robinson