Into the Lion's Den

September 12, 2016
Bestselling adult crime novelist Fairstein (the Alexandra Cooper series) sets her sights on middle grade readers with her version of a modern-day Nancy Drew, Devlin Quick. Twelve-year-old Dev is the daughter of the first female New York City police commissioner, Blaine Quick, and is always on the lookout for crimes in progress. Dev has her moment to investigate a real crime, when Liza, an exchange student living with Dev for the summer, witnesses an art heist in the maps room of the New York Public Library. Since they are just kids, no one believes them, so Dev decides to investigate the theft herself, using “fiblets” (white lies) to gain information and access. Fairstein gives Dev a no-nonsense narrative voice, but it comes at the expense of her character sounding like a believable tween (“I would hate for this map thief—or any of his cohorts—to become fugitives”). It’s clear that Fairstein did a great deal of research while writing this novel, but the frequent delivery of facts through dialogue can be stilted and unnatural. Ages 8–12. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM.

Kathleen McInerney excels at the characters' New York and Brazilian accents as well as the picturesque descriptions of the New York City setting. Despite McInerney's accomplished narration, Fairstein's first mystery for kids is not fully successful--there are too many extraneous details, too much lucky happenstance, and not enough compelling mystery. While visiting the New York Public Library, Devlin Quick and a friend notice a man remove a map from the library's rare book collection. Listeners will enjoy hearing fascinating information about police work and libraries as the determined girls track down the thief. The secondary characters--such as Dev's aloof grandma, Lulu; Dev's mother; the police commissioner; and various police officers--are well portrayed, even while the predictable conclusion disappoints. S.G.B. � AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine