4.3 Stars
One Liner: Aww… adorable (but a little slow-paced)

Dr. Alistair Fairfleet, the eccentric chairman of the museums of the Fairfleet Institute, has disappeared without a sign. Everyone is worried about him. Fifteen days later, four people associated with the museums get letters from him. The fifth letter goes to the A&A Detective Agency run by Alex and Asha, two smart twelve-year-olds.
Dr. Alistair invites all of them to use his clues and uncover the mystery behind his disappearance. The young detectives are eager to prove themselves. They solve puzzles and riddles dealing with art and archeology. But can they reach Dr. Alistair on time, or are they too young to handle the unseen risks?
The story comes in the omnipresent third-person POV.

My Thoughts:
Who can resist a good detective mystery with two young detectives? Not me, for sure! This book has Asha Singh and Alex Foster running the A&A Detective Agency in Alex’s tree house. The kids are smart, intelligent, witty, and super cute. They do have ‘professional disagreements’ but learn to work through their differences.
The kids have different personalities, highlighted in many scenes. Asha is particular about rules (though she understands some rules should be flexible when you are a detective). Alex is a rule-breaker with a flair for dramatics and a little guy who does like to give in to his emotions (he sure doesn’t like his favorite people being on the suspect list). This makes them real and easy to relate to.
It’s been a long time since I read a book in the third-person omnipresent POV. This brings the narrator's voice into the picture and elevates the book. The voice is cheeky, witty, and has a touch of light humor. I chuckled quite a few times when reading the book. The pacing is slow, though.
The mystery combines brainy puzzles and some action. I like how the investigation doesn’t put the kids at risk (except in one instance, which is more of an architectural problem). There’s no ‘bad guy’ either, so the children are safe biking around in their small town. Since the story is set during the summer holidays, they don’t miss school.
Despite being middle-grade fiction, the adults in the book are quite good. Though they aren’t elaborate, we know enough of them to understand their character arcs. And every adult is distinct, bringing a nice flavor to the plot.
There’s a cat, Captain Nemo, who sadly doesn’t get much space except in a couple of scenes. We also see an old doggie, Don Quixote (aka Donkey), who belongs to Alex’s family. Even the parents are pretty much absent. While they are mentioned, none of them have an actual dialogue.
The book is set in Northbrook and has the feel of a larger small town. There isn’t much to visualize the location but the campus, museums, etc., are easy to imagine.
My favorite part is the acknowledgment that the ‘artifacts’ in the museums have dubious backgrounds and the ethical dilemma it brings. It’s no secret that many pieces from other cultures have either been stolen or forcefully taken from their lands to be displayed in the US, UK, and European museums. To see children’s book deal with this topic makes me happy. Kids need to understand that the cultural heritage belonging to other lands is for entertainment in foreign museums. Our gods are not to be kept in glass boxes. They belong to our lands and our people. They belong to us.
Recently, the New York Metropolitan Museum agreed to return 15 idols belonging to India. Over the last few years, we have received about 150 ancient artifacts that should have never left our land. The Cambodian idols are also still in the US museums, denying people to worship their gods the way they should be. A couple of months ago, Sophiline Cheam-Shapiro wrote about her experience at The Met where she was asked to leave for performing the Cambodian traditional dance of prayer with permission.

To summarize, The Fairfleet Affair is a witty and smart detective mystery with two intelligent kids working together and independently to solve their special case. Both our detectives get equal importance and prove themselves. This book is standalone from what I know but would be a wonderful short series.
Thank you, NetGalley and Union Square Kids (a subsidiary of Sterling Publishing), for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
***
The cover is cute enough and details the agency’s office. However, it doesn’t exactly catch the eye. I zeroed in on the book based on the title and genre. The blurb (and Asha) was my reason to request the book. I wouldn’t say no to a brighter cover.

A fun middle grade puzzle mystery. Kids will enjoy the twists and turns that Alex and Asha face as they try to figure out what happened to Dr. Alistair Fairfleet. Saxton managed a difficult task, creating a book that's fun to read but that still deals with some difficult issues. I specifically loved the book because although it is set in the US, Jordan and the Nabateans play an important role in the mystery. I hope there will be further series entries to meet the demands of 9-12 year old mystery lovers.

When an eccentric museum director goes missing, Asha and Alex, young detectives, investigate! They received a mysterious letter from him upon his disappearance, but so did four other people. They must investigate the clues to find the culprit.

This was a fun read! It was really low-stakes (no murder or violence), which I found great for the age group this book is designed for. It was full of fun puzzles and clues, and a good mystery trail to follow. Great for kids (and adults) who like mysteries!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received an electronic ARC from Union Square Kids - A subsidiary of Sterling Publishing through NetGalley.
Alex and Asha are fifth grade detectives who have formed their own agency. They are surprised when they learn their friend, Dr. Alistair Fairfleet is missing. They're even more surprised to receive a note with a clue to his disappearance. They learn that each of the four directors of the Fairfleet Institute also received clues. The detectives persuade the four adults to share their clues, and the story unfolds as they solve the case of Dr. Fairfleet's disappearance. Saxton weaves humor with the puzzle solving as readers can work on the clues along with Alex and Asha. They will connect to the friends' relationship including when they argue. The four adults first seem one-dimensional but further information is revealed about each as the mystery advances.
A fun read with enough challenges/red herrings to keep readers guessing.

Thank you so much to Union Square Kids and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Dr. Fairfleet has gone missing, assumed kidnapped. Four adults that work for him all receive letters and a cryptic clue. Only Alex and Asha of the A+A Detective Agency can solve, who receive a letter from Dr. Fairfleet to help start unfolding and solving the mysteries for who is responsible and where Dr. Fairfleet is.

What a thoroughly entertaining mystery filled with such thought out characters and incredible storylines. The whole mystery was so gripping you unfolded one small segment but had so much to find out and piece together. You can’t help but get enthralled in it. Wanting to trying to piece everything together whilst reading, from the tiniest clue to the biggest answers you need to figure it all out, just like Asha the puzzle must be completed. I loved it so much and what an amazing mystery it was.

The characters were amazing, from Alex and Asha as our protagonists who were really different but their differences were what made them entertaining, they worked differently, thought differently, saw things differently. Each offering the best solutions and ways to approach situations which was so entertaining and helped ,are the case that much more fun. Then we have our suspects, who you are left wondering the whole time who is responsible. Each one of them are in a job of authority, but each had a secret to unlock or were holding to themselves. None wanted to play or solve it themselves, but found they got invested whether they wanted to or not, because they had a lot at stake if they didn’t.

I loved the solution to Dr. Fairfleet, it was actually funny in a way when you find out what’s really happening, how it all came about. I did predict a little bit of his mystery fairly early on without many clues, but I’m not sure everyone would get it as early on as I did. I really enjoyed getting to find out everything in this little puzzle he sent everyone on and learning more about this very fascinating character.

This whole mystery was amazing, I loved it from the very start and even when it ended I would have happily kept reading, to solve more fun mysteries with the A&A detectives. This is a book I really recommend if you love a good mystery, ones that only give you clues in drips and drabs, so they make you want to read more, so you have to figure it out completely on your own as they build up to all the big answers. Then you’ll literally love this, I did. Nothing is revealed early, the story telling is incredible, the characters work wonderfully together and you’ll find storylines you never even thought would come. I loved it and hope there will be more in this series to devour as this was an incredible read.

With the excitement of a treasure hunt, this is a mystery to keep the reader anticipating the next clue at every turn of the page.

Dr. Alistair Fairfleet has gone missing. As a millionaire and the head of a well-known institute, this is hardly a small thing, especially since only the four directors and the A&A Detective Agency have received letters with clues. Alex and Asha take the problem seriously, but then, they only have two weeks to find him. Or else. But this isn't a straight-forward case. According to the clues, the four directors aren't as innocent as they appear, and their secrets are more incriminating than anyone imagines.

Alex and Asha are quite the detective duo, and while they act very age appropriate, are clever and catch things the adults tend to overlook. But not always and not always at the same time. That's one of he fun things about this read. Alex and Asha don't see the world the same way, nor do they always agree. The author lets their different viewpoints snuggle right together in an unique way, so that the clash is obvious. This not only adds a dab of humor but makes their personalities shine, without plunging into deep character moments. The story keeps a steady pace, letting the clues pull from one scene to the next.

The secrets Alex and Asha uncover point at serious crimes and remain age appropriate. The mystery never talks down to the reader, but displays how appearances aren't always true and, sometimes, there's a lot more to things than even the second or third glance uncovers. This also introduces readers to archeology and problems in the museum realm as well as to Shakespeare, especially King Lear. There are a few lesser known vocabulary words to help readers build on that end, too. So, there's more to this book than first meets the eye.

It's a smooth, fun read, which keeps the reader guessing until the end and has some surprising twists. The characters are enjoyable and come across with natural finesse. It left me wanting to climb into the A&A treehouse and see what Alex and Asha will be up to next. I received a DRC and read it in one sitting because it was really that interesting.