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Brothers Grimm Mystery #4
The Sorcerer's Appendix: A Brothers Grimm Mystery
When Gretel—yes, that Gretel, now all grown up and working as a private investigator—takes on the case of a missing sorcerer, she doesn't realize that it will take her into the heart of the deep, dark woods, and face to face with an old enemy...
Gretel has never had any time for sorcerers, considering them nothing more than show-offs with questionable fashion sense. It is with some reluctance and a deal of grumpiness, then, that she agrees to look into the matter of a murdered magician. All that is left of him is a grisly remnant, which the police quack confirms is the murdered man’s appendix. What has become of the rest of him is baffling the local constabulary, the Sorcerers’ Society, and, not least, the hapless trickster’s widow.
As Gretel delves into the facts behind his disappearance she discovers no shortage of suspects. In fact, just about everyone she meets had reason for wanting the odious man dead. Her only clue points in one disturbing direction: the deep dark forest. So it is that Gretel, with a reluctant Hans as porter, must trek into the woods of her childhood trauma, braving all manner of discomforts and dangers—not least of which is a terrifying reminder of her past.
249 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2017
13 people are currently reading
1047 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
March 19, 2019
Yet another delightful romp through the fairytale forest with Gretel (yes, THAT Gretel) as she attempts to track down the whereabouts of a bumbling sorcerer, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Brackston's Brothers Grimm Mystery series is a lighthearted and welcome diversion in these days of doomsday headlines and post-apocalyptic literature. Self-assured, long-suffering, whimsical and witty, Gretel of Gesternstadt is the heroine I need after an arduous day of trying to ignore the latest tweetstorm-- she's a schnapps and strudel for the soul.
November 19, 2017
The return of Gretel ( yes that Gretel ) and her brother Hans is always a joy and with The Sorcerer`s Appendix (in my humble opinion the best yet ) I am not disappointed . Gretel and Hans take on the case of the dead Sorcerer or is it ? , once again we are taken into the world of fairy-tale fantasy Bavaria of 1776 and the wonderful characters that inhabit it. Paula Brackston is a storyteller of the highest order, and once again she spins a magical web of mystery and intrigue with large drops of humour and satire in a joyous adventure of one of my favourite detectives, so if you are wondering what happen to Baby Bear after Goldilocks or three of the seven Dwarves then this the book for you, add to that Witches , a bat called lynx , a bar room fight, better then any in a western film and Pixies then you have a joyful page turner of the highest order and I for one can not wait for the next adventure of Gretel ( yes that Gretel ) and her brother Hans.
January 23, 2018
This series gets better and better as it goes along! I kept putting down the first one, but by this one, I thoroughly enjoyed it all the way through!
July 15, 2019
I found #4 in this series delightful. It’s not deep-it’s fun.
September 26, 2020
Back to the best form of book 1 which meant I was chuckling out loud and kept guessing with the plot. I can only keep my fingers crossed for another!
May 24, 2021
Another fun one by PJ Brackston. I'll listen to anything narrated by Kate Reading, but it helps if the story is as fun as this one. Mysteries, Bavaria in the 1700s, and magical realism — what more could you ask?
April 6, 2018
I started this series with #1, Once Upon a Crime. This one's more confident, and better.
The wisecracks seem to flow more naturally, such as:
...Hans: You could wear sensible shoes.
...Gretel: Those two words do not belong together.
And there are plenty of wisecracks.
Decent plot, pretty good "what's going on here?", and a step forward in the relationship with the Uber General. H & G are consistently what they are, bumbling a lot but always moving in the right direction.
I suppose Chief Strudel had to be a complete stock character, as we've had at least since Inspector Lestrade, but sheesh, can't SOMEone write a reasonably competent police chief just as an exercise?
The wisecracks seem to flow more naturally, such as:
...Hans: You could wear sensible shoes.
...Gretel: Those two words do not belong together.
And there are plenty of wisecracks.
Decent plot, pretty good "what's going on here?", and a step forward in the relationship with the Uber General. H & G are consistently what they are, bumbling a lot but always moving in the right direction.
I suppose Chief Strudel had to be a complete stock character, as we've had at least since Inspector Lestrade, but sheesh, can't SOMEone write a reasonably competent police chief just as an exercise?
Read
April 26, 2021Once again a fantastic, light, and fun story. I so hope another installment appears. Gretel, yes, that Gretel is confronted by an old nemesis, there is weisswurst aplenty and the romance heats up. These books are so much fun.
January 7, 2018
I loved The Sorcerer's Appendix and can only hope for more adventures with Gretel and Hans.
Gretel is as resourceful, practical, and amusing as ever and Hans is still lovably useless. The mystery as always is intriguing with delightful fantasy elements, but the strong point, as always, isn't so much the mystery itself but the hilarious hijinks that ensue as Gretel tries to solve the case and ferret out the details.
I hope this series continues for a very long time.
Gretel is as resourceful, practical, and amusing as ever and Hans is still lovably useless. The mystery as always is intriguing with delightful fantasy elements, but the strong point, as always, isn't so much the mystery itself but the hilarious hijinks that ensue as Gretel tries to solve the case and ferret out the details.
I hope this series continues for a very long time.
July 27, 2021
The conceit of this well-written mystery--that Gretel of fairy tale fame has become a professional sleuth, assisted (or more often hindered) by her brother Hansel -- wears thin rather quickly. Brackston does a game job of trying to keep it going by introducing hapless sorcerers, an evil witch, three of the Seven Dwarfs and even a werewolf, but it just wasn't enough for me to like it more than I did. It moves along well but once you get the gimmick there's not much else.
April 8, 2018
Cute, cute, cute. This funny, clever little mystery, based on The Brothers Grimm, keeps the reader turning pages to find out if bumbling Hansel and and his now famous detective sister, Gretel, will find their client’s missing husband dead or alive. And they must go into the dreaded forest of their childhood tribulation to finish the job.
September 22, 2018
I tried but I just couldn't get into this... I may try again at a later date.
February 20, 2019
This was a book "blind date" from the library. It was mildly entertaining, but there isn't going to be a second "date."
September 6, 2018
I have very mixed feelings about this book. My mistake, I didn't realize this was the fourth book in a series. I HATE starting from the middle of a series. I think the first book is critical in establishing characters and easing the reader into this new world and the people in it. Starting in the middle you lose that.
I couldn't figure out Gretel's character. I feel like I missed her development and so things that may be quirky and cute to someone who's read about her from the beginning, to me was just paradoxical and non-nonsensical. I'll come back to this.
So the story is about a detective named Gretel. She and her brother Hans had escaped from the gingerbread house of a witch when they were younger. Now she makes her living as a detective. (I'm not sure what Hans does. Makes dinner? Provides muscle?) She was called to the house of the Widow Arnold. Her husband is a sorcerer and had disappeared leaving only an appendix. The Widow would pay her to have him found, as would the insurance company. Turns out Arnold was a horrendous sorcerer and had left victims behind of his attempts at magic. But with the help of his bat Jinx, Gretel discovered a map that lead to where he would often go to gather things for his spells.
She set off with her brother Hans into the woods. They had a guide named Cornelius who was meeting them half way through their journey. But the first night they were staying at a cottage in the woods. Of course it was a witch. And she was the sister of the first witch Gretel and Hans had escaped from. They got away from her too, but lost most of their supplies.
I have to jump in here to go off on a tangent rant. Gretel is a very smart, witty, and logical character. Throughout the book she makes good deductions based on the information she has found. She strikes me as a sensible woman. Until we talk about the wig. The wig bothered me folks. I DID. NOT. GET. IT. Some big concert was coming up so she paid to have this super fancy and elegant wig made so she would be stunning and Ferdinand (the man she was interested in) would ditch his fiance and marry her. This wig was expensive and elaborate but she was told to 'break it in' before wearing it to the concert. So she takes it with her. Into the woods. Where they are basically camping for the next week. WHAT?! This makes absolutely no sense to me. I can understand a sensible woman being insensible about things (in Gretel's case, her fashion) but she hasn't lost her mind. There is absolutely no scenario where taking an expensive, elaborate wig into the woods was going to end well. SPOILER ALERT: The wig ends up ruined. And the wig did nothing for the plot and nothing for Gretel's character, other than making her a bit shallow. So I don't know what the author was thinking. Me personally, this just annoyed the crap out of me.
So they are off through the woods. They escape the witch. They find a troop of pixies that they party with another night. Cornelius finds them while they are being attacked. Random hunt by the royal party has Gretel treed by the dogs and Ferdinand down below (this was also bizarre and ridiculous). But ultimately they reach the spot on the map. They discover a village in the trees full of all the wanted men in the realm. Here they could live without fearing pursuit. They find the Sorcerer and turns out he's quite successful here. He can perform one magic trick well, he can numb pain and is skilled as a physician.
Gretel convinces him to return and that she'd find a way for him to be alive but not in debt. They make it to the castle where Gretel has a plan to have Arnold fix the king (who has a painful broken foot). But the Sorcerer Voigt shows up. Turns out he was in love with Arnold's wife and was trying to get rid of Arnold. He had sent the people out into the woods to hurt them or slow them down. Hans ends up breaking Gretel's leg. Arnold fixes it. The King is convinced to let Arnold work on him and it goes so well Arnold is appointed the royal physician.
So a happy ending (Voigt is banished). Gretel also learns that Ferdinand was not engaged so she got her smooch on with him.
The characters were fun and ridiculous. The story didn't make sense a lot of the time, nor did the characters, but if you just read it to enjoy it it's easy to overlook. (Like how did Gretel send word to Ferdinand in the castle that she was coming when she was in the middle of the woods). I don't think i'll pick up the other books in the series but it was a fun read.
I couldn't figure out Gretel's character. I feel like I missed her development and so things that may be quirky and cute to someone who's read about her from the beginning, to me was just paradoxical and non-nonsensical. I'll come back to this.
So the story is about a detective named Gretel. She and her brother Hans had escaped from the gingerbread house of a witch when they were younger. Now she makes her living as a detective. (I'm not sure what Hans does. Makes dinner? Provides muscle?) She was called to the house of the Widow Arnold. Her husband is a sorcerer and had disappeared leaving only an appendix. The Widow would pay her to have him found, as would the insurance company. Turns out Arnold was a horrendous sorcerer and had left victims behind of his attempts at magic. But with the help of his bat Jinx, Gretel discovered a map that lead to where he would often go to gather things for his spells.
She set off with her brother Hans into the woods. They had a guide named Cornelius who was meeting them half way through their journey. But the first night they were staying at a cottage in the woods. Of course it was a witch. And she was the sister of the first witch Gretel and Hans had escaped from. They got away from her too, but lost most of their supplies.
I have to jump in here to go off on a tangent rant. Gretel is a very smart, witty, and logical character. Throughout the book she makes good deductions based on the information she has found. She strikes me as a sensible woman. Until we talk about the wig. The wig bothered me folks. I DID. NOT. GET. IT. Some big concert was coming up so she paid to have this super fancy and elegant wig made so she would be stunning and Ferdinand (the man she was interested in) would ditch his fiance and marry her. This wig was expensive and elaborate but she was told to 'break it in' before wearing it to the concert. So she takes it with her. Into the woods. Where they are basically camping for the next week. WHAT?! This makes absolutely no sense to me. I can understand a sensible woman being insensible about things (in Gretel's case, her fashion) but she hasn't lost her mind. There is absolutely no scenario where taking an expensive, elaborate wig into the woods was going to end well. SPOILER ALERT: The wig ends up ruined. And the wig did nothing for the plot and nothing for Gretel's character, other than making her a bit shallow. So I don't know what the author was thinking. Me personally, this just annoyed the crap out of me.
So they are off through the woods. They escape the witch. They find a troop of pixies that they party with another night. Cornelius finds them while they are being attacked. Random hunt by the royal party has Gretel treed by the dogs and Ferdinand down below (this was also bizarre and ridiculous). But ultimately they reach the spot on the map. They discover a village in the trees full of all the wanted men in the realm. Here they could live without fearing pursuit. They find the Sorcerer and turns out he's quite successful here. He can perform one magic trick well, he can numb pain and is skilled as a physician.
Gretel convinces him to return and that she'd find a way for him to be alive but not in debt. They make it to the castle where Gretel has a plan to have Arnold fix the king (who has a painful broken foot). But the Sorcerer Voigt shows up. Turns out he was in love with Arnold's wife and was trying to get rid of Arnold. He had sent the people out into the woods to hurt them or slow them down. Hans ends up breaking Gretel's leg. Arnold fixes it. The King is convinced to let Arnold work on him and it goes so well Arnold is appointed the royal physician.
So a happy ending (Voigt is banished). Gretel also learns that Ferdinand was not engaged so she got her smooch on with him.
The characters were fun and ridiculous. The story didn't make sense a lot of the time, nor did the characters, but if you just read it to enjoy it it's easy to overlook. (Like how did Gretel send word to Ferdinand in the castle that she was coming when she was in the middle of the woods). I don't think i'll pick up the other books in the series but it was a fun read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 23, 2022
Absolutely love Gretel, she's is one of my top five female characters ever. Smart, clever, sarcastic, intelligent, witty, self-assured, everything you could want in a lead character. She is a full-sized woman with a full size appetite for the finer things in life. Her relationship with her brother Hans is always humorous and endearing, and it really shines in this book. Would very much love the series to continue!
September 16, 2024
These books are delightful spoofs of the familiar fairytales we grew up with. Now grown, Gretel-yes, THAT Gretel—is now a private investigator in Bavaria. She is clever, often finds herself in embarrassing situations, but she always finds the murderer. The audio narration is perfect. There are laughs, thrills, even some romance which carries over from book to book. I thoroughly enjoyed each of these books -- they are a delight!
March 25, 2026
A quirky story where a grown up Gretel, from the Grimm Brothers tales, has become a detective and is tasked to solve the possible murder of a sorcerer. Amusing in parts, Gretel is intelligent and focused, but distant, making it hard to warm to her. The subject matter, title and blurb feels like it should be aimed at tweens, but the writing style and age of the characters leans it more towards an older group of readers.
March 8, 2018
There was a light-hearted silliness in the first chapter that was appealing, but the lack of real historical and geographical mooring as the story went on began to grate on me. As if often the case, it may be my problem for starting deep in a detective series, but I’ll give the rest of them a pass, I think.
September 3, 2018
Another fun Gretel, yes THAT Gretel, and Hans detective story. This one takes them back into the deep, dark forest they have avoided since their childhood trauma of the gingerbread house.
Looking forward to the next one!
Looking forward to the next one!
December 28, 2020
This is a delightful and humorous little story. At once witty and silly, it's a fun, light read with entertaining characters and colorful settings. Though the mystery itself is a bit contrived it's a must-read for every adult who's not too old for fairy tales.
September 10, 2023
I have really enjoyed this whole series. The narration is excellent and the story is entertaining and fun. I'm sad to see this is the last book. The ending set up another adventure but it doesn't look like more books are coming. Sad face.
November 26, 2017
Fun foolishness. NOT to be approached as a standard mystery, but on its own terms.
December 19, 2017
Very cute. Waiting for the next adventure!
February 5, 2018
Enjoyed this tale of Hans and Gretel Working as detective in Bavaria . Great descriptions of settings and people.
April 4, 2018
Charming protagonist, reminiscent of Pratchett's witches
November 20, 2019
5/5 loved it!
March 25, 2021
I really like this series. It's fun and Gretel is a great character. Love the way the author combines a mystery with a bunch of fantasy and fairy tale creatures, and it all works.
June 14, 2021
I hope P.J. Brackston decides to continue this series. She gave a teaser of the next book to come: The
Princess and Pinot Grigio- Can't wait!
Princess and Pinot Grigio- Can't wait!
December 10, 2021
This book is extraordinarily lovely!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews