The Third Pig Detective Agency

The Third Pig Detective Agency #1

by Bob Burke

Harry Pigg, the only surviving brother from the Big Bad Wolf attacks, has set up business as a private detective in Grimmtown, only things aren't going too well. Down on his luck, with bills to pay and no clients in sight, the outlook is poor. But then in walks local businessman Aladdin who needs someone to help him track down an old lamp. What follows is far from an open-and-shut case. Funny, thrilling, and always entertaining, Harry Pigg is an old breed of hero for a new generation. Although written for older children, Harry Pigg will appeal to grown ups as well with plenty of in-jokes for all ages.

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Humor, Fiction, Detective, Science Fiction Fantasy, Childrens

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this by chance on the Kindle store, bought it for 99p, and had it finished in less than an hour. I did think it a bit reminiscent of Jasper Fforde, and the humour was nothing new, and it reminded me of Malcolm Pryce a bit, too... But it was fun. It never quite raised a chuckle, but there was perhaps a knowing smile or two, and while I figured it out in advance, I thought it was a bit clever.

The basic idea is the same as Fforde's Nursery Crimes: a fairytale detective, in this case the third little pig. Knowing fairytales serves you well, in figuring out the plot and catching the jokes.

If you're looking for something fun, cheap and undemanding for your Kindle, you could do a lot worse. I have a four hour car journey ahead of me, as I type, and I think I'm going to get the sequel to keep me entertained without too much attention needed. It's only 50p, after all.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a simple detective story that takes place, more or less, in childhood fables and stories.

I feel a little bad about the two star; but the hover tag says that means "It was okay", and I can't quite summon the enthusiasm for the three-star "I liked it". It was mildly amusing, but only because I knew it was a very short book, so I put in the three or so hours to blast through.

When the first review mentioned “Jasper Fforde” I decided to give it a go. Nope nope nope. Yeah, we have transposition of various tropes to a new milieu, but nowhere near as clever. I’ve seen more creative thinking in a came of charades.

[Jessica Sedgwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun romp of a fairy tale! The world is modern but all the characters are beloved, known fantasy creatures or fairy tale characters. I had a blast reading this book. It's a twist on Noir that everyone must read.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my "shorties" to try to reach my GR target before the end of the year! A short, witty, funny read reminiscent of Jasper Fforde and I couldn't help picturing Steve Martin in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. Will appeal to those with a "silly" sense of humour...

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for speculative fiction that's humorous and perhaps a bit silly, you may find this very entertaining. It's a mix of 1940's-ish gumshoe detective, a vast variety of fairy tale elements and references, and yet set in the midst of modern tech such as cell phones.

The "third pig" detective is Harry - the one of the "Three Pigs" who had a brick house. He came to fame when he showed that Hansel and Gretel had murdered the nice, old lady simply because she tried to stop them from eating her house. Business has slumped recently. Then Aladdin asks Harry to a lamp which mysteriously disappeared from a heavily secured room in his mansion. Along the way, Harry gets the help of Jack Horner, Grumpy at the Seven Dwarves Mining Co., the gnome Benny who works imitating a leprechaun, etc. Harry is faced with the demands / threats of Aladdin (whose businesses aren't all legal,) a crime family led by the Wicked Witch of the West and a mysterious individual - all wanting the lamp.

Harry narrates in a gumshoe style modified for humor. The mixture of genres may affect who will appreciate the book more. It is a short book.

[Kindle Addict · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes it’s best not to reread books you liked in the past. This was the first book I bought and read on my kindle more than 10 years. I always kept in mind a good memory of this title, remembering it as a fun and original read.

Unfortunately rereading in 2023 I find it …ok. The humour was a bit too heavy for me and the constant puns that I liked before were annoying now. I think now that I’ve read hundreds of new books since my first read, I find this one too cliche.

The end was a nice twist but I know that I won’t reread the other 2 books.

Also it appears in children and YA books sections which is weird. It’s not that this book is very adult but it’s clearly not written for kids with the stereotype of the poor detective etc…

At least it’s short and cheap so you might have a go if you’re curious.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly fun read. It's silly, but it's just the right kind of silly and knows when to get serious. It does some serious digs at the Lord of the Rings-films, but nothing that hadn't had me laughing my ass off instead of being offended.
My only problem was that I was ahead of the twist and I think everybody was. I knew who had stolen the lamp about halfway through the novel and I thought it was pretty darn obvious. Also, the way the trickery happens in the climax - it didn't quite work for me.
Other than that, though, a fun read and worth picking up.

[Popup-ch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pastiche on the hard-boiled detective genre crossed with classic fairy tales, in the style of Jasper Fforde's Nursery Crime series. Harry Pigg is the third pig, who boiled the Big Bad Wolf when he had blown up the other Pigg brothers' houses. Now he's a down on his luck detective, and has to accept the commission from Mr Aladdin, whose lamp has been stolen. Burke plays with all the genre conventions, and milks the fairy tales for all they're worth. Of course it is over the top - but that's the point!

[Mr I Spruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read.

Great read, very entertaining and a good story. Very much in likeness to Jasper Fforde books. Have already got the follow up books.

[Don Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

review to follow

[Victoria · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf at 33%

[Nathalie Dearman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Different Take-off on Fairy Tales

IThis was the first book by this author. It got me hooked from the beginning and kept me all the way to the end.

[redatt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some Pigg! Not thrilling but OK.

[Christopher Bowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

I wanted to give it a 4.5. I really enjoyed it but I wish it had been longer. Well written and executed.

[Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐ - it was fine but I'm not rushing to read the rest of the series.

[Sharon Gray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Feels a little too like Jasper Fforde for comfort - a bit derivative, and chromosomally crossed with Malcolm Pryce's Aberystwyth.

[Dearbhla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and entertaining read.

[Leah Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book many times, well written, detective similar to a film noir detective a short book and uncomplicated

[Mark E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun! An enjoyable romp through a fantasy land, which has clearly been influenced by 20th Century culture. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

[Jimmy Peeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this A GREAT deal. This was a incredible read that I loved from the moment I picked it up. Just an absolute delight.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Third Pig Detective Agency by Bob Burke introduces the world of fairy tale world of Harry Pig, a pig who solves mysteries. The story contains a sufficient number of puns and twist on fairy tales to be interesting. The beginning is heavy on the humor, but that slows down later in the story. The story is just a notch below being classic fairy tale humor and a decent read.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Third Pig Detective Agency by Bob Burke
The Friday Project, 2009
149 pages
YA; MG; Fairy Tales; Mystery
4/5 stars

Source: Library

Read for Overlooked YA Book Battle.

This is a cute little mystery story. The third pig is Harry Pigg of "The Three Little Pigs," who built his house of bricks. He has turned his attention to solving crimes in Grimmtown. One day Aladdin comes to him and commands Harry to find Aladdin's stolen lamp. Through a tangled twist of lies and deception, Harry manages to solve the case and bring everything to a satisfying conclusion.

I was really excited about this because I love fairy tales and mysteries. I thought they were well-combined here in a light and humorous way. Harry has a straightforward way of speaking to the audience and the pacing was excellent (it's a pretty short book). There were many twists and turns as Harry keeps running afoul of different dangerous people and having to scramble to get out of traps.

Personally I would have liked a bit more fairy tale but there were many references; I just wanted more. The inclusion of Aladdin threw me a bit because I kept his stories separate from the Grimm fairy tales; this proves that various oral literary traditions should be thrown together in order to provide more amusement. Keep an eye out for the sequel The Ho Ho Ho Mystery involving the disappearance of Santa Claus!

Overall: A quick mystery with a likable detective; recommended for fans of Jasper Fforde.

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this little book (149 pages of small-print text) marked as a children's book, presumably for ages 9-12, and fart jokes and gross situations indicate the book was aimed at young boys. Don't be fooled by the nursery-rhyme-inspired characters, however. The author has used every film-noir detective cliché he could think of to create a seedy atmosphere for his story. While the prose seems to be overly clichéd on purpose for humor's sake, I ceased to be amused by it after a chapter or two. Parents will find that the language is not too bad--although many will hesitate to give their fourth-grader a book in which a character tells another that "You suck." (By the way, US readers should know that "craic" has a different meaning in Great Britain than it does in the US.) As an adult, I found the story mildly entertaining--but not nearly as complex as Jasper Fforde's for-grown-ups-only series of Nursery Crime Detective books.

[Erica · Rating 1 out of 5]

The premise: the last of the three pigs now runs a detective agency in a world of fairy tale characters. An interesting premise, but ultimately carried out in a sloppy manner. I wanted to enjoy this, but it felt just like a knockoff of more successful attempts at combining literary elements and characters (for example, Jasper Fforde). I disliked the main character, and as the story was told in the first person, it was very hard to get away from him. Since the book was so short, I decided to carry on and finish the book, but I wasn't even hoping for the story to redeem itself. I eventually grew so impatient that I had to have the Voiceover function on my ipad finish reading the book aloud so that I could get some other things done while reaching the end of the story. Perhaps someone else might find something to enjoy in this; it is, after all, a quirky and fun idea; I, however, will be passing this series up.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise for The Third Pig Detective Agency is a good one -- take the characters and fables from fairytales and fashion them into detective stories with a noir framing and a dollop of black humour. Jasper Fforde has used the same premise in his Nursery Crimes series. For the most part, the book is a fun read. The story is cleverly structured, with a well worked resolution. The plot, however, is a little thin in places, with some elements under-played. For example, Edna, the Wicked Witch of the West, is largely reduced to a bit part and the sequence in her domain very linear and too quickly and easily resolved. Moreover, the writing, whilst capturing some of the style of noir fiction, was too often flat and clunky. Nevertheless, it’s a fast-paced, light-hearted, enjoyable story suitable for kids and up and on this outing I’d give the other books a try.

[Debbie is on Storygraph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun tale much in the vein of Jasper Fforde's Nursery Crime series, only much simpler. The third pig is the surviving brother of "The Three Little Pigs" who had built his house with brick. He's approached to find the stolen lamp of Mr. Aladdin, Grimmtown's most reclusive, powerful, and wealthy resident.

Lots of tongue-in-cheek in-jokes for the fairy and folk tale fans, and a nice plot twist at the end.

It would have rated higher except:
1) I wish it had been longer. I know it was written primarily for the YA crowd, but 160 pages is a bit slim.
2) Harry's gumshoe jargon was a little wearying.

Other than that, an enjoyable read.

[Lukeyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is about a pig called Harry Pig who is the final pig from the three little pigs who runs a ditective agency. The book is set in grimmtown. Buissnes was not going too well Harry Pig had bills to pay and no cliants to bring in the money so with no money the bills are just getting bigger. The main storyline envolves a man called Mr Alldin who is a millionare and has had his ,old,lamp stolen. Mr Alladin has an assistant called Mr Gruff who is the oldest brother from the billy goats gruff. Harry pig has an receptionist called gloria who is a hippo. Harry has a secret contact called Blue who workes as a shepard. Mr Alladin lives in the high end of grimmtown.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Third Pig Detective Agency is a children's novel about Harry Pigg, the lone survivor of the three little pigs' nursery rhyme, who is a gumshoe detective. He is called to action to find Aladdin's missing lamp and has a number of humorous, and at times, alarming encounters with goats, elves, and orcs. This book is aimed at the 9-12 year old camp, but as an adult I found this to be plenty entertaining. There are more than a few jokes aimed at the adult crowd, too. The author also lays the groundwork for a second novel about Harry Pigg.

[Bruce Snell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is intended as a kids book - probably aimed at the 11 and 12 year olds. It is written in the style of older noir pulp detective novels, but featuring the "Third Pig" from the Three Little Pigs children's story. It is set in Grimmland and has appearances by well known fairy tale characters. All in all it works fairly well, and should keep readers in the target audience engaged throughout the story. It is the first of a series, and reading this one would cause me to look forward the the next in the series.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly wanted to like this book. I really enjoyed Jasper Fforde's Nursery Crimes and was hoping to find something in that vein. Unfortunately, this book was a mess. It couldn't decide on a tone and swung wildly from noire to slapstick. Pop culture references were inexplicably shoehorned into strange places with no thought to the world the book inhabited. All in all, this book felt sloppy and tried too hard. Very disappointed.