Claire & the Funny Fairground

I’ll admit, I was skeptical about a 27-minute audiobook delivering a full mystery—but *Claire & the Funny Fairground* proved me wrong. From the opening scenes, Shimwell drops you into a fairground that’s equal parts charming and *off*. The Ferris wheel creaks a little too loudly, the fortune teller’s booth feels a little too knowing, and the clues are tucked into details so subtle you’ll rewind to catch them. Diggins’ narration is a masterclass in pacing; she speeds up during Claire’s excited deductions and slows to a crawl when the story dips into eerie territory, like the moment Mel notices the carousel horses’ eyes *following* them. It’s a small touch, but it sells the whole vibe. That said, the brevity does come with trade-offs. The side characters—especially the fairground workers—feel underdeveloped, their motivations sketched in broad strokes. And while the mystery’s resolution is clever, it hinges on a clue that might feel *too* obscure for younger listeners without a pause to process. Still, the audiobook’s production is polished, with ambient fairground sounds (distant calliope music, crowd murmurs) that immerse without distracting. If you loved *The Mysterious Benedict Society*’s puzzles or *Lockwood & Co.*’s spooky-lite tone, this is your next quick fix. Just don’t blame me if you immediately hunt down the rest of the series.