Autopsy of a Fairytale

Autopsy of a Fairytale #1

by Nicole Scarano

Beauty & the Beast meets Criminal Minds in this Murder Mystery Romantic Suspense

After an attack on the job, Homicide Detective Isobel ‘Bel’ Emerson takes her dog and moves to the small town of Bajka in search of a less stressful life and career, but the quaint town’s peace is disturbed when a local furniture designer is murdered, his body posed to look like a human chandelier. Thrust back into the fray, Bel must confront her personal demons as she investigates an impossible case, and as bodies turned into household objects start to pile up, all clues point to the reclusive millionaire who just bought the abandoned mansion at the edge of town.

Eamon Stone is as dangerous as he is handsome, and Bel can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to his presence in Bajka than meets the eye. Something about him is familiar, and while she knows he’s a threat, she can’t fight his pull. Like a moth to the flame, she’s drawn to the man stalking her, to the only murder suspect they have, and Bel fears he craves her blood as much as she craves his presence. She fears he is the evil hunting this town... the beast hunting her.

Loosely inspired by Beauty & the Beast, Autopsy of a Fairytale is a crime series romantic suspense perfect for those who like dark fairytales, murder mystery procedurals (like AMC's The Killing or NBC's Hannibal), romance, found family, and a hint of fantasy. Each book will be based on a different fairytale, but Bel (and her Beast) will connect them all, her story ending on small cliffhangers in each book.

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Retellings, Paranormal, Mystery Thriller, Thriller

231 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 12, 2023

About the author

Nicole Scarano is an avid fiction reader and film enthusiast; her favorites being dystopian, apocalyptic, fantasy, and action sprinkled with a little romance here and there. She currently lives in Pennsylvania with her rescued pitbull, China (who was part of the inspiration for Kerberos in her first novel, Pomegranate). Nicole's passion for writing consumes her free time, especially when it includes snuggling on her sofa with China. Her love of writing is so strong, she even tattooed a quote from one of her stories on her rib-cage.

Reviews

[Aisvarya (Semi-hiatus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐

"He should scare her. She should hate him, and in a way she did, but she also felt dangerous threads stitching their souls together."

What can you expect -
🫀Beauty and the beast vibes
🫀Romantic suspense
🫀Small town murder mystery
🫀Serial killer on the loose
🫀Animal companion
🫀PTSD rep

Isobel Emerson, our FMC is an experienced homicide detective and after encountering a traumatic case, she moves to the small town of Bakja to live a peaceful life. But little did she know that she'd encounter an even worse crime in this small town and will be forced to overcome her trauma and face the killer head-on.

As someone who's obsessed with fairytales and dark mysteries, this should've been exactly my type and it definitely was serving at the start but lost me from the middle. What makes a murder mystery memorable is the shocking reveal at the end, but the killer was so obvious in here that it pained me to see Bel not notice a thing about that person till the end, like how the hell can you call yourself a detective when you're so blind to obvious clues😮‍💨🤦🏻‍♀️

Also our MMC is someone who seems grumpy & broody but also extremely charming & sensual, and our FMC cannot stop thinking about him even though she should stay away from him!! But none of his charms appealed to me cuz I didn't care about him at all & I'm not interested enough to see where their story is gonna go🙈

Only thing that made me give this 2⭐ is Cerberus🐶 who happens to be my fav character but even he cannot convince me to continue this series. Overall if you want a quick mystery with small town vibes & romantic suspense, give this one a try but be warned that the reveals & the reason behind the killings are a bit unsatisfying.

[Melissa Dimmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the beginning of this book but I just wasn’t vibing with the ending/twist

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
0🌶 (Adult content but no spice)

**I was sent this ARC in exchange for my honest review**

I go back and forth on loving some crime procedural shows and hating others, so when I got this book I was hopeful it would be the former. Turns out I was right, this was an incredible ride. What always stands out to me in murder mysteries and crime shows is how we the reader / audience are treated. Some books & shows tell us what to think. They make everything black and white, the cops or the vigilantes are the good guys. The murderer is the bad guy. And that just makes us disconnected from the story, and in turn, makes those stories the ones I usually don't like. What GOOD mysteries do is show us the full spectrum of gray and let us decide for ourselves just how "good" or "bad" each aspect is. This is what Nicole did for us in Autopsy of a Fairytale and I loved it.

Bel is our fierce and intuitive detective who survived some serious trauma during her time with NYPD homicide. She decides to move to a small town to escape the horrors of big city crime, but one morning all of that changes as it seems the horror has decided to followed her. What unfolds is a series of murders that had a combined gruesome and artistic nature that had me thinking of the TV show Hannibal (if you loved that show you will love this book!). Nothing is what you think, and nothing is purely black and white.

Garret is Bel's detective partner, and a true small town prince charming. With good looks and a kind heart, he might just be what Bel needs to break back out of her shell and trust someone again. He's also her support as they race against time to solve the increasingly baffling case.

Eamon Stone is a mysterious and reclusive millionaire who is renovating an abandoned castle / mansion on the outskirts of town. He appeared like a ghost and is somehow involved with all of the murders. And yet... there is something drawing Bel to him. His presence practically screams danger, but is he dangerous to Bel or just everyone else?

This story has everything if you love a good murder mystery. Multiple suspects, a conniving and gruesome killer, not to mention twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the very end. I was constantly surprised when my own theories were dashed and new ones had to be formed. By the end we may have solved the case, but we are left with a new mystery (to be explored in the next book). I can't wait for the story to continue and to see how these characters grow!

Last note: a special shout out to Bel's amazing pitbull Cerberus, her fearsome protector and cuddle bug. I always love a doggo companion!!!

[angelpompom]

fairytales x criminal minds…better bet I’m read the entire series😌

[Noi (in & out)]

DNF 25%
===============
This is giving me 'Grimm' (the TV show) vibes and I am intrigued

[Femke · Rating 3 out of 5]

loved the begining and storyline but the ending doesn't really sit right with me. Started as a 5 star read but lost 2 towards the end unfortunately. Propably still gonna read the sequel and see where it leads me!

[Dani (Daniiireads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beauty & the Beast meets Criminal Minds in this small town serial killer murder mystery!

After being viciously attacked on the job, Homicide Detective Isobel ‘Bel’ Emerson moves to the small town of Bajka in the hopes of living a simple, quiet life.

Only death seems to have followed her, and a string of bodies turned into household objects start to pile up around town with all signs pointing to the towns newest member—Eamon Stone.

Bel can’t help but find herself drawn to the dangerously handsome and reclusive millionaire, and she fears that he may be the very evil terrorizing the town in the hopes of getting his hands on her.

As a lover of murder shows and fairytales, Autopsy of a Fairytale hooked me from the first gruesome murder, and I could not put this down. & that ending left me hyped for book 2!

[kayleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

i was promised fairy tales meets criminal minds and nicole scarano delivered. this wasn’t anything groundbreaking, it was a bit predictable, but the twists were good and it was a lot of fun. the illustrations that were added on the kindle version was also a cool thing to include. i liked following bel as the main character and getting to know the rest of the characters as well, they were all really well written. overall, an easy and fun read. i’m excited to see where the rest of the series goes.

↠ 4 stars

[Lizzy Jeane · Rating 4 out of 5]

La bella y la bestia + Mentes criminales = Imposible dejar de leer. Lo he DEVORADO 😍

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great storyline .. but my love for BATB and the hype this has did not live up to any of it.. very sad.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh there's going to be just a tiny bit of spoiler in this it will not be enough to affect whether you read this book or not this is an incredible raid I was very happy with it it kept me drawing in I didn't want to get up and leave the book for any reason although you always have your free friends wanting attention at times when you don't want to be quite so loving and furry but you love them anyway. also needing my cup of coffee was a mess of that on occasion took a minute to go get and come back but good news is is you can't get this in audio form and it is a great read!
I highly recommend this book it kept me guessing it every twist and every turn and even when I thought I had it right I still had it wrong so I'm going to wish you the best of luck of getting the correct answer before you hit the end of the book enjoy and happy reading!!!

[Olivia Wildenstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely fun and quick read. Onto book 2.

[Sarah E B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This unique take on Beauty and the Beast impressed me with its skillful balance of suspense, action, and mystery. I am looking forward to the next book. What sets this novel apart is its departure from the multitude of fairytale retellings that I have read, which can sometimes feel formulaic. The integration of mystery and fairytale elements was masterful, and although the Beauty and the Beast inspiration was clear, it was not a duplicate, making Autopsy an engaging read. The book's capacity to keep me guessing was a notable strength. My only criticism is that I wish it were longer than 200 pages, as additional details about the killer's set up would have enhanced the story.
🐶🔍

[ella ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was better then i thought it would be. i saw the blurb and thought to myself surely it cannot be executed well but this was written so nicely!

this book has solidified my opinion of Nicole Scarano, she is an amazing author and can write so many different genres!

the drawings? omg added so so much because sometimes the details confused me. i did guess who the murderer was because of this one little thing, but the journey there was great.

i did really like garrett and i feel bad for him, but eamon? im so ready for him and bel!

i love love love fairy tale based things and although this was very, very loosely based it was pretty cool. did not expect a fantasy aspect at all so that was a shock but i suppose any other explanation would have been hard- but explaining how they got murdered like that in a non-fiction scenario would have been so COOL.

excited for book 2 because goldilocks inspired? MMM.

4 stars!

[mads · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmmmm the name plus a criminal mind comparison gave a certain expectation of greatness… I need to lower my expectations.

The art throughout was fun!!

[April Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this reimagining of beauty and the beast. Nicole Scarano is becoming one of my favorite authors and im curious to see where this series goes from here.

[Radka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good writing, interesting story

[Quinn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like I never really got an explanation of who and what a certain someone was...Like I am left unanswered and that is a no-no ᴖ̈

[Sam | Haus of Fables · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio. It’s a beauty & the beast meets criminal minds, easy read. It isn’t as dark as it could be, almost had a cozy vibe? but I really enjoyed the world & it has set up a slow burn romance that I am eager to see how it evolves. I will continue this series on audio

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Get it here:
Amazon US * Amazon UK

I thought this was a unique and interesting story and it held my attention easily. I enjoyed the play on the classic fairytale, while still keeping things modern and fresh feeling. The characters were certainly interesting, especially Eamon who kept me guessing on what exactly was going on with him. But that's also a reason for my three star rating. The ending felt like a dump of information and after the majority of the book had only hints of paranormal, the ending seemed out of place. Maybe that was just me, but it left me feeling like there was a disconnect between the first half of the story and the ending.

Overall, I thought this was a fun story to read, even with the murder, and I'll definitely be coming back to catch up with these characters soon.

[Cat Bowser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly written, engaging and thrilling!

The premise intrigued me and given how much I have enjoyed the author’s other works, I was all too ready to dive in.

The story builds upon itself slowly but this is its brilliance. Much like our main character, it puts us on guard only for us to be caught off guard by the various twists and dips!

You will fall in love with these characters. I wept for one of them. I screamed for another. And Cerebus is the goodest boy ever.

Read it. And buy it. And gift it. But get it out to more readers. It’s a treat for all!

[E.P. Stavs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable read! While the twists were fairly obvious, I didn’t really mind as the writing was so smooth and the story creative. I liked the illustrations the author included, but I know a few members of my book club had trouble with them as they don’t do well with anything graphic, so if you’re sensitive to dark illustrations be ready to flip the page quickly. Lots of grit and emotion, and I loved the pit bull pupper. Not a lot of romance (which is fine) but I expect it’s leading up to more as the series progresses.

[Lulu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lot better than I expected it be. Lots of action and twist. It feels like a NCIS fan wrote this. lol.

Looking forward to more in the series.

[Erin Wilke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder mystery with a hint of magic. It's a quick read, not very graphic overall but definitely does describe some disturbing scenes when a body is discovered.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before we start, let me just say this: There's nothing wrong with this book. Autopsy of a Fairytale is exactly what Scarano wanted it to be--a very creative and over-the-top serial killer meets Beauty and the Beast meets Twilight meets the furry kink you didn't know you had. Self-indulgence at its finest, this book will satisfy anyone looking for a quick surface-level trip through a picture-book fictional town where everyone is hott and emotional and surrounded by graphic murder. A thinly-veiled fan fiction, if you will. The whodunit is obvious but the why/howdunit is withheld until the end. If that's what you're interested in, good news! You're going to really enjoy diving into this one, and probably will enjoy the rest of the series too! But you are not me.

So where do things go wrong for me? There are 3 flaws in the writing, evidence of which can be found on almost every single page. 240 pages is not a lot to work with to cover the things the author wanted to cover, and as a result the writing was choppy and difficult to follow. I'm about to go off, and I apologize--Scarano truly wrote the book she intended to write, and it's not her fault that I am being this dramatic about it. (If you're wondering, this was for a book club).

#1 All Tell and No Show. Isobel "Bel" Emerson is 34 years old and has been a police officer/detective for more than a decade. She's the best detective on this small town's force. She never jumps to conclusions, and she's ruthlessly thorough in her investigations. At least, that's what the author tells us about her. What the book shows us is an entirely different character. Frequently consumed by emotional impulses, Bel routinely acts prematurely and completely forgets that protocol exists until well after the emotional punches the author wants the audience to feel have subsided, and even then she leaves gaps in her investigation. She contaminates crime scenes, disobeys direct orders, and puts herself in potential danger without following proper procedure to ensure the safety of herself and others. A younger me may not have noticed these things, but when you've worked the same job for several years procedure lives in your bones. It becomes second nature. It becomes a safe and friendly autopilot, especially to someone, like Bel, who has been through traumatic experiences. Often used as an excuse for her atypical behavior, her fear drives almost every move she makes. The problem is that we are never shown her "normal" behavior. We are only told what "normal" is, and that her trauma is the excuse for her never once following standard operating procedures.
Bel also frequently jumps to conclusions (EXCEPT when other people jump to conclusions, then she's ready to say "Nope, let's not be too hasty") and foolishly acts on the emotional impact of those conclusions when it serves the plot's purpose, in spite of it being completely out of the character that we've been told to believe she has. Upon seeing the first crime scene, Bel decides there is not a woman in this world strong enough to do what this killer did. Upon laying eyes on the man she has decided is the killer, Bel knows with her entire chest that he both wants to kill her and f*** her. Upon finding evidence for her investigation, she immediately begins tearfully verbally attacking someone, in spite of not having a weapon on her person and being in a contained area alone with the suspect who we've previously established could likely overpower her. In each of these situations, she never once considers alternative ideas, not even to rule them out, and she never stops to consider the proper course of action. Those are a few highlights but the entire book is riddled with instances of Bel jumping to conclusions and the audience being expected to agree with her.

#2 Editors are your friends. Hiring an illustrator was a pretty novel idea and added some fun to the pages of this book. Hiring an editor would have let the book make sense. I eventually gave up on marking every single moment that would have benefited from an editor, because I was running out of tabs. Scenes and setting were difficult to follow, words and common colloquialisms were used to mean things that they do not mean, the narration's scope of knowledge shifted mid-paragraph to allow the audience to know or not know whatever Scarano wanted at that time, superfluous word choices…the list goes on. All of these things sound normal to a brain during the writing process, but not to an outside reader, and an editor would have caught them. Honestly, proper editing would have given this story so much more substance and given it a solid 3-star rating.

#3 Logic is allowed to exist in fairytales, and it actually should. There is a scene that plays out for us several times in this 240 page book. It is the nightmare/flashback of a traumatizing event that happened to our main character. The gruesome highlight of the scene is an act of violence that is….PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR A HUMAN BEING TO ACCOMPLISH. This is *spoiler alert* explained later, but in the meantime why does our brilliantly smart and capable detective who doesn't believe in fairy tales or magic ever acknowledge this? Why does someone who has "lived thirty-four years relying on facts and logic" not question this? As someone who has lived thirty-two years relying on facts and logic, it was the FIRST thing to cross my mind, and I spent the subsequent 239 pages wondering when it was going to be addressed by this character that I apparently have so much in common with.

[Yvette Boer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Autopsy of a Fairytale by Nicole Scarano is a highly enjoyable and fast-paced read. From the start, the story pulls you in with its intriguing premise and engaging writing style. The fairytale elements blended with a darker mystery create a unique atmosphere that’s both whimsical and suspenseful.

However, while the story is entertaining, I did find the mystery aspect a bit predictable—I managed to guess the culprit quite early on. Despite that, the book still kept my attention until the end. The plot twist in the final chapters was definitely unexpected, though I found it a bit odd and out of place with the rest of the narrative. It may divide readers, depending on how much they enjoy unconventional turns in a story.

Overall, Autopsy of a Fairytale is a fun and engaging read, especially for those who enjoy a mix of fairytale charm and mystery, even if the ending might leave you scratching your head.

[Donna (BookDragonGirl) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A FANTASTIC and CONSUMING Start To The Series!!

I loved this!!! Beauty & The Beast vibes with a Mystery/Suspense theme and it had some dark, creepy elements to the murders. There’s some romance, no spiciness, but it looks like it will be a slow-burn kind of romance.

I’ve only read one book by Scarano before this and I absolutely loved EVERYTHING about it, so I needed to read more of her work and I am SO GLAD I read this, and it’s the first book in the series!! Yay!!!!

The writing is SO good, fast paced plot, great characters and a great suspenseful mystery with twists and turns!! The FMC, Bel, is very relatable and her faithful companion, her Pitbull Cerebus or baby beast (as she fondly calls him), is the sweetest, most protective and calming friend she could ask for.

I am SO EXCITED to continue on in this series!!! Highly recommended!!

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't comprehend what I read...

At first I was excited about the story. Fairytales and mysteries together? Count me in! After struggling to get into the story it became stranger and stranger. I thought it was like a real life mystery novel, how I couldn't be more wrong. Suddenly there is a witch and a literal beast. No subtle/clear foreshadowing in the rest of the book, just out of nowhere badabiem badaboem a witch.

It was not a book I would read again even though the summary was enchanting and it had potential.

[Beyonca · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 75% was good! Had me hooked! The ending kinda had me fizzle out though. I’m not sure how the witch being introduced at the end could have been better received given in the original tale there was a witch that cursed everyone in the mansion. Idk why but it seemed like it came out of nowhere lol
But the read was alright. I’m not mad at this story. Might give book 2 a try. 3.5 stars for me!

[Knjiga i Kavica · Rating 3 out of 5]

RECENZIJA
# 1 Autopsy of a fairytale - Nicole Scarano
3⭐️
Slow burn, reteling of beauty and the beast with a touch of criminal minds. A vindictive killer is on a killing spree. A detective that is struggling and coping with after attack memories. A new civilian in town.
It was an okay read, slow with a good descriptiom of the murders. I will get back to this series some other time. All in all - a good read for the summer.