The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime 
asked by kmf on November 7, 2006 5:32 PM
Jasper Fforde does it again with a dazzling new series starring Inspector Jack Spratt, head of the Nursery Crime Division
Jasper Fforde's bestselling Thursday Next series has delighted readers of every genre with its literary derring-do and brilliant flights of fancy. In The Big Over Easy, Fforde takes a break from classic literature and tumbles into the seedy underbelly of nursery crime. Meet Inspector Jack Spratt, family man and head of the Nursery Crime Division. He's investigating the murder of ovoid D-class nursery celebrity Humpty Dumpty, found shattered to death beneath a wall in a shabby area of town. Yes, the big egg is down, and all those brittle pieces sitting in the morgue point to foul play. BACKCOVER: “A wonderfully readable riot . . . [A] cleverly plotted, magically overstuffed yet amazingly digestible book . . . This summer's perfect beach read for eggheads.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“As if the Marx brothers were let loose in the children's section of a strange bookstore.”
—USA Today
“Pythonesque . . . Like the Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket books, this one is abundantly playful without being truly geared for children. Anyone who has ever been read a nursery rhyme . . . can appreciate Mr. Fforde's outlandish joking.”
—Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Jasper Fforde's bestselling Thursday Next series has delighted readers of every genre with its literary derring-do and brilliant flights of fancy. In The Big Over Easy, Fforde takes a break from classic literature and tumbles into the seedy underbelly of nursery crime. Meet Inspector Jack Spratt, family man and head of the Nursery Crime Division. He's investigating the murder of ovoid D-class nursery celebrity Humpty Dumpty, found shattered to death beneath a wall in a shabby area of town. Yes, the big egg is down, and all those brittle pieces sitting in the morgue point to foul play. BACKCOVER: “A wonderfully readable riot . . . [A] cleverly plotted, magically overstuffed yet amazingly digestible book . . . This summer's perfect beach read for eggheads.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“As if the Marx brothers were let loose in the children's section of a strange bookstore.”
—USA Today
“Pythonesque . . . Like the Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket books, this one is abundantly playful without being truly geared for children. Anyone who has ever been read a nursery rhyme . . . can appreciate Mr. Fforde's outlandish joking.”
—Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Reviews
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If you're a fan of Jasper Fforde and his quirky, surreal worlds, then you'll surely enjoy the adventures of Jack Spratt and Mary Mary. Set in a world that's somewhat less dreary than the one inhabited by Fforde's other police detective protagonist, Thursday Next, The Big Over Easy focuses on nursery crime (as in, involving a nursery rhyme). Just like Fforde's Thursday Next novels, The Big Over Easy is quirky and amusing, with some interesting plot devices, including self awareness of the characters as characters (maybe you just have to read the book to know what I mean). In my opinion, Jack Spratt is another score for Mr. Fforde, whose novels I find to be just plain different and just plain fun.
reviewed by harrypotter on November 25, 2006 2:11 AM
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This was original and clever. A very fun read and I will try some of his others.
reviewed by megafan on November 29, 2006 2:22 AM
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The initial entry in a new series by the brilliant Jasper Fforde, creator of the Thursday Next series. It certainly is an entertaining book with interesting core characters, but it's hard to beat Thursday and her crew. Nonetheless, I will purchase the next book . . . and the next book . . . and the next book. Jasper Fforde is one author I choose not to miss.
reviewed by titanium7 on November 29, 2006 11:31 AM