- Hardcover: 383 pages
- Publisher: Viking Books (21 July 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0670034231
- ISBN-13: 978-0670034239
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 14.2 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 819,154 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Big Over Easy (Nursery Crime Adventures 1)
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More About the Author
Product Description
From Amazon.co.uk
The word of mouth on Jasper Fforde has long been enthusiastic, among those in the know. But now that his readership has expanded immeasurably, the expectations for such books as The Big Over Easy are considerable. And whether or not those expectations will be met by this new book depends on the readiness of readers to strike out in new directions--just as the author has done. Fforde’s speciality has long been the outrageous teasing of narrative forms, and there's a measure of that here, although more disciplined than in earlier books.
Rather in the fashion in which Stephen Sondheim exploded the world of fairytale in Into the Woods, Fforde here brings all the apparatus of the tough crime thriller to bear on the nursery rhyme. Minor baronet Humpty Stuyvesant Van Dumpty III has been found dead--and in pieces--beneath a wall in a less salubrious area of town. The perpetrator would appear to be his ex-wife, but she has shot herself. Detective Inspector Jack Spratt and his colleague Mary Mary are assigned to the case, and soon find themselves knee-deep in money-laundering, bullion smuggling and major problems with beanstalks.
This isn't quite the Fforde mixture as before, although he has previously favoured a crime motor for his plots. The skill in this outrageously entertaining (and rigorously plotted) concoction lies in a double conjuring trick: we are always amazed to find ourselves reading so assiduously about ludicrous figures (who become quite as interesting heroes as, say, Philip Marlowe) when common sense dictates only children should find such conceits entertaining. Not so! No child could appreciate the dazzling wordplay and witty imagination on offer here, and most readers will be more than happy to encounter detective Inspector Jack Spratt (and his contrary sidekick kick Mary Mary) again and again. --Barry Forshaw
Review
"* 'I love it. THE BIG OVER EASY is great not just because it's very funny...but also because it works properly as a whodunit...Comic genius.' - Observer * 'A riot of puns, in-jokes and literary allusions that Fforde carries off with aplomb' - Daily Mail * 'More twists and turns than Christie... embellished with the rich details of a Dickens or Pratchett. A real treat.' - Independent"
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping and very absurd whodunnit - move over Sherlock.,
This review is from: The Big Over Easy (Nursery Crime Adventures 1) (Paperback)
This is a fantastic - and utterly silly book.
Imagine a world where nursey rhyme characters exist and live in Berkshire. A small, very underfunded department of the Berkshire Police exists to investigate crimes in this community, headed by the dishevelled DI Jack Spratt. Next imagine that Humpty Dumpty had his fall but that it wasn't the suicide that everyone first thought it was. Every page is absolutely packed with little references to anything from Hans Cristian Anderson to Monty Python. Jasper Fforde somehow manages to squeeze funny into even the most routine of situations. I found it hard to supress chuckling at every sentence. Even the little snippets of "news" at the start of each chapter are a joy. Even better than this though is the book works as a fantastic murder mystery in its own right - beautifully and intricately plotted from start to end. You really want to know who offed Humpty. A whodunnit to match anything Agatha Christie could come up with (yes, Fforde references Miss Marple and Poirot too, along with Sherlock Holmes, Ian Rankin's Rebus and almost every other famous "dick"). I've never read any Jasper Fforde to date - I picked this up on a station waiting for a train (for once, thank God for BR delays!). I really can't find anything to say wrong about this book, with maybe the exception that it wasn't enough. Bring back Jack!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the funniest, most entertaining books i've read for ages,
By
This review is from: The Big Over-easy (Nursery Crime Adventures 1) (Audio CD)
I have to admit this is not the usual type of book i like to read. I only really picked it up cos a friend was reading it and said it was good. I tend to read vampire and crime fiction, so this was completely different to my normal reading, but i thoroughly enjoyed it. I couldn't put it down.
The only thing i would say is wrong with the book is that it ended. I was so disappointed that i got to the last page, i just wanted it to continue on. This is the first book by Jasper Fforde that i have read, but because of this i am now reading his others. He makes the characters of nursery rhymns and myths to be believable and 'real'. Well as real as any ficitional character can be. So if you are looking for a book with humour, then pick this, it had me laughing out loud to myself, which got me a few strange looks for people in my works canteen i can tell you. It also has a crime so please that like a good mystery will enjoy, although it isn't your run-of-the-mill crime story, it has some great plot twists. I would recommend this book to EVERYONE!!!!!!!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Adams, Pratchett, and now Fford,
This review is from: The Big Over Easy (Nursery Crime Adventures 1) (Paperback)
I picked this up on the off-chance in Ottakars, when it was on special. This is how I like to try out writers that are new to me. Buy 'em cheap and then it doesn't matter if (as is so often the case) they end up in the secondhand-bookshop.
If only more of them had fulfilled their promise as this did. I really wasn't entirely clear on what I was getting, (that happens to me sometimes - I thought 'The Mummy' was a horror film!) but I'm so very glad I got it. What Adams did for Sci-Fi and Pratchett is doing for Fantasy, so now Fford s doing for the 'tec novel. This amazing imagination give us a story in which Humpty-Dumpty, noted intellectual, womaniser and law-bender,is found dead at the bottom of a wall. It looks like suicide, but is it? Enter Jack Spratt hard-working, family-man detective with the Nursery Crimes Division. Few things, even those I love actually make me laugh out loud, but this managed it on several occasions. If you like off-the-wall, bizarre or just plain silly, buy this.Then buy the rest of his books.
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