The Big Over Easy (Nursery Crime Adventures 1)
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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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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"
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format: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!
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
Format: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!!!!!!!
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
Format: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.
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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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Like the majority
Yeah, I'm with the majority on this one. This book is brilliant - hilarious, tense and gripping! Really kept me guessing and I suppose that's the main aim with this genre, although... Read more
Published 2 months ago by LydiaNormal
Good fun
This is an interesting diversion from the Thursday Next books but I didn't think it was quite as good.
It's typical Fforde. Read more
It's typical Fforde. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr Gordon Davidson
A present for my dad
My father asked for this book for his birthday and that's what he got. I have no interest in reading the book but my dad seems to think the author is the bee's knees.
Published 2 months ago by Lucy Jennings
Comic genius - so you think you know nursery rhymes, well the plot...
I love Pratchett and Adams, and decided to give someone new a go - it was a choice between Fforde and Robert Rankin.....I am glad it is Fforde, I couldn't put this down. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Louise Roberts
Good, but holiday reading fare
Jasper Fforde has turned the premise of juxtaposing nursery rhyme characters in a wonderfully grim world of crime, into a decent, absorbing novel. Read more
Published 14 months ago by NARV
A fun and unconventional read, but don't expect high literature
As a frequently jaded book-lover, I always seek out the odd premises and unconventional styles, and this fit the bill. Read more
Published 14 months ago by EGil
Absolutely delightful.
I've given The Big Over Easy five stars but would give it a thousand if I could - that's how much I loved this book, and its sequel, The Fourth Bear. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Jools
Couldn't put it down.
I never bother to write reviews for anything.
Anyway, I randomly picked the book up while waiting for someone, got to half way down the second page and decided that I... Read more
Anyway, I randomly picked the book up while waiting for someone, got to half way down the second page and decided that I... Read more
Published 21 months ago by PETER J. KNIGHT
Another winner from Fforde
I was concerned before reading this that I wouldn't enjoy it as much as the Thursday Next series; I'm not a huge fan of murder-mysteries and a whole novel based on popular nursery... Read more
Published 22 months ago by simon211175
The Big Over Easy
I found this book in a charity shop and as I had not read anything by the author previously I felt I had nothing to lose by trying it. Read more
Published 22 months ago by N. A. Spencer
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