Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sheep sleuths go undercover, 1 Jan 2007
Highly original drama set on Irish cliffs - when George the shepherd is found dead then his flock get busy looking for clues as to what happened. Led by Miss Maple there's a great cast of sheep. The drama reaches a peak at the Glennkill Sheep of the Year Contest. It's entertaining, well written and never too far fetched to stretch the reader's willingness to believe what's happening. I'll never see sheep the same way again.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
not your average crime solving novel!, 1 Oct 2007
swann has a unique writing style that allows you to move beyond the seemingly impossible idea that sheep can in fact be intelligent and solve murders and really creates a bond between the characters and you as a reader. It's a lighthearted murder mystery for all those who love sheep, cannot stomach the gore of other crime books or are just looking for something different. I would totally recommend this book to all!!
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining but Meandering -- Kind of Like its Protagonists..., 20 Jul 2007
Translated from German, set on the Irish coast, and featuring a flock of sheep as protagonists, this debut channels Agatha Christie, Gary Larson (of "Far Side" fame), and "Murder, She Wrote" in a story about the murder of a shepherd and his flock's attempt to unmask his killer and bring about justice. The sleuthing sheep are a great conceit, and one that, for the most part, carries the book through the somewhat meandering and slow-developing story.
Things kick off with the shepherd dead in his field with a spade through his heart. It's certainly amusing to watch the sheep try and understand the reactions of the various humans who discover the body and the reactions the killing provokes amongst the townspeople. In homage to their beloved master and inspired by a detective story he read to them, they vow to see justice done (even if they are somewhat hazy on what that means). The sheep are greatly handicapped by their limited exposure to human affairs, not to mention generally poor memories and short attention spans. However, this is somewhat balanced by their noses, which can scent lies, fear, and other human qualities. Led by the inquisitive ewe Miss Maple (that's Ms. Marple, in case you missed it...), they are soon skulking around the village, peering in windows, and eavesdropping left and right.
The book runs into a little bit of trouble in its need to maintain the sheep's perspective on events -- which makes things somewhat more oblique and drawn out than might be ideal. The central story is also sidetracked somewhat when the long-lost brother of the flock's lead ram mysteriously reappears and starts making all manner of enigmatic statements. But it's all generally entertaining enough to maintain the reader's interest until the end. Some may get added enjoyment from trying to spot the various literary allusions (such as Wuthering Heights, and gothic horror Melmoth the Wanderer), but on the whole, one's enjoyment is probably proportional to how interesting one finds the basic conceit of sheep as amateur sleuths.
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