The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime (Paperback)

Jack Spratt, Detective Inspector of the Nursery Crime Division (and killer of four giants, though only one of them was *technically* a giant, and he was absolved of all blame), has a mind-boggling case on his hands as the good egg Humpty Dumpty has fallen off his wall and died. Suicide is the first conclusion made by everybody, as he was depressed, seeking therapy, and acting very strangely. However, it wouldn't be a murder mystery if there wasn't a murder now, would it? Unfortunately for Jack, his superiors would like any excuse to shut down the Nursery Crimes Division, he's saddled with an assistant, Mary Mary (who insists that she's *not* contrary, thank you very much) who doesn't want to be there and who has dreams of becoming the assistant of the most popular Detective Inspector in the Reading Police Force, Friedland Chymes. Will Mary betray the case in order to get her position? And will Jack be able to figure out who murdered the egg without getting yolk on his face? And what's with those beans that he received in exchange for his mother's picture?

The Big Over Easy does a wonderful job of combining the mood of the typical detective novel and the world of nursery rhymes, with everybody taking them completely seriously. I loved the extrapolation Fforde makes for these characters, with Wee Willie Winkie having narcolepsy and Humpty being a philanderer as well as a philanthropist. Jack is just getting off of a case where he tried to pin murder charges on the three little pigs, saying their killing of the Big Bad Wolf was premeditated because it took them at least six hours to get the pot of water boiling. These sorts of flights of fancy are what really make the book, and I couldn't resist a chuckle or two.

I also liked the nods to mysteries, and how detectives gain more prestige by being written up in detective magazines, though it doesn't say much for the justice system that the jury bases a large part of its verdict on how famous the detective is. The mystery part of the book even has a wink to Agatha Christie in it, which was really nice. Fforde succeeds in making the characters come off the page in interesting fashion, making us care about how downtrodden Jack feels, the elation when he gets one over on Chymes, and the feeling that Chymes will be back next book and not very happy. How Mary is torn between her growing respect for Jack and her ambition to become Chymes assistant. Even the minor characters have their moments, and are interesting to read about when they're on the page.

This is a good thing, because as much as I'm sure I was supposed to, I just didn't laugh that much while reading this book. I had a chuckle or two, I was amused at times, and a couple of the chapter headings made me laugh out loud (like how the "Locked Room Mystery" has been laid to rest, but then it was found to have been murdered). Each chapter begins with a snippet from a newspaper account of something, often having something to do with the chapter it is in, but other times just being there for amusement's sake. These were often quite good (and as I said, occasionally made me laugh), but they did start to sound the same after a while. I found the idea that the ending centers around amusing, but the actual ending itself I thought dragged on a bit and lost its humour value very quickly.

Fforde doesn't really tie this book into the Thursday Next series, with the only reference being the aging starlet Lola Vavoom, so I hope this means that they aren't part of the same series. The change in venue really seems to have revived his creative juices, as there is a lot of neat stuff in The Big Over Easy Every time I thought of something that defeats the internal logic of this world, Fforde would offer up something that makes everything fit. His vivid imagination is what kept the Next series going, and I see that it will continue with Jack's series. That's a good sign. If Fforde can make the next book funnier without slipping into absurdity, then he will have a wonderful series on his hands. Jasper (if I can call you Jasper), you already have me interested in the characters. Make me laugh, and you'll have another sale.

David Roy

Jack Spratt Investigates the Big over Easy is a book that many will rate at less than five stars because they are pining for a Thursday Next book. But to be fair, I think we have to look at this book as though we had never read any of the Thursday Next series.

From that perspective, I thought that Jack Spratt Investigates the Big over Easy was a hilarious satire of the detective genre, reporters and police. I cannot think of a satire of those subjects I've enjoyed more.

The basic story is misleadingly simple. Jack Spratt is on his second marriage (the one to his wife who eat no lean didn't last because of her diet) . . . but still stuck in a rut in his career as head of the lowly Nursery Crime Division. Even that occupation is in jeopardy when Spratt fails to help gain a conviction of the three little pigs in the death of one wolf.

When Humpty Dumpty shows up in piece at the base of a wall, Jack's career may be about to go to pieces as well. Because of Humpty's notoriety, compulsive publicity hound (and former colleague) Friedland Chymes decides he wants the case. With never-ending intrigue all around him, Jack takes an inevitable walk through nursery tales that will seem both different and eerily familiar.

Keep your tongue firmly in your check . . . and giggle on! It's an unrestrained romp.