The Big Over Easy

A very silly, childish, humorous, clever, wayward book…I loved it. DI Jack Spratt is dispatched by Reading’s Nursery Crime Division to solve the perplexing case of the apparent murder of Humpty Stuyvesant Van Dumpty III. But maybe this will be a case too tough to crack!

Fforde packs every page with puns, clever references and very witty wordplay linking the story with all your favourite nursery rhymes and children’s stories. Full of plot twists, unexpected characters and engaging commentary this is a murder mystery novel to rival the most accomplished thrillers. Given the comic twist common to all Fforde’s work this truly is a gem of a book.

Spratt is only too aware of how the success, or otherwise, of this case will affect his career and in an increasingly media savvy world Fforde’s makes clever links with the press involvement in police life by starting each chapter with a very amusing commentary on how the case is unfolding from the perspective of the local rag! At times the similarities with modern life and especially the more famous literary detectives such as Marples, Holmes and Poirot are quite remarkable…albeit in Fforde’s comic mind.

I really enjoyed this book, it was light-hearted enough to pick up when I felt like it and gave me a very easy but engaging read. I’ll be on the look out for more of his work