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reading recommend : nursery crimes
Sep. 20th, 2007 03:44 pmSo - I have discovered a new author, Jasper Fforde. I'm reading his novel "THE FOURTH BEAR" and he also has "THE BIG OVER EASY" - both about the murders of famous nursery rhyme characters - "Goldy Locks" - and "Humpty Dumpty." These books are like Wicked meets Monty Python. They are incredibly, over-the-top silly - (making laugh outloud on the muni while reading) - and full of lots of incredibly witty british humor - which is probably why I love them so much....
The detective in each novel is Jack Sprat (who's wife could eat no lean?). It's tough being a detective in the unglamorous world of nursery rhyme crimes, especially when your power-hungry rival hogs the limelight, your commanding officer is looking to eliminate your division, and you have a nasty reputation for killing giants. Detective Inspector Jack Spratt is investigating the violent death of Humpty Dumpty, disreputable philanthropist and business mastermind, who may have been shot by his ex-wife. As Spratt and his ambitious assistant Mary Mary delve into the crime, they uncover several suspects and a sinister plot involving money laundering, woodcutters, and podiatry. Like Fforde's "Tuesday Next" series, The Big Over Easy is set in an alternative world where fiction is real-a place where Georgy Porgy is a crime boss, the Three Little Pigs are prosecuted for killing the Wolf, and Wee Willy Winkie has been diagnosed with narcolepsy.
In "THE FOURTH BEAR" - picks up with Spratt after successfully apprehending the infamous Great Long Red-Legg'd Scissor-man, who cuts the digits off children who suck their thumbs, Spratt is inexplicably forced to take a leave of absence while a medical review board assesses his competency.
With Mary Mary working as the acting head of the Nursery Crime Division -- and Spratt as her "consultant" -- the misfit members of the NCD are faced with two very different cases: to help track down the deranged Gingerbreadman, who has just escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane, and to find Henrietta "Goldilocks" Hatchett, an investigative reporter who mysteriously disappeared while working on a story about prizewinning pickles. The last to see her alive: a family of three bears who have recently experienced strange porridge problems…
The detective in each novel is Jack Sprat (who's wife could eat no lean?). It's tough being a detective in the unglamorous world of nursery rhyme crimes, especially when your power-hungry rival hogs the limelight, your commanding officer is looking to eliminate your division, and you have a nasty reputation for killing giants. Detective Inspector Jack Spratt is investigating the violent death of Humpty Dumpty, disreputable philanthropist and business mastermind, who may have been shot by his ex-wife. As Spratt and his ambitious assistant Mary Mary delve into the crime, they uncover several suspects and a sinister plot involving money laundering, woodcutters, and podiatry. Like Fforde's "Tuesday Next" series, The Big Over Easy is set in an alternative world where fiction is real-a place where Georgy Porgy is a crime boss, the Three Little Pigs are prosecuted for killing the Wolf, and Wee Willy Winkie has been diagnosed with narcolepsy. In "THE FOURTH BEAR" - picks up with Spratt after successfully apprehending the infamous Great Long Red-Legg'd Scissor-man, who cuts the digits off children who suck their thumbs, Spratt is inexplicably forced to take a leave of absence while a medical review board assesses his competency. With Mary Mary working as the acting head of the Nursery Crime Division -- and Spratt as her "consultant" -- the misfit members of the NCD are faced with two very different cases: to help track down the deranged Gingerbreadman, who has just escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane, and to find Henrietta "Goldilocks" Hatchett, an investigative reporter who mysteriously disappeared while working on a story about prizewinning pickles. The last to see her alive: a family of three bears who have recently experienced strange porridge problems…
