Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime
    Unavailable
    The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime
    Unavailable
    The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime

    Written by Jasper Fforde

    Narrated by Simon Prebble

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Jasper Fforde's bestselling Thursday Next series has delighted readers of every genre with its literary derring-do and brilliant flights of fancy. In The Big Over Easy, Fforde takes a break from classic literature and tumbles into the seedy underbelly of nursery crime. Meet Inspector Jack Spratt, family man and head of the Nursery Crime Division. He's investigating the murder of ovoid D-class nursery celebrity Humpty Dumpty, found shattered to death beneath a wall in a shabby area of town. Yes, the big egg is down, and all those brittle pieces sitting in the morgue point to foul play.
    Read Jasper Fforde's posts in the Penguin Blog
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJul 21, 2005
    ISBN9780786554270
    Unavailable
    The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime
    Author

    Jasper Fforde

    Jasper Fforde is the internationally best-selling author of the Chronicles of Kazam, the Thursday Next mysteries, and the Nursery Crime books. He lives in Wales. www.jasperfforde.com Twitter: @jasperfforde Instagram: @jasperfforde  

    Related to The Big Over Easy

    Related audiobooks

    General Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Constant Rabbit

      Jul 15, 2020

      The Constant Rabbit
      2 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Oct 16, 2023

      What a thing of joy is a new Francis Spufford novel. Golden Hill, his debut, was a transporting piece of historical fiction that captured life in early New York in all its quirk and contingence, and deservedly won a bag of awards. His second, Light P

      3 min read

    • Article

      A Cat's Eye View Of History

      Nov 5, 2020

      It will have long been evident to many readers that our feline overlords have been up to something, taking advantage of the chaos and confusion caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to further their cunning plans for world domination. The recent discovery

      2 min read

    • Article

      That Dark-looking Hawfinch

      Jun 16, 2021

      That Dark-looking Hawfinch
      3 min read

    • Article

      Your Friendly Neighborhood Opossum

      Mar 1, 2024

      Your Friendly Neighborhood Opossum
      11 min read

    • Article

      A Chance To Focus On The Explorer's Passion

      May 10, 2017

      In a case like The Lost City of Z, it's better not to take the details as serious history; instead, be inspired by the drive that propels a courageous few into the wild to discover for all of us.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Man About Town

      May 27, 2021

      THE ARTISTE FORMERLY KNOWN as Meghan Markle — now Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex — has written a children’s book, The Bench. This has been greeted with excitement (in America) and dismay (in Britain). Personally, I’m delighted that one of the world’s

      3 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Feb 11, 2021

      Letters
      7 min read

    • Article

      That’ll Do, Pug

      Dec 2, 2020

      That’ll Do, Pug
      5 min read

    • Article

      Good Reads For Different Moods

      Nov 3, 2023

      Blood Has A Voice: Stories From The Autopsy Table by Hestelle van Staden (Tafelberg, R320) There's great TV demand for true-crime docu-dramas, especially if a particularly sensational and gruesome murder is involved. The genre often combines a tradit

      2 min read

    • Article

      American Guy

      Jun 28, 2023

      Be Mine By Richard Ford Bloomsbury £18.99 ‘When you're young, your opponent is the future. But when you're not young, your opponent's the past.’ Frank Bascombe came up with that fretful axiom in Independence Day (1995), the second of Richard Ford's n

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Roush Review

      Jan 30, 2020

      The Roush Review
      3 min read

    • Article

      Dszquphsbnt!

      Aug 15, 2019

      Dszquphsbnt!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Television

      Nov 15, 2023

      ITV's pre-Christmas treat is a cheery little number called Platform 7, adapted from the psycho thriller by Louise Doughty. Doughty also wrote Apple Tree Yard, turned into a popular BBC series starring Emily Watson as a 50-something scientist sleeping

      3 min read

    • Article

      French Exit

      Feb 25, 2021

      French Exit
      2 min read

    • Article

      What to WATCH

      Apr 28, 2020

      This true-crime series, released in March, is one of the most-watched programmes in Netflix history. It tells the shocking story of mullet-haired zookeeper Joe Exotic. When conservationist Carole Baskin publicly exposed the poor conditions at Exotic’

      2 min read

    • Article

      50 Best Kids’ Books

      Nov 27, 2022

      50 Best Kids’ Books
      8 min read

    • Article

      Science Fiction And Fantasy

      Nov 3, 2022

      Peng Shepherd Orion 2022 Hb, 392pp, £14.99, ISBN 9781398709928 Map-makers sometimes include false information in a map – a made-up river name, or a small street or hamlet – to catch other map-makers stealing and copying their maps. But what if one of

      4 min read

    • Article

      Fantastic Mr Fox

      Feb 13, 2020

      Fantastic Mr Fox
      6 min read

    • Article

      Sunday, Jan. 2

      Dec 16, 2021

      Sunday, Jan. 2
      2 min read

    • Article

      TV & REVIEWS

      Aug 1, 2023

      TV & REVIEWS
      4 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Jan 27, 2022

      CONTACT US BY POST: PO BOX 1200, WHITSTABLE CT1 9RH, OR E-MAIL SIEVEKING@FORTEANTIMES.COM PLEASE PROVIDE US WITH YOUR POSTAL ADDRESS Although I was very happy to see my two ShukerNature books receive a positive joint review [FT411:65], I have to corr

      7 min read

    Reviews for The Big Over Easy

    4/5

    103 ratings96 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Jack, the head of the Nursery Crime Division, investigates the untimely demise of Humpty Van Dumpty, a hard-living egg. His adversary, a savvy political climber and a member of the prestigious Guild of Detectives, schemes to take over the case, while Jack and his sergeant (Mary Mary) wade through too many suspects, several confessions, and loose ends that resist tying up.The Nursery Crime Division is not quite in the same universe as Thursday Next — there's no time travel or book travel (although Lola Vavoom is in both universes). There is a Christ-like head of state called the Jellyman, and nursery rhyme characters exist as normal people, albeit somewhat circumscribed by their literary details (e.g. Jack Spratt's wife, who eats no lean, ultimately dies of heart disease).If the Thursday next series is a mad caper, the Nursery Crimes series jumps off the ledge into just pain madness. I don't think I've ever read a mystery with so many twists and turns. Even with so much plot to describe, Fforde still manages to write in material that doesn't relate at all to the titular mystery (e.g. Prometheus), which both deepens your connection to this bizarre created world, and contributes to your sense that the entire endeavor is utter nonsense.
    • 3/5
      The Big Over Easy is the first of Jasper Fforde's Nursery Crime mysteries, a spin off from his arch, clever Thursday Next series. We are introduced to DI Jack Spratt and his new assistant Sergeant Mary Mary (and yes, she can be quite contrary) as they attempt to solve the murder of Humpty Dumpty, found smashed to bits at the base of his wall.As in the original series, this one is enjoyable in large part because of its inside literary jokes and references, as well as its to-die-for overarching premise: a world in which the book is as important as real life and the story is everything. Often over the top but always enjoyable, Fforde has written another sly, fun mystery.
    • 3/5
      Thought this would be funnier. On the other hand, it is what it claims to be - a traditional 'hard boiled' detective story, with characters taken from the pages of Mother Goose. How can you resist the temptation to see how he carries it off?
    • 4/5
      Satirical romp from the author of the Thursday Next series. enjoyed hugely and will go back for more.
    • 4/5
      When the shattered body of Humpty Dumpty is found below a wall, the investigation into his death is assigned to DI Jack Spratt and his new Sergeant, Mary Mary of the Nursery Crimes Division. It's almost certain that Humpty's death was either accidental (Humpty was very drunk when last seen) or suicide (it's the week after Easter – a difficult time of year for eggs). So why is celebrity detective Friedland Chymes so eager to take over the investigation from the nursery crimes division? Was Humpty Dumpty in fact murdered? There's no shortage of suspects, including a possibly angry ex-wife, a jealous girlfriend or a girlfriend's jealous husband, or a swindled former client.Fforde has written a fun spoof of detective novels, nursery rhymes, fables, and fairy tales, with a sprinkling of mythology. While I didn't find it laugh-out-loud funny, it did keep me amused and I liked it well enough to seek out the second Nursery Crime mystery. The book has a similar feel to the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. To get the most out of the book, readers need to be very familiar with the major nursery rhymes, fables, and fairy tales, as well as famous fictional detectives.
    • 4/5
      A nursery crime about who it was that pushed Humpty Dumpty off the wall. Jack Spratt, a detective who eats no fat. Fforde has written a book that combines nursery rhymes, crime, and hilarious other stuff. Plus science. One must never forget the science.
    • 3/5
      Thought this would be funnier. On the other hand, it is what it claims to be - a traditional 'hard boiled' detective story, with characters taken from the pages of Mother Goose. How can you resist the temptation to see how he carries it off?
    • 4/5
      The Big Over Easy is the first in Jasper Fforde's Nursery Crime series featuring investigations involving—you guessed it—nursery rhyme characters. Things aren't going well for Detective Inspector Jack Spratt, who heads up the Nursery Crime Division (NCD) of the Reading police force. As the story opens, he's coming down off a disastrous prosecution involving three murderous little pigs and a dead wolf. Jack's new detective sergeant, Mary Mary, is sure that she's come to a career dead end in the NCD. Underfunded and overlooked, the NCD has been on unsteady ground for some time now. With this latest failure it will likely be disbanded at the next budget review.And then there's DCI Friedland Chimes, Jack's archnemesis at the force, whose amazing exploits in the detecting world fill the pages of the prestigious true-crime magazine Amazing Crime Stories. Because crime, and the solving thereof, has become primarily fodder for the entertainment world, any detective who hopes to advance his career must join the Most Worshipful Guild of Detectives, which publishes their adventures (and sometimes even does movie deals). Jack is not even in the running for membership—and even if he was, it wouldn't matter, because Friedland is on the selection committee.The investigation at hand involves the death, possibly by homicide, of Humperdinck Dumpty, aka Humpty Dumpty. This large egg was known for two things: his womanizing and his shady business dealings. He fell off a wall to his death—but was he pushed? As the investigation unfolds, Jack and Mary are plunged into the seedy underbelly so often concealed under the bright trappings of nursery-rhyme lore. The incredibly complex plot involves a massive failing footcare product company, Wee Willie Winky, the Sacred Gonga, genetic experimentation gone wrong, a large beanstalk, a political refugee from Olympus (Prometheus), a biological weapon, Old Mother Hubbard, and a plot to kill the Jellyman. I can't possibly put this in any sensible order for you; you must read the book yourself.But that's no hardship; it's good fun. Fforde's tone is playfully satirical and very witty. He affectionately pokes fun at the conventions and characters of detective fiction while reimagining nursery-rhyme characters as real-world people who inhabit this alternate-reality world with no remark by the rest of the population. Oh, and there are aliens too, but surprisingly enough, they are actually rather boring and speak mostly in binary.Jack's a great character and was brilliantly voiced by Simon Prebble, who reads the audiobook version. He did such a good job with Jack that when I got the next book in the series on audiobook, I turned it off in disgust as soon as I heard Simon Vance's voice for Jack. He was far too pompous. Rather than readjust my perception of Jack, I read the print version of The Fourth Bear. I also liked Mary and her little sidestory of betrayal and ambition. Jack's mother is fun, and his family. And their boarder, Prometheus, is a nice addition. I also thought the villain was very well written.Though I could have done without some of the cruder elements in the book, I enjoyed this story very much and was motivated to pick up the next one right away (something that didn't happen with Fforde's Thursday Next series). I'd recommend this to mystery fans looking for something a little whimsical and different.Finally, I've refrained thus far—but in a mystery story centering on the murder of a large egg, it is extremely tempting to use the adjective "hardboiled." Fforde must be rubbing off on me...
    • 4/5
      Humpy Dumpty's dead. Whodunit?If you're thinking, "erm...he fell?" then you need to read this book. Although he was basically a good guy, businessman Humpty Stuyvesant Van Dumpty III had made a few enemies and was last seen, horribly drunk, boasting about his ability to summon up rather a large sum of money...What's it about?This is the first installment in genre-crossing Jasper Fforde's 'Nursery Crimes' series, and so DI Jack Spratt, head of the Nursery Crimes Division of Reading Police Department, is assigned to investigate Humpty's fall and subsequent death. Was he pushed or did his dangerous habit of sitting, often drunkenly, atop tall walls (despite being an egg and therefore rather vulnerable to heights and concrete) finally do him in?Jack Spratt is determined to find out, but he's under rather a lot of pressure: if the case proves to be nothing, his department will be closed due to his poor prosecution rate (only last week three pigs got off scot-free despite boiling Mr Wolf alive in what was clearly a premeditated act); if the case is something, local super-cop DCI Friedland Chymes wants it, and he won't take no for an answer.-- What's it like? --Brilliant. Amusing, innovative, surreal and frequently childish. The puns and wordplay are groan worthy, but there's also a brilliant strain of literary detection running through it all. It really is quite a wonderful mixture of ideas and characters, including key nursery rhyme details (When DS Mary Mary learns that Jack Spratt's wife loved fat she comments: 'Isn't that very unhealthy?' and is informed 'Very. She died.') and more random details (Mary is repeatedly advised that being from Basingstoke is 'nothing to be ashamed of').Set in Reading, Fforde cleverly mixs existing places with fictitious ones to create an enviroment in which anthropmorhised bears and illegal spinning-straw-into-gold dens are just a part of ordinary life for the town's inhabitants. In what other world could Humpty possibly be considered a sex object?Just like his Thursday Next series, Fforde creates a world in which everyone reads and cares about literature, so there's plenty of fun to be had spotting references to other texts. Oh and Prometheus becomes his lodger. Because. Y'know. Why not? After all, he's got nowhere more interesting to go since no country dares grant him citizenship and risk the wrath of Zeus, who is not happy that the whole infinite-liver-pecking-out punishment has been curtailed. It's this blending of myth and reality that makes the tale so wonderfully fun.-- What's to like? --Fforde depicts a world in which accurately resolving a crime is less important than writing it up in best selling magazine 'Amazing Crime Stories' and your circulation figures mean more to your superiors than your ethics. (At one point a detective reflects that another detective would have done better to release one captured gang member from the group in order to recapture him in a day or two and so stretch out the headlines.) From this central premise many delightfully logical but ridiculous situations arise. Some of the best examples can be found at the start of each chapter, where Fforde treats readers to 'extracts' from fictional newspapers and the like.For instance:'Plans for a National Genetic Database could be shelved if the Guild of Detectives gets their way, it has emerged. 'Cerebrally-based deduction of perpetrators has fallen over the years,' wrote Guild member Lord Peter Flimsey in a leaked document to the Home Office funding committee, 'and we all have a duty to protect the traditional detecting industry against further damaging loss.' MPs were said to be 'sympathetic'...'And this:'Blatant red herring and overused narrative blind alleys could land a detective in hot water if the Limited Narrative Misdirection Bill becomes law later this year....'And just wait 'til Jack gets given some beans...-- Final thoughts --I only finished reading this a couple of weeks ago and I'm already struggling to recall who did for Humpty in the end (although, upon reflection, there's a really good reason why!) but this isn't a criticism. After all, the sooner I forget it all the sooner I can have the joy of reading it again!Like most books of this nature, it might be best digested in small chunks rather than devoured in one sitting; it is genuinely funny and enjoyable throughout, but I found I was best able to appreciate the madcap nature of it all in small doses.A dazzling mix of nursery rhyme nonsense, crime detecting, pun creating and sheer fun. Recommended.
    • 3/5
      This book was very character-heavy. Too much so, I thought. It was becoming almost a drudge to read to the end of the 283 pages. I would recommend an organizational chart, nursery rhyme chart, map or something to help keep everyone straight.

      While it was extremely cumbersome (and the reason for not giving it four stars), it was so incredibly cleverly written that I was in awe throughout most of the book (and the reason for not giving it two stars). What imagination Fforde has! This is my first book by him, but I have his collection for Nook and will read more. After a break. I need a palate cleanser after Dostoyevsky and this one!
    • 4/5
      Jack, the head of the Nursery Crime Division, investigates the untimely demise of Humpty Van Dumpty, a hard-living egg. His adversary, a savvy political climber and a member of the prestigious Guild of Detectives, schemes to take over the case, while Jack and his sergeant (Mary Mary) wade through too many suspects, several confessions, and loose ends that resist tying up.The Nursery Crime Division is not quite in the same universe as Thursday Next — there's no time travel or book travel (although Lola Vavoom is in both universes). There is a Christ-like head of state called the Jellyman, and nursery rhyme characters exist as normal people, albeit somewhat circumscribed by their literary details (e.g. Jack Spratt's wife, who eats no lean, ultimately dies of heart disease).If the Thursday next series is a mad caper, the Nursery Crimes series jumps off the ledge into just pain madness. I don't think I've ever read a mystery with so many twists and turns. Even with so much plot to describe, Fforde still manages to write in material that doesn't relate at all to the titular mystery (e.g. Prometheus), which both deepens your connection to this bizarre created world, and contributes to your sense that the entire endeavor is utter nonsense.
    • 5/5
      This book is stupid. I thought so when I first saw it, and still think so now. However, it is, by far, the most brilliantly stupid thing I have ever read. The jokes are so far over the top that the top is no longer even in sight. I had certainly never conceived of how wonderful Jack Spratt could be as a straight man, but it works perfectly. I love this book.
    • 3/5
      I've found Jasper Fforde's books generally fun/amusing. I'd read the Thursday Next books; I expected to enjoy Nursery Crimes. There was nothing I'd point to that was wrong with the book, although being familiar with his writing, I wasn't terribly surprised by the tone, form, style, etc, etc. Someone else described it as a "beach read for nerds" -- which sounds just about right to me. It's heavy on puns and references, light on real characterisation. While there has to be a plot, it feels very much like the plot is there to contain the puns and references, not really for its own sake.

      It's easy to read and fun; I'm not sure I'll ever reread it. I found Thursday Next more compelling -- it helps that I adore Jane Eyre, and I wasn't used to Fforde's style then.
    • 4/5
      Another inventive mystery from Jasper Fforde. Really good on audio too.
    • 3/5
      Not what I expected, and not nearly as involved as the Thursday Next series, but a fully imagined and entertaining world and a fun adventure. I think it makes more sense if you've read the other series, but could stand well on its own as a off-beat mystery. Just go with the flow on this one...
    • 4/5
      Having read all of Fforde's Thursday Next books and none of his others, it took a bit of adjusting to the idea that a Fforde book could be about anything but Thursday Next and the Bookworld. Once I got used to the idea though, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Fforde did an excellent job of retaining the underlying sense of humor that makes him Fforde, yet at the same time creating a distinct voice for this book - one that's quite different from that of the TN novels. The mystery itself turned out to be a bit on the complicated side, but it was well-plotted and explained so the reader wasn't left wondering how everything was supposed to fit together. Overall, a fun read that will keep you from seeing nursery rhymes as childish poems ever again.
    • 4/5
      Mr. Fforde doesn't disappoint. Generously sprinkled with references to various nursery rhymes and fairy tales, the story nonetheless functions well as a mystery and amuses with dry humor. Jack Spratt is appealing and there are some great zingers at the media world that cares more for ratings than facts.
    • 4/5
      Is it a fantasy? Is it humor? Is it a mystery? Is it a nursery rhyme? The Big Over Easy is all that, with a touch of insanity. Jasper Fforde has one of the strangest minds in the world, as this book evidences. Jack Spratt (Detective Inspector, Nursery Crimes Division) investigates the suspicious death of one Humpty Stuyvesant Van Dumpty. Did he fall or was he shot? The pressure is on Spratt, having just botched the Three Little Pigs case, resulting in the pigs being found not guilty in the wolf’s murder. Spratt’s boss is threatening to shut down the Division unless there are quick results. Plus, Jack’s not sure if he can fully trust his new sidekick, Detective Sergeant Mary Mary. Fforde pulls out all the Mother Goose characters in what actually is a very competent mystery as well as a lot of silliness. Your knowledge of childhood tales will be tested; at least mine was. Oh yes, a verruca is a wart.
    • 5/5
      Another great series by Fforde. Inspector Jack Spratt, head of the Nursery Crime Division, in Reading, England, is plagued with the task of investigating the death of Humpty Dumpty. Yes, THAT Humpty Dumpty who fell off the wall. The never ending supply of crazy characters makes this a hilarious entertaining read that I never wanted to end. I am looking forward to the sequel, but hope Fforde continues this series. It is somewhat of an offshoot from his Thursday Next series.
    • 4/5
      I thought this was a really fresh take on nursery rhymes and murder mysteries. I will say that in the end, the plot turned out to be incredibly complicated, and almost hard to follow. However Inspector Jack Spratt and his partner Mary Mary were excellent characters, and the story developed around Humpty Dumpty's life was anything but boring. Each chapter starts with a 'news article' that has to do with a nursery rhyme/fairy tale aspect, and it was a great touch.
    • 5/5
      This book was very clever. I really enjoyed all the allusions to literature and nursery rhymes, especially the newspaper clips at the beginning of each chapter. But this book wasn't just clever in the way it told its story, the plot itself was very engaging. I'm not much of a mystery person mainly because I can't keep up and end up forgetting which character did what, so by the time the "whodunnit" is revealed, it doesn't mean as much to me. But in The Big Over Easy, the characterization was clear and solid, the plot points were memorable and fun, and I was engrossed. I can never figure out the murderer, so I was very excited that I figured it out right when Jack did. To me, that shows excellent storytelling on the part of the author. I kept up, but wasn't so far ahead that it was frustrating. A fun read!
    • 4/5
      A cute witty detective novel. Detective Jack Sprat, of the nursery crimes division, is investigating the death of Humpty Dumpty. Jack has to over come many obstacles during the investigation, there are many twists and turns, and the ending is unexpected. I enjoyed all the nursery rhyme and mythological characters that made appearances in this book. I also really liked the subtle humor, for example; we all know that Jack Spratt could eat no fat so I expected it to be mentioned right away. It wasn't. I thought maybe the author thought it would be to obvious to mention, so I had just given up hope that it would be mentioned, when finally it is. There are a lot of little things like that that I really appreciated. There were also a lot of things I did not get, but I still really enjoyed the read
    • 4/5
      Another entertaining read from Jasper Fforde. I really enjoy the author's wit and the fascinating world and characters of his novels. This one is no exception, the first non-Thursday Next book of his I've read. It was delightful to meet new characters and join their adventure.
    • 3/5
      DI Jack Spratt, head of the Nursery Crime Division of the Reading police force, is given the Humpty Dumpty case and after the first theory of suicide is shattered (much like Humpty himself was after falling off his wall) has an unenviable task of piecing it all together to find out who's responsible. The suspects and motives whisk by as Jack and his team try to beat the clock as time ticks away for his department as it looks likely they'll be disbanded after the recent three pigs fiasco. As the body count rises can Jack get to the bottom of it all and why is his former partner, the celebrated Detective Chymes, looking to poach the case so much?Sorry for all the puns in the above but it kind of sets the scene for how this book goes. It's a noirish (or should that be hard-boiled?) tale where nursery rhyme characters inhabit a version of our world which pokes fun at the crime genre and keeps its tongue firmly inside its cheek as the story unfolds. It took me a while to get into this one but the pages turned much quicker towards the end. This was my first encounter with the authors work and my expectations were probably too high after all the praise he's lavished with so I was a little disappointed I didn't enjoy this book as much as I was hoping to. I still have a couple more from the author on my tbr shelves, including the next in this series, so I will be giving Mr Fforde another try.
    • 4/5
      5 Things To Know Before Reading This Book1. It is a murder mystery.2. The victim is an enormous egg named Humpty Dumpty. (He fell off a wall … or was pushed or possibly shot.)3. The detective investigating the crime is named Jack Spratt. His partner is Mary Mary.4. Jack and Mary work for the Nursery Crimes Division (NCD).5. You should brush up on your nursery rhymes and fairy tales before reading so as to fully enjoy the book. (It took me almost halfway through to dredge up the fact that Jack’s tendency to accidentally off “unusually tall people” was a reference to Jack The Giant Killer.)4 Other Stories/Tales/Myths Referenced in the Book1. The Three Little Pigs2. Jack and the Beanstalk3. Old Mother Hubbard4. Wee Willie Winkie…plus lots lots more.3 Things I Thought While Reading The Book1. “Gosh, I just love it when an author has a whimsical and witty sense of humor and isn’t afraid to just have fun.”2. “I’m sure I’m missing about 25% (and possibly even more) of the jokes and references in this book. But who cares? It is cracking me up anyway.”3. “Jasper Fforde is kind of a hottie. And he’s smart too.” (Seriously, go Google Jasper Fforde. He's cute!!)2 Excerpts I Had To Highlight and ShareExcerpt 1: “…Father liked word games. He was fourteen times world Scrabble champion. When he died, we buried him at Queenzieburn to make use of the triple word score. He spent the greater part of his life campaigning to have respelt those words that look as though they are spelt wrongly but arent.” “Such as….?” “Oh, skiing, vacuum, freest, eczema, gnu, diarrhea, that sort of thing. He also thought that ‘abbreviation’ was too long for its meaning, that ‘monosyllable’ should have one syllable, ‘dyslexic’ should be renamed ‘O’ and ‘unspeakable’ should be respelt ‘unsfzpxkable.’”Excerpt 2: Mr. Pewter led them through to a library, filled with thousands of antiquarian books. “Impressive, eh?” “Very,” said Jack. “How did you amass all these?” “Well,” said Pewter, “you know the person who always borrows books and never gives them back?” “Yes….?” “I’m that person.”1 Last ThingI think that you’re either the type of person who likes books like this or you aren’t. Therefore, I’m sure the three possible reactions to this review are:* “This book sounds aggressively silly and whimsical and that is not my cup of tea at all!”* “I need to read this immediately!”* “What the heck took you so long to read Jasper Fforde, Jenners? Haven’t we been telling you how awesome he is for awhile now?”A funny, cerebral book with lots of word play, silliness and wit to entertain adults. Do not mistake this for a children's book. It is too smart for that!
    • 3/5
      This is aimed at the sort of reader who doesn’t mind things getting a bit daft. It had the same surreal tone as Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy but whilst that was at least set in outer space, this is set in Reading. Yes - the one near Basingstoke. Basically, it’s an investigation into the murder of Humpty Dumpty. Yes, he’s an egg, and yes he fell off a wall. He has had several (human) wives. No kids yet (don’t go there....). The world he inhabits contains ordinary people as well as nursery rhyme/fairy tale characters (and an alien), and here was the problem for me. I couldn’t work out where the limits of this surreal world were. If you can have an egg waltzing around buying shares in corn plaster manufacturers, anything is possible, right? And how come nobody bats an eyelid when three little pigs are taken to court for trying to boil a wolf, but when a character has a name like ‘Mary Mary’ everyone comes over all surprised?I really thought I was going to hate it, and for the first hundred or so pages I did. Then, against all expectation I started to find it amusing. Some of the fictitious quotations at the beginnings of chapters registered three or four on the laughter scale, and the way the book poked fun at the difference between actual crime detection and the stuff you read about in detective novels was clever. I particularly liked the bit where there was an attempt to restrict ‘narratively boring’ developments like forensic science.So overall one or two decent jokes, good puns (including the setting of ‘Reading’) and a spot of satire, but not really my genre – probably my first and last by this author.
    • 3/5
      In the course of cataloging my book collection for LibraryThing I found that I now own five of Jasper Fforde's novels. Up until recently I had never read any of them, despite being aware that he has a large following of devoted fans. I decided it was time to see what all the fuss was about. I actually picked out two to read, this one and “Lost in a Good Book” (2nd in the Thursday Next series). I finished this one first (and am still plugging away at the other, but in no great hurry to finish it, I'm afraid). So I'll try to keep this review specific to “The Big Over Easy”, and try to avoid any unsupported generalizations to Fforde's other works.I was aware before I started that Fforde is known for satire and other forms of humor in his writing, things I'm heartily in favor of. I had high hopes for this book. The alternate universe inhabited by the characters, roughly late 20th or early 21st century Britain but with numerous twists, certainly is a fertile field for Fforde to plow. It's a world in which the boundary between fiction and reality is blurred in a number of imaginative ways, not the least of which is that the citizens of this universe take it for granted that police work and criminal prosecutions are the servants of entertainment, and demand that those endeavors be conducted accordingly. It's an interesting conceit, and one which could haul heavier philosophical freight than Fforde hitches to it with his poking of fun at numerous clichés in modern detective fiction as well as in nursery rhymes. I realize that the book is full of literary and social allusions, some of which I caught, and some I'm sure I missed, but eventually they seemed to have been thrown in just because the author could, as though all editorial functions had been switched off in his brain. He never missed a chance to name his characters in a punning allusional way, and before too many chapters went by, that habit was becoming more irritating than amusing. Some subtlety, giving more credit to the readers' intelligence, would have been welcome. It's way too obvious, for example, for the lead detective of the Nursery Crimes Division to be named Jack Spratt, and for him to hate eating fat, to kill giants, and to cut down overgrown beanstalks.Perhaps it was with sly deliberation that Fforde invested his plot with some of the same “mistakes” his fictitious population of readers decry in write-ups of criminal investigations. Maybe it was just laziness. Either way, I nearly gave up on this book when the plot dragged on so slowly, with no real progress being made in the search for Humpty Dumpty's murderer for about three quarters of the book. Since this was the first book in what the author seemed to know would become a series, perhaps it was justifiable for him to spend so much time on peripheral aspects of the characters' lives, past and present, but it certainly put a damper on any plot momentum early on in the book.There was some character development in the book, but not enough to make me feel any real empathy for the main characters, the ones which no doubt reappear in later books in this series (Nursery Crimes).I came away from this reading experience with very mixed feelings. I had a few really good laughs, more yawns, a few groans. To me, Fforde's ideas for humor seem better than his execution of them. He seemed more interested in going for cheap laughs than in developing some of the genuinely promising themes he introduced. Unlike other reviewers, I'm afraid I didn't find this book to be either a toss away diversion or a well thought-out satire. It fell short on both counts. I won't be running to the bookstore to seek out more of his works, and may not even finish reading the ones I currently own.
    • 4/5
      This is murder mystery. Detective Inspector Jack Spratt of the Nursery Crime Division is assigned to investigate the death of Humpty Dumpty. Assisted by Detective Sergeant Mary Mary, they struggle to find out if the oversized egg died by accidental, by suicide or by murder. To further confuse the issue, several people admit to murdering Humpty but their confession doesn't jibe with reality. Throw in a failing foot remedy company whose almost worthless stock Humpty bought up in huge batches for unknown reasons. Another unknown is were he got the gold he used to buy the shares. I expected humor from this novel ( and got it ), but I didn't expect to find a fully developed and very complicated mystery.This is the first Fforde novel I read and now I'll be searching for more of them to read.
    • 5/5
      A minor character from one of the Thursday Next novels becomes the main character of this book, where nursery rhyme characters are real. Jack Spratt is a detective in the Nursery Crime Division of the Reading police, and is tracking down the murderer of Humpty Dumpty. Yet again, Jasper Fforde has created a rich universe that plays with the traditional boundary between reality and fiction. Absolutely hilarious, suspenseful, and delightful. This was lots of fun to read out loud. Can't wait to read the next one!
    • 3/5
      Humpty dumpty has a great fall. Or was it? Nursery rhyme becomes murder mystery in this pun fest from Fforde. Cleverly written, amusingly twisted to fit in nursery rhyme gags into every chapter. I am always happy to read Fforde's work, and it makes a good book to read on a journey, or in a situation where depth of concentration can fluctuate. To gather all the literary nuances would take a dedicated reader indeed, but this book reads in such a way, that enjoyment does not hinge upon grasping such inferences. In fact, a more critical approach could easily adopt the opinion that Fforde just plays for cheap gags and one-liners, and doesn't bother much with crafted comedic potential.I reckon they are just enjoyable, quite funny and easy to read.