From Publishers Weekly
Like
The Big Over Easy (2005), Fforde's first Nursery Crime novel, this sequel offers literary allusions, confusions and gentle satire, though, again like its predecessor, it lacks the snap of the author's Thursday Next series (
The Eyre Affair, etc.). Jack Spratt, DCI of the Nursery Crime Division of the Reading Police Department, is also a PDR (Person of Dubious Reality), as are most of the characters Jack deals with, including the Gingerbreadman, a notorious killer, and Punch and Judy, a violence prone couple who are also marriage counselors. An alien policeman named Ashley, talking bears, a devoted group of cucumber-growing enthusiasts and an immensely powerful company, Quang Tech, add spice. All are grist for Fforde, whose word play runs the gamut from puns to shaggy dog stories. The Gingerbreadman's on the loose, Goldilocks is missing and Jack's once again persona non grata at headquarters. As Jack and his associates "bring justice to the nursery world," they also cast a Swiftian eye on corporate hubris, race relations, the drug trade and myriad other targets.
(Aug.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From AudioFile
Jasper Fforde continues his tales of the Nursery Crime unit of the Reading Police Department, where Detectives Jack Spratt and Mary Mary investigate crimes involving fairy tale figures. With his perfectly clipped British accent, Simon Vance does his usual expert performance. In this case, he makes the improbable, unlikely, and downright ridiculous seem perfectly normal. It would be hard to imagine this novel without him. The plot includes the escape of the vicious serial killer the Gingerbreadman and the hunt for the missing gossip columnist, Goldy. Prime suspects are the Three Bears she was once involved with. But was there a fourth bear? Fforde is also known for his bestselling Thursday Next series. M.S. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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