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The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime (Paperback)

by Jasper Fforde (Author) "If Queen Anne hadn't suffered so badly from gout and dropsy, Reading might never have developed at all..." (more)
Key Phrases: torque settings, charity benefit, Sacred Gonga, Amazing Crime, Grimm's Road (more...)

4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (95 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, and, well, you know the rest. But was Humpty's fall an accident, or was it murder? It's up to giant killer Jack Spratt of the Nursery Crime Division to get to the bottom of it. Humpty was quite a ladies' man, but a few people thought him a bad egg. Jack has a number of suspects, a new partner to break in and gloryhound/antagonist Detective Inspector Chimes to deal with. Prebble's sonorous British voice is ideally suited to narrating this whimsical, fractured fairy tale; his tone and pacing match Fforde's prose perfectly, and his subtle vocal acrobatics enable him to amusingly bring to life the novel's wildly divergent cast of characters. Despite its many virtues, this is probably Fforde's weakest novel, lacking the literary sophistication of the Thursday Next books. But Prebble's performance easily makes this Fforde's best audiobook to date. Prebble's vibrant, all-star narration more than makes up for them.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From Bookmarks Magazine
Hearing characters debate the implications of "illegal straw-into-gold dens" is attractive to a certain type of reader. Puns and silliness can certainly provide laugh-out-loud fun, especially when cleverly handled. But critics found this new series debut from literary jokester Jasper Fforde (The Eyre Affair, **** Summer 2002, is from Fforde’s first series, Thursday Next) a tad shallow and wearisome. Fforde doesn’t skewer nursery rhymes exclusively; he also spoofs mystery fiction protocol, including anagrams, secret twins, and butlers who did it. This is actually his most ingenious turn in an otherwise overlong send-up.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (July 25, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0143037234
ISBN-13: 978-0143037231
Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (95 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #33,319 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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This is item 1 in The Nursery Crime Series.

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First Sentence:
If Queen Anne hadn't suffered so badly from gout and dropsy, Reading might never have developed at all. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
torque settings, charity benefit

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sacred Gonga, Amazing Crime, Grimm's Road, Friedland Chymes, Humpty Dumpty, Castle Spongg, Mary Mary, Jack Spratt, Nursery Crime Division, Solomon Grundy, Giorgio Porgia, Guild of Detectives, Tom Thomm, The Gadfly, The Toad, Andersen's Wood, Bessie Brooks, Lola Vavoom, Spongg Charity Benefit, Randolph Spongg, Reading Central, Lord Spongg, Miss Brooks, Detective Inspector Spratt, Spongg Footcare Charity Benefit

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 6 books:

Through the Looking Glass (Classics Illustrated) by Lewis Carroll on page 44
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll on page 44
Romeo and Juliet (Folger Shakespeare Library) by William Shakespeare on page 60
Romeo and Juliet (Penguin Readers, Level 3) by William Shakespeare on page 60
Romeo And Juliet by William Shakespeare on page 60

See all 6 books this book cites

1 book cites this book:

Something Rotten (Thursday Next Novels) by Jasper Fforde in Back Matter

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	71% buy the item featured on this page: The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime 4.2 out of 5 stars (95) $10.98
	11% buy Thursday Next: First Among Sequels (Thursday Next Novels) 4.5 out of 5 stars (63)
	7% buy Something Rotten (Thursday Next Novels) 4.4 out of 5 stars (69) $10.98
	6% buy The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel 4.1 out of 5 stars (360) $10.20

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Customer Reviews

95 Reviews

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (95 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slightly scrambled, October 26, 2005

By	Amanda Richards "Modest to the extreme" (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime (Hardcover)

This is an early Jasper Fforde book that was rewritten following the success of "The Eyre Affair" and the rest of that series. Readers of "The Well of Lost Plots" will remember that Thursday Next vacationed in an unpublished book called "Caversham Heights", where she met DCI Briggs. This story also takes place in Caversham Heights, this time starring Detective Inspector Jack Spratt, who still eats no fat, and who heads the struggling Nursery Crime Division.

Jack has been very unlucky to be working in the shadow of popular Detective Friedland Chymes, and has just spectacularly lost a major case where the murderous three little pigs got off the hook for the death of the unfortunate big bad wolf. With the Department about to be shut down due to budget cuts and too few published cases, Jack gets a lease on life with the arrival of a contrary new partner, Sergeant Mary Mary and the messy death of Humperdinck Jehoshaphat Aloyius Stuyvesant van Dumpty, a.k.a. Humpty Dumpty.

As the book works its convoluted way to a grand and totally out of left field finale, be prepared to get brain strain trying to remember the dozen plus nursery rhymes thrown casually in the mix, as well as keeping track of the numerous and diverse characters, including an alien who speaks in binary, an aging movie starlet and a disgraced Greek Titan.

Although sometimes a little too clever for its own good, and too far fetched even for a fantasy, it's very entertaining reading, and a good choice for fans of Jasper Fforde.

Amanda Richards, October 26, 2005

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35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A tough case to crack, August 28, 2005

By	Eileen Rieback (Coral Springs, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime (Hardcover)

When Humperdinck Jehoshaphat van Dumpty, better known as Humpty Dumpty, falls off the wall once too often and is shattered beyond repair, Detective Inspector Jack Spratt and his partner Mary Mary of the Nursery Crime Division of the city of Reading are assigned the investigation. The case turns from accidental death to one of murder. Dumpty was a womanizer and con man who had been involved in a lot of shady dealings and who had lots of enemies. Jack is still stinging from not being able to bring the three little pigs to justice for their wanton murder of Mr. Wolff. He wants to shake his reputation for having a poor solve rate for his cases, so cracking the Dumpty case is important to him. How can he solve this high-profile case and prevent the maligned Nursery Crimes Division from being disbanded? How can he keep superstar Detective Friedland Chymes from stealing the investigation from him? Why was Dumpty buying up all the shares of Spongg's Footcare stock before his untimely death? And most important of all, how can the resolution of this case make good copy for a future issue of Amazing Crime Stories magazine?

Author Jasper Fforde has switched gears from his Thursday Next series to begin a new series of hard-boiled police procedurals based on Nursery Crime cases. "The Big Over Easy" has many funny moments as Fforde places familiar nursery rhyme characters in unusual situations. There are puns galore, and humorous character names such as Hercule Porridge, Miss Maple, Lord Peter Flimsey, and Winsum & Loosum. Each chapter is prefaced with an excerpt from an imaginary book that covers a literary topic in this topsy-turvy world. Examples include the Ugly Stepsisters suing fairy tale publications for defamation of character, the testing of a transmutation device that worked temporarily when it turned a pumpkin into a coach, and the banning of the use of twins as plot devices in crime stories.

Fforde parodies detective fiction and nursery rhymes in an innovative and humorous way, but the world in which the story takes place is not as well developed as that in which Thursday Next lived. It is unclear which characters are from books and which are real, if any. Adding to the confusion is the inclusion of a binary-talking extraterrestrial alien. Whether the concept of satirizing a mix of nursery rhymes and detective stories will quickly become tedious or not remains to be seen (the next in the series will feature Jack and Mary in the case of "The Fourth Bear"). But in the meanwhile, I recommend this story for fans of the Thursday Next series, since it employs Fforde's trademark British humor and is an entertaining literary spoof.

Eileen Rieback

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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Goes down easy, August 6, 2005

By	Carolyn Rampone "Carolyn D'Amico Rampone" (Plantation, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime (Hardcover)

I always had a thing against traditional nursery rhymes. I thought they were just a little too violent for their intended audience. Thankfully, Jasper Fforde had the mind to expose the seedy underbelly of Humpty Dumpty's world and the truth is finally out.
Oh, to get a peek inside of the creative and imaginative mind of Mr. Fforde.
"The Big Over Easy" is a skillful work of art and it was a pleasure to read although I did do a little too much eye-rolling.
It's a perfect summer read, full of satire, wit, and plenty to make you chuckle out loud. I loved it!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fforde does it again
Some how, Jasper Fforde seems to always be able to take the most off-the-wall ideas and turn them into compulsively readable books. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Timothy Collins

5.0 out of 5 stars So Much Fun!
This is the first book by Jasper Fford that I've ever read, although I've had many of his books on my "to read" list for a while. In any case, this is a very clever story. Read more

Published 7 months ago by Victoria

4.0 out of 5 stars Over Easy is Hard to Forget
You have to admire someone who thinks (and writes) outside the box. Jasper Fforde takes the realm of children's nursery rhymes and transforms it into a world of mystery and... Read more

Published 11 months ago by Dana Mentink

5.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Fforde's marvelous little gem.
Jasper Fforde made his name in the literary world with his very popular "Thursday Next" series of books following the eponymous heroine on a series of fantastically convoluted... Read more

Published 13 months ago by S. Curley

3.0 out of 5 stars I'll take Nursery Rhymes for $100...
Fforde just makes you think too much. There is so much nursery rhyme tie-in that it makes your head spin. It's too much to really concentrate on the story! Read more

Published 14 months ago by Smeddley

4.0 out of 5 stars A really good, funny mystery!
I first became enthralled with Jasper Fforde through "The Eyre Affair" and have read all of this books. Read more

Published 15 months ago by CRH

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't expect to solve this nursery caper on your own!
I read this book and thought it was extremely clever but I just could not bring myself to give it more than three stars. Read more

Published 15 months ago by J. Lesley

5.0 out of 5 stars You will never view Mr. Dumpty the same way again
An amazing book! Funny as all get out, and even more clever. This is a must read

Published 17 months ago by Seth H. Hock

4.0 out of 5 stars Amusing, Interesting, but a bit Short of the 'Thursday Next' Series
I picked up "The Big Over Easy" afetr having read several of the "Thursday Next" books. I do enjoy Fforde's style. Read more

Published 17 months ago by F. Chloupek

5.0 out of 5 stars Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall.....or did he?
The Big Over Easy is a tongue-in-cheek detective novel featuring Detective Jack Spratt who investigates cases for the Nursery Crime Division (NCD) in the town of Reading. Read more

Published 17 months ago by Brianna Hair Haggard

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