Fforde, Jasper – THE BIG OVER EASY

[LJ Roberts]

THE BIG OVER EASY (Fantasy Pol. Proc-London) – Ex
Fforde, Jasper – 1st in Jack Sprat/Mary Mary series

Det. Ins. Jack Spratt is the head of the Nursery Crimes Division. He gets little notice and no respect. His last case failed to get a
conviction for the Three Pigs who murdered Mr. Wolff. Now he, and his new sidekick, Mary Mary, are called to the death scene of Humpty Dumpty. It’s determined to be murder but the who and why are a case full of twists and unusual suspects.

I know some haven’t cared as much for this book as the Thursday Next series, but I disagree. It is, in some strange way, certainly more subtle but no less imaginative. Fforde has taken an alternative reality and created a traditional police procedural whose characters have family lives, jealousy, and ambition. I loved every bit of it.