Punny Side up

I recently finished Jasper Fjord's latest book, The Big Over-Easy: A Nursery Crime. The book is set in the world that his Thursday Next series resides in. It was apparently his first book, and his editor told him that no one would understand it without some back story.

The editor was right. I have read all the Thursday Next books and this one still had moments when I thought, "The Hell?"

However, in the end I liked it. It had his usual play on words (if you couldn't tell from the title), literature and life, all of which keep the book moving along well with humor.

The book is about Jack Spratt, a literary detective specializing in nursery crimes. This particular caper is about the death/murder of Humpty Dumpty. The murder mystery is nothing spectacular - typical suspects etc. This is intentional though, the literary detectives in this series all must follow certain guidelines for their cases and clues.

Anyway, it's a fun book, but not for those that haven't read the rest of his series. You may still enjoy it, but I guarantee you'll have no idea what's going on. I do recommend the others though (The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book and Something Rotten).