The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime

Fforde, Jasper

ISBN 10: 0143057707 ISBN 13: 9780143057703

Publisher: Penguin Audio, 2005

Synopsis

Unconvinced that a former convict and millionaire philanthropist has been murdered by his suicide-victim ex-wife, detective inspector Jack Spratt and his assistant, Mary Mary, battle internal politics while uncovering a plot involving money laundering, bullion smuggling, and asylum-seeking titans. By the author of The Eyre Affair.

About this title

Reviews

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.
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Humpty Dumpty falls to his death. DI Jack Spratt and his new partner DS Mary Mary, of the Nursery Crimes Division, are called to investigate. It seems "Hump" was an unsavory egg, and murder suspects include cuckolded husbands, jilted lovers, ex-wives, and sleazy business partners. Golden Voiced Simon Prebble delivers this NOIR nursery-spoof-police-procedural with Python-esque deadpan. His characterizations are inspired bits of insanity, including witnesses Willie Winkie, who suffers from narcolepsy, and Mrs. Hubbard, whose poor dogs never get any bones. Anagrams, puns, palindromes, and allusions run riot in this laugh-out-loud tomfoolery. Prebble's delicious performance adds just the right spice to Jasper Fforde's fluffy omelette. For listeners who like their silliness literate, with a twist. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Audio
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0143057707
• ISBN 13: 9780143057703
• Binding: Audio CD