Cute little “nursery rhyme” of sorts.

This is the first book in the Nursery Crimes series and I wasn’t quite sure if I liked this book to begin with but after a few chapters I was hooked.

DI Jack Spratt is not having the best time of it. His recent case was a failure when the Three Little Pigs didn’t go down for the murder of the Big Bad Wolf and his current case is the death of the good guy is Humpty Stuyvesant Van Dumpty. What should have been an open and shut case turns into a murder mystery with intrigue covered with conspiracy. Jack along with his new colleague Mary Mary risk their lives to find out the truth.

I give this book

Oh my gosh! The Big Over Easy (Nursery Crime #1) by Jasper Fforde was so much fun. I loved the tone and world of this story. It's very much Who Framed Roger Rabbit meets The Eyre Affair, Once Upon A Time, and Humpty Dumpty Jr.: Hardboiled Detective which I really appreciated. I don't know about you, but I really needed this. I need to continue thus series asap.

Funny as all hell. I know some folks only know his Tuesday next series but his Jack Sprat Nursery Crime series is absolutely the funniest thing ever, I dare you not to love this series. Ths one of course has to do with the death of Humpty Dumpty as investigated by Jack Sprat. There is alot of nursery humor and puns out the wazoo and the conclusion will have you giggling as well as just being flabbergasted. READ IT NOW DAMMIT!!!

So much fun - I loved the witty takes on fairy-tale characters and the mystery itself was well-done, too. I'll definitely be reading others in this series.

Jasper Fforde, lover of slapstick and absurdity has another winner with this series of Nursery Rhyme crimes. Many of your favourite nursery rhyme character will appear in this humorous tale of the demise of big egg and womaniser Humpty Dumpty who fell off a wall - or was he pushed or shot or drugged or poisoned?

Jack Spratt who likes his bacon lean and has accidently killed several giants (although he claims three of them were just very tall men) is an Inspector in the Nursery Crimes Division where he has solved many important cases but had the credit stolen by the popular Detective Friedland Chymes whose many cases have been published in "Amazing Crime Stories" the number one crime magazine. With his side kick Mary Mary Jack sets out to investigate the sudden death of Humpty Dumpty, along the way interviewing his neighbour Willie Winkie, Giorgio Porgia, a corrupt criminal and Tom Thomm, son of a flautist. The plot thickens when rival footcare companies, Spongg Industries and Winsum and Losum come onto the scene and it is discovered that Humpty may have been involved in an evil plan.

Lots of fun with many inventive names and scenarios. To my mind not as good yet as the Thursday Next series but worth looking at further episodes.

Outstanding! This may be my next book club recommendation. Being a mom of a toddler makes it even more amusing - especially when reading Mother Goose before bedtime. I normally avoid mysteries but I highly recommend this one.

Despite the dry and everpresent humor, it still wasn't hard to come up with my favorite paragraph:

ALIENS BORING, REPORT SHOWS
An official report confirms what most of us have already suspected: that the alien visitors who arrived unexpectedly on the planet four years ago are not particularly bright, nor interesting. The thirteen-page government document describes our interstellar chums as being "dull" and "unable to plan long-term." The report, which has been compiled from citizenship application forms and interview transcripts, paints a picture of a race who are "prone to put high importance on inconsequential minutiae" and are "easily distracted from important issues." On an entirely separate note, the aliens were reported to be merging into human society far better than has been expected-the reason for this is unclear.
-Extract from The Owl, June 4, 2001

07/15: Finished it today. So damn funny, if you like puns and referential literary humor and British mysteries. Simultaneously a romp (yes, a romp!) through nursery rhymes and fairy tales, while sending up the ridiculousness of both old-school murder mysteries and modern-day police procedurals. Recommended to anyone who likes mysteries and fairy tales. Will definitely be checking out the next one from the library in short order.

07/14: Halfway through. Can't wait to finish. If Wales were not so very far away, I'd be leaving offerings at Mr. Fforde's door, I think. I have laughed out loud several times and giggled many times more.

07/12: I have only read the first chapter of this, and I am already in love, purely because of the pun involving the history of Reading.

I had high hopes for this book since I love silly humor, puns, and word play-related humor. It seemed like it would be right up my alley, so much so that I rubbed my hands in anticipation of reading it. Unfortunately, the book fell flat and I ended up abandoning it a hundred or so pages into it.

The story wasn't as clever or witty as I thought it would be and the characters were not very compelling. There were moments that did make me laugh, such as the report on the retirement party for the locked room mystery that was interrupted by the murder of the locked room mystery - in a locked room of course. But generally, the story came across like the author was either trying too hard to amuse or laughing at his own cleverness as he was writing.

I found myself easily distracted and all too willing to put the book aside to move on to other things. I really wanted to love this book, but I just couldn't even muster up a like. With a stack of fresh titles from the library waiting on my shelf to be read, I decided to throw in the towel and return this one.

Very entertaining murder mystery with great characters and a lot of dry, British humor. Picking out all the literary references was fun, and I liked the little news blurbs at the beginning of each chapter (favorite, of course, had to be the Elsinore Tatler’s report of the suspicious death of Polonius that was being investigated by DI Dogberry). There were only a few fairy tales I didn’t recognize that may just have been more exclusively British/European.

Also really loved Jack’s dynamics with his wife and kids. So many detectives have to be broody womanizers, so it was a refreshing change of pace to get a good guy who adores his family and has no romantic or sexual tension with his young, female partner. I was holding my breath for a gross adultery subplot that mercifully never came. Yay for stable marriages and platonic male-female friendships!

This was hard for me to love at first. I knew it was trying to be funny, but I kept taking it too seriously. Previous to chapter 16 I was prepared to write this review: "Didn't like it as much as I wanted to." After my husband explained the nursery rhyme that was meant to be the heading to chapter 19, I lightened up and found myself laughing as I had hoped at the beginning. It's a bit like a Monty Python movie... or Zoolander... the first time it just seems like stupidity... but then you find yourself laughing when you look back on it. The ending was fun. I started the second one a few weeks ago. I'll pick it up now with less trepidation.

I loved it! This was a cute story...Jack Spratt & Mary Mary investigating Humpty Dumpty great fall a accident or murder....ooohhhhh. A lot of nursery rhyme character in this... some parts of the story were predictable but I enjoyed it. Good Fun Read.