What a complete delight of a story!!! I really enjoyed this book and thought it very creative. Humpty Dumpty stole the show but Jack and his supporting cast were a pleasure. Highly recommend

This was pretty fun. It was funny and an easy read. I do feel a bit like it would have been way more funny if I had a better understanding of 80's, 90's, and early 2000's British culture.

Going into The Big Over Easy, I was a little bit afraid that I wouldn't enjoy it as much as the Thursday Next series; the latter relies on knowledge of classical works of literature to make it fun (though I'm sure it's still fun to read it without any of that knowledge, I know that your fun is greatly enhanced the more you know about the Bröntes and Shakespeare and Austen), and it seemed to me that the former would rely on knowledge of nursery rhymes. Now, being Dutch, I don't know that much about English nursery rhymes, and I am sure I missed some references. However, The Big Over Easy uses a lot more than nursery rhymes alone; mythological figures and characters from fairy tales also make an appearance, which made it all very understandable and fun.

I think that, should you wish to start with Jasper Fforde but not want to commit to an 8-book-series à la his fantastic Thursday Next Series, this book is a good way to start. It's fun, has a clever plot, and is just massively entertaining in general.

In these trying times, I'd advise everyone to read some Jasper Fforde. His books are funny and clever and uplifting, which is just what we need now that there's a global pandemic.

3.5 stars

A fun installment in its own right, just didn't grab me the way Thursday did. Guess that means I'm more partial to classic literature than to nursery rhymes. Jasper's wit still shines, and I laughed out loud multiple times.

This is my first experience with Jasper Fforde and I have to say I really enjoyed this book. I read this story out loud to my children. A few parts I said "kissing" instead of you know what. Overall very enjoyable, especially if you are old enough to know all the nursery rhymes. I grew up reading Mother Goose, so I knew them all. My 13 year old unfortunately skipped that book on his shelf teehee. I had to read the rhymes so he would know where the characters came from.

If you didn't read the synopsis this book is about Humpty Dumpty's murder. Jack Spratt is the main inspector of the NCD (Nursery Crime Division) and the NCD is about to go out of business. In this world, Amazing Crime Stories is where it's at. If you are a policeman and you want any clout with the media you have to have solved a very high profile crime and have it written in Amazing Crime Stories. Jack is a straight shooter and follows the rules unlike his ex-partner Chymes. Jack's new partner Mary Mary.... is still iffy on where she has been placed. Her heart is set on being apart of The Guild which is a group of very "popular" policeman.

I loved trying to figure out who killed Humpty and of course to see all the nursery rhyme characters. If you like reading whacky re-tellings, if you like nursery rhymes and such, if you like mystery crime books, you'll definitely like this one.

This was the first time I've read a Jasper Fforde book. In the past I've always dismissed them (judging by their covers and blurbs only) as being little more than a terribly clever string of puns, thrown together into a loose-and-probably-not-very-engaging plot. A gimmick, in other words.

Then my wife told me to read 'The Big Over Easy'.

Basically, it's a terribly clever string of puns, thrown together. But the plot is in no way loose or unengaging. Neither are the characters. The writing is polished, the attention to genre detail impeccable, and the humour throughout the book is laugh-out-loud funny on more than one occasion.

This was the first time I've read a Jasper Fforde book. It won't be the last.

In case you were worried: No, Jasper Fforde has not run out of weird, twisted things to do to defenseless Literature.

Jack Spratt, his second wife, and their five children (two his, two hers, one theirs) are living happily in Reading, England. Well, reasonably happily. Jack, a policeman, has the dubious honor of being the head of the Nursery Crimes unit. He and his tiny unit believe in the importance of their jobs, but no one else does. And they've just experienced the embarrassing, and more importantly, budgetarily inconvenient, failure to convict the three pigs for the murder of the wolf. As icing on the cake, Jack's old rival, Friedland Chymes, has just wrapped up yet another big case, and is yet again basking in the glow of favorable publicity and departmental approval.

But, on the positive side, DI Jack Spratt has a new assistant, DS Mary Mary, who just transferred to Reading fro Basingstoke—in the hope of working with Friedland Chymes. It's her ambition to be Official Sidekick to the great detective, writing up—and featuring prominently in—the great detective's adventures as recounted in Amazing Crime Stories. Instead she finds herself working with Jack—not even a member of the Guild!

They quickly find themselves investigating the death of one of the many nursery characters residing in Reading, Humpty Stuyvesant van Dumpty, former teacher, millionaire, philanthropist, ex-convict, and egg about town. His death initially appears to be a suicide, but Jack and Mary make sure they cover all the bases, and discover that Humpty was shot, apparently by his ex-wife, who subsequently shoots herself. But something's wrong here, and they can't let it go.

Jack, especially, can't let it go, when Friedland Chymes decides that he wants the case, and pulls out all stops in his efforts to force Jack to hand over the investigation. Jack quickly finds himself caught in the tangles of a plot involving money-laundering, smuggling, and bio-terrorism, while at home he's dealing with magic beans, beanstalks, his own unfortunate reputation for killing giants, and his new boarder, Prometheus. (Yes, of course that Prometheus; he's escaped and has applied for asylum, to the great annoyance of Zeus.)

The Big Over Easy, like the later Tuesday Next books, has the advantage of being an outright fantasy world, rather than slapdash science fiction. And while some of the names, like Mary Mary's, are a bit sillier than they need to be, it's all in keeping with the nursery-rhyme backdrop, rather than the apparent pre-adolescent desire to get a reaction that seemed to inspire some names in the Tuesday Next books, such as Jack Schitt. The invention here is more firmly in the zany fun category, with few lapses into "silly enough to be annoying."

(While Tuesday Next and her family, friends, and enemies are neither seen nor heard from, this is apparently set in the same world, and some of the minor characters, most notably Lola Vavoom, do make appearances.)

Good, light summer fun reading.

This was fairly clever and definitely entertaining. The mystery itself was fleshed out just enough to keep it all interesting, but I suppose that's only the secondary point of reading this. It's just enjoyable to read about the characters and the world. The author writes well, without using cliches (unless it's intentional with a wink) or repetition. It was nice for a fun read with an occasional giggle or gasp.

Fforde is one of the few authors who can make me audibly chuckle.

I didn't like this quite as much as the Thursday Next series, but still good.

I’ve recently become enamored with Jasper Fforde’s books after starting the Thursday Next series, and I’m very glad the Nursery Crimes were brought to my attention as well. This was a really fun book that didn’t take itself too seriously, how could it when investigating the possible murder of Humpty Dumpty when he fell from a wall? It’s such a funny concept, to incorporate these classic fictional characters into a mystery, and it worked so well. My only real issue was that the ending was incredibly convoluted, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the mystery was solved in like 4 layers in the last 20 pages or so. It was very abrupt, but I did enjoy it.

What a brilliant book! I've read and loved a few Jasper Fforde novels over the years and this definitely lived up to expectations.

First of all as a reader, you must totally suspend your disbelief and immerse yourself in a world which is populated by nursery rhyme characters. Having done so, you are free to enjoy the cozy murder mystery in which DI Jack Spratt of the Nursery Crimes Division of the Reading police force is investigating the suspicious death of enormous egg and serial womaniser, Humpty Dumpty.

The book is superbly paced and the plot is full of twists and turns, but Jack and his small team (which includes a blue alien) get there in the end. It's also a very 'British' book and to fully appreciate all the references you need to know your nursery rhymes and fairy tales.

Recommended for lovers of murder mysteries, whacky humour and literary references.