The Big Over Easy (2005)

by Jasper Fforde

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Nursery Crime (1)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
5,433	179	1,469	(3.87)	315
Detective Jack Spratt, recently unable to convict three wily pigs in he murder of a certain wolf, meets the challenge of a new case when Humpty Dumpty is found shattered to death beneath a wall in a shady part of town.

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80
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde (FMRox)
FMRox: This book includes the characters from The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde as a mild developing plot.
20
Fables, Vol. 01: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham (TomWaitsTables)
21
Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch (souloftherose)
souloftherose: It's difficult to explain this recommendation without giving spoilers to one or other of the books. There were certain plot elements to Rivers of London/Midnight Riots which made me think of The Big Over Easy. And both books have a well-developed sense of humour.… (more)
10
Last Tango in Aberystwyth by Malcolm Pryce (LittleKnife)
LittleKnife: Both mysteries with offbeat humour set around real places in the UK
21
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (jonathankws)
10
The Case of the Little Bloody Slipper by Carlie St. George (Euryale)
00
The Shootout Solution by Michael R. Underwood (amanda4242)
11
Amberville by Tim Davys (wisemetis)
12
Who's Afraid of Beowulf? by Tom Holt (Dr.Science)
Dr.Science: The English author Tom Holt is relatively unknown in America, but very popular in England. If you enjoy Jasper Fforde or Christopher Moore you will most certainly enjoy Tom Holt's wry sense of English humor and the absurd. He has written a number of excellent books including Expecting Someone Taller, and Flying Dutch, but they may be difficult to find at your library or bookstore.… (more)
01
The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin (meggyweg)

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English (177) Dutch (1) All languages (178)

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Showing 1-5 of 177 (next | show all)

I had forgotten that these are in the same Thursday Next universe. I chuckled and finished it but it didn't sweep me along. The ultimate cause of death in the whodunnit was very good. (

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Je9 | Aug 10, 2021 |

Humpty Dumpty is murdered and Jack Spratt and Mary Mary solve the case

ritaer | Jul 17, 2021 |

Really, really funny and clever. Takes you back to all the nursery rhymes you knew as a child.

So intelligent. So funny. It weaves the speculative in with the real world of detectives in such clever ways. (

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CarolBurrows | Jun 7, 2021 |

Absolutely bloody fantastic. Best thing I've read this year. (

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wetdryvac | Mar 2, 2021 |

Very fun...I really just enjoyed this book

Just as a caution for more sensitive readers...this contained about my tolerance level for swearing (lots of s@*t dropped) and the murdered body description were somewhat graphic. (

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mcsp | Jan 25, 2021 |

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thingScore 81

[W]hile Thursday Next was a detective and Jack Spratt is a detective, the feel and the tone of this particular, new homage is totally different, new, and a lot of fun.

added by Katya0133 | editFantasy & Science Fiction, Michelle West (Feb 1, 2006)

The wildly imaginative Fforde delights in satirizing the clichés of detective fiction.

added by Katya0133 | editLibrary Journal, Michael Adams (Nov 15, 2005)

His self-styled "daft novels" are not for the lazy brained but for the actively engaged reader, one who knows the secret pleasures of a word puzzle and can draw on a lifetime of literature.

added by Katya0133 | editUSA Today, Anita Sama (Jul 28, 2005)

Outrageous satirical agility is his stock in trade: Mr. Fforde has made that clear in a string of literary parodies that pry well-known characters loose from their native novels and plays.

added by Katya0133 | editNew York Times, Janet Maslin (Jul 22, 2005)

Full of allusions and puns on detective fiction and nursery rhymes, Fforde's fifth novel and first in a new series is good fun for all fiction collections. Highly recommended.

added by Katya0133 | editLibrary Journal, Devon Thomas (Jul 1, 2005)

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▾Other authors

» Add other authors (4 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Fforde, Jasper	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Gauld, Tom	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Prebble, Simon	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Thomas, Mark	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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Nursery Crime (1)

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Canonical title

The Big Over Easy

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2005

People/Characters

Important places

Reading, Berkshire, England, UK

Important events

Related movies

Awards and honors

Gumshoe Award nominee (European Crime Novel ∙ 2006)

Reading Agency Mood Boosting Books (2012)

Lefty nominee (Humorous Mystery ∙ 2006)

Epigraph

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king's horses
And all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
—Traditional

Dedication

For my brother Mathew,
whose love of the absurd—
and the profound—
enlightened my childhood

First words

It was the week following Easter in Reading, and no one could remember the last sunny day.

Quotations

And she was from Basingstoke, which is nothing to be ashamed of.

If it weren't for greed, intolerance, hate, passion and murder, you would have no works of art, no great buildings, no medical science, no Mozart, no Van Gough, no Muppets and no Louis Armstrong.

Mr. Pewter led them through to a library, filled with thousands of antiquarian books.
'Impressive, eh?'
'Very,' said Jack. 'How did you amass all these?'
'Well,' said Pewter, 'You know the person who always borrows books and never gives them back?'
'Yes...?'
'I'm that person.

Try to be pleasant to one another, get plenty of fresh air, read a good book now and then, depose your government when it suspends the free press, try to use the mechanism of the state to adjudicate fairly and employ diplomatic means wherever possible to avoid armed conflict.

Father liked word games. He was fourteen times world Scrabble champion. When he died, we buried him at Queenzieburn to make use of the triple word score

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Maslin, Janet

Original language

English

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

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File:Cover of The big over easy.jpg

The Big Over Easy

▾Book descriptions

Detective Jack Spratt, recently unable to convict three wily pigs in he murder of a certain wolf, meets the challenge of a new case when Humpty Dumpty is found shattered to death beneath a wall in a shady part of town.

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