The Big Over Easy

A Nursery Crime

By: Jasper Fforde

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Jasper Fforde's bestselling Thursday Next series has delighted readers of every genre with its literary derring-do and brilliant flights of fancy. In The Big Over Easy, Fforde takes a break from classic literature and tumbles into the seedy underbelly of nursery crime. Meet Inspector Jack Spratt, family man and head of the Nursery Crime Division. He's investigating the murder of ovoid D-class nursery celebrity Humpty Dumpty, found shattered to death beneath a wall in a shabby area of town. Yes, the big egg is down, and all those brittle pieces sitting in the morgue point to foul play.
Read Jasper Fforde's posts in the Penguin Blog

Critic reviews

"A wonderfully readable riot . . . [A] cleverly plotted, magically overstuffed yet amazingly digestible book . . . This summer's perfect beach read for eggheads." —The Wall Street Journal

"As if the Marx brothers were let loose in the children's section of a strange bookstore." —USA Today

"Pythonesque . . . Like the Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket books, this one is abundantly playful without being truly geared for children. Anyone who has ever been read a nursery rhyme . . . can appreciate Mr. Fforde's outlandish joking." —Janet Maslin, The New York Times

UNIQUELY ENTERTAINING

I thought this was a delightful listen all the way through. I realize that it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if you have a taste for the absurd you should try it. Tuesday Next is one of my favorite series and the Nursery Crimes are just as fun. I eagerly await "The Fourth Bear" which will come out next summer. The narrator was perfect.

Comedic Genius

A friend introduced me to Jasper Fforde. I loved this book and laughed the whole way through. The narrator was amazing, too.

Great, easy listen

Would you listen to The Big Over Easy again? Why?

yes, fun to listen to.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes, it kept putting in new twitsts

What does Simon Prebble bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I love the accent and his great reading.

Not your average fairy tale

I've been a Jasper Fforde fan for years, and although this series isn't (yet) as good as his early Tuesday Next stuff, not much in the world is. I like how he treats children's characters in a different and definitely adult way. The "turn of phrase" Fforde is famous for isn't quite as evident, but he's managed to entwine, twist and turn the plots of quite a few children's stories into an engaging and complex "whodunnitandhow". Kudos to Prebble for not chuckling over the absurdities while he's reading them.

a little long winded

there is so much going on in this that i'm sure I missed many of the tongue in cheek references. but it was still a good deal of fun.