The Big Over Easy Jasper Fforde Hodder & Stoughton Hbk £18.99 July 2005 Ayo Onatade

The Big Over Easy is the first in a new series by the famed author of the renowned Thursday Next series. Not content with writing about literary figures that live out there lives offstage, Fforde has now turned his eye to nursery rhymes with mixed results.

The Big Over Easy is written as a noir detective novel where nursery rhymes are part of real life and Humperdinck Jehoshaphat Aloyius Stuyvesant van Dumpty, a.k.a. Humpty Dumpty not only sat on his wall but also had a great fall, which is subsequently investigated. Welcome to the world of Detective Jack Spratt of the NCD (Nursery Crimes Division). Fresh from losing a major case in court whereby the three little pigs have been found not guilty of the first degree murder of Mr Wolff, Spratt soon finds himself partnered by the ambitious young Sergeant Mary Mary as he sets about investigating the mysterious death of Humpty Dumpty. Initially thought to be a straight case of suicide, this turns out not to be so as it soon becomes clear that Dumpty had a large number of enemies.

With The Big Over Easy Fforde, attempts to do a good job of combining a noir-like detective thriller set in a world where nursery rhymes are considered part of reality and in some way; he succeeds especially with references to Dame Agatha Christie and Detective Magazines and the not so subtle digs at the way in which mystery books are written. Nevertheless, it is as if Fforde found it hard to let go of his Thursday next series, as there are a numerous amount of references to the series in this latest book. Eagle–eyed readers will note that in The Well of Lost Plots literary detective Thursday Next vacationed in Caversham Heights. Fforde has returned to this venue, but in this case, it is in Caversham Heights were the crime takes place.

As much as I enjoyed this book, there were a couple of things that let it down. There were too many which made it a struggle to keep track of what was going on. He also does a good job of parodying detective novels but at times goes over the top in his attempts to be funny.

This is not to overlook the fact that Fforde is not merely an ingenious but inventive writer, but at times, the writing does become a bit tiresome and dreary. Despite these little quibbles, The Big Over Easy is a good read that will certainly make you laugh.