Customer Reviews
not quite to form - By: Mr. H. Jones, 21 Oct 2008 
Way better than First Among Sequels which was a disappointment. But still not quite up to scratch. I was not sure if the dialogue was tongue in cheek or just plain clunky at times, it was alll a bit to cliche'd. That said I persisted & the book trots along quite nicely without being that gripping. Some good ideas in this book just not that well executed for me.
Fantastic! Read them all!!! - By: PetShopChap, 27 Jul 2008 
Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant! Just about the best writer alive. So funny, so clever & he can get away with anything absurd. Page 319 had me crying & laughing out loud in public.
On the up! - By: Jonathan, 13 May 2008 When I read the first Nursery Crimes novel, The Big Over Easy, I was sorely disappointed. It was good, but the special spark that the Thursday Next novels had was just not there. So I approached this sequel with trepidation - however I need not have worried! This is a truly enjoyable novel - funny & exciting.
After the disappointment of the most recent Thursday Next novel, I may have to say that Fforde should stick to the Nursery Crimes series!
Simply fantastic - By: S. Lewry, 18 Nov 2007 It's quite simple: Jasper Fforde knows how to write well. That's it. All the quirky elements to his universe are secondary to his engaging & etertaining style. The fact that the universe measures up is a bonus.
I cannot wait for more from the NCD. The stories are so well crafted that it must be difficult to keep the standard high, but so far in this series, & the Thursday Next series, Fforde has not disappointed.
Original - By: Mrs. S. Payne, 01 Nov 2007 
This is the first book I have read by this author following a recommendation & I didn't reallly know what to expect. What I found was a great detective story with a lot of giggles along the way. The basic plot has been done before but never with these characters! The characters are nursery rhyme characters & I think this shows a great use of imagination by the author. My 9 year old brother picked up my book whilst I was only holiday & he couldn't believe it when I said that it was about the Gingerbread man being a mass murderer! When I had finished the book, he asked me what had happened & he seemed pleased with the end result. I think the background storylines are great with the alien policeman & the events that unfold when he brings a human home as his girlfriend to meet his parents. Also Punch & Judy living next door to Spratt works well. I would recommend this book & I now plan to read others by this author.
