The Big Over Easy (Nursery Crime #1) by Jasper Fforde

The Big Over Easy
Nursery Crime #1
Jasper Fforde

Front cover

Date read: 11 - 20 June 2019
Length: 398 pages
Published: 2005


Jack Spratt is Detective Inspector with the Nursery Crime Division of the Reading Police Force. A new Detective Sergeant is assigned to him; Mary Mary. Together they must solve the death of Humpty Stuyvesant Van Dumpty III a.k.a Humpty Dumpty. One clue leads to another, and they only have until Saturday to solve it, or the case is handed over to Jack's nemesis, Chymes. Can they solve it in time?

Dead bodies never look like this.

This is a very interesting and enjoyable book. It's as if nursery characters were alive and real in this world. Everyone knows who they are, but they're just treated as if they're regular people. That being said, these characters are not designed for children! They have very adult qualities not present in their original tellings.

I like the relationship between Jack and Mary. Mary is very apprehensive at first, not sure if she'll fit in and kind of thinks the NCD is a bit of a joke and beneath her. But the more she works with Jack and the case, she realises there's more to it than meets the eye, and actually begins to respect Jack. Jack doesn't treat Mary like he's her superior, but rather a colleague. They make a good team.

There's more to it than just a murder mystery. We learn about Jack's home life, get to know more about the not-so-innocent people of the nursery story world, and even watch a romance blossom between Jack's daughter Pandora, and Prometheus.

It's an interesting take on a crime novel, and I'm looking forward to the next one!

Overall rating

Thanks,

The Wee Librocubicularist

Dead Ice (Anita Blake #24) by Laurell K. Hamilton

Dead Ice
Anita Blake #24
Laurell K. Hamilton

Front cover

Date read: 28 May - 10 June 2019
Length: 566 pages
Published: 2015


Anita is called in by the FBI to help them with a disturbing case. Someone is making zombie porn, but that isn't the worst of it. The zombies have souls trapped inside their dead bodies with no way out. Not only does Anita need to catch the necromancer responsible, she has to find a way to lay the zombies to rest. Can she do it?

THEY DID ANOTHER ZOOMING CLOSE-UP OF THE
ZOMBIE'S EYES, AND THIS TIME THEY WEREN'T
EMPTY. THIS TIME THEY WERE TERRIFIED.

I enjoyed this story very much, it's more like the earlier Blake novels! It starts off strong, straight into the case and the mystery surrounding it. We see some old favourites like Manny and Zerbrowski. I missed the earlier days of Anita actually solving crimes and dealing with the preternatural.

The way these books have gone, I was surprised at how little sex there is in this one. This is a good thing in my opinion. We still get treated to some, and of course Anita still has a very complicated love life with all her various people, but it isn't just about that.

Of course, we can't avoid it completely. Anita is getting married to Jean-Claude, and there's things to prepare, such as the rings. Then there's having to choose another tiger to join them in the bedroom, and finding the best person suitable for another ring. 

If Dead Ice had just been about the zombie porn case, I think I would have given this book four stars. But Anita is constantly surrounded by drama and it takes away from the investigation side of the story. I understand she needs to have a personal life as well, but it's too much!

Laurell K. Hamilton

Overall rating

Thanks,

The Wee Librocubicularist

Use of Weapons (Culture #3) by Iain M. Banks

Use of Weapons
Culture #3
Iain M. Banks

Front cover

Date read: 18 - 27 May 2019
Length: 411 pages
Published: 1990


Cheradenine Zakalwe is asked by his rescuer from long ago to complete a task; break a man out of hiding and hand him over. His mind is fragile, however, and the job is not an easy one. Can he do it and retain his sanity?


Use of Weapons is slightly different in terms of how it's told from a linear perspective. There are kind of two parts to the same story, one in the present and one in the past. This is easy to follow as the chapters are named differently (ONE, TWO, THREE, etc & XIII, XII, XI, etc). It is an interesting way to do it and I think it breaks up the parts of the story well. Because of this though, I found it more difficult to pin point a brief synopsis, so what is above is a very poor attempt and doesn't do the book justice. Sorry!

The characters are all likeable, which I find rare in a book these days. Usually there's at least one character that I dislike, but not here. I even like the drone, although it still has an unreasonably long name!

The plot twist and the end is good! It is mainly for this reason that I had a hard time deciding between 3 or 4 stars for the rating, although I just felt that the book genuinely got better nearer the end. But I had to base it on the whole book and not just the last third or so.


Very much looking forward to continuing the series.

Iain M. Banks

Overall rating

Thanks,
The Wee Librocubicularist