Yet again I almost missed the new Jasper Fforde because nobody told me it was out. Well, no matter, a quick nip into town to get my hands on The Big Over Easy and a few happy hours reading and ah… Brilliant as usual, Fforde has a new hero this time, called Jack Spratt, head of the Nursery Crime Divison at Reading. Which is all good, both Spratt and his new partner Mary Mary (who isn’t so contrary as you might have expected, though she’s having a hard time ditching a guy called Arnold) are both interesting and I’m already looking forward to their next appearance. I just hope Fforde hasn’t gived up on Thursday Next entirely, as I’d at least like to se her get her husband back, but I am not going to moan, I realise authors need variety and if we all clamour too much for our favorites return they may end up doing drastic things, like killing them off (it been done several times in the past, you know). And as long as Ffforde keeps on turning out excellent stuff like this, I can’t see any real reason for complaint. Oh, and if you wondered: Yes, the literary references are flying thick and hard in this one, too, though I find I may need to brush up on the nursery literature, it’s been a while.