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Other titles in the Nursery Crime series:

  1. The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime

The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime (Nursery Crime)

by Jasper Fforde

The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime (Nursery Crime) Cover

ISBN13: 9780670037728
ISBN10: 0670037729
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
All Product Details

Only 1 left in stock at $6.95!

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Jack Spratt and Mary Mary return in their second adventure from the inimitable Jasper Fforde.

Five years ago, Viking introduced Jasper Fforde and his upsidedown, inside-out literary crime masterpieces. And as they move from Thursday Next to Jack Spratt's Nursery Crimes, his audience is insatiable and growing. Now, with The Fourth Bear, Jack Spratt and Mary Mary take on their most dangerous case so far as a murderous cookie stalks the streets of Reading.

The Gingerbreadman — psychopath, sadist, genius, and killer — is on the loose. But it isn't Jack Spratt's case. He and Mary Mary have been demoted to Missing Persons following Jack's poor judgment involving the poisoning of Mr. Bun the baker. Missing Persons looks like a boring assignment until a chance encounter leads them into the hunt for missing journalist Henrietta Goldy Hatchett, star reporter for The Daily Mole. Last to see her alive? The Three Bears, comfortably living out a life of rural solitude in Andersen's wood.

But all is not what it seems. How could the bears' porridge be at such disparate temperatures when they were poured at the same time? Why did Mr. and Mrs. Bear sleep in separate beds? Was there a fourth bear? And if there was, who was he, and why did he try to disguise Goldy's death as a freak accident?

Jack answers all these questions and a few others besides, rescues Mary Mary from almost certain death, and finally meets the Fourth Bear and the Gingerbreadman face-to-face.

Review:

"Like The Big Over Easy (2005), Fforde's first Nursery Crime novel, this sequel offers literary allusions, confusions and gentle satire, though, again like its predecessor, it lacks the snap of the author's Thursday Next series (The Eyre Affair, etc.). Jack Spratt, DCI of the Nursery Crime Division of the Reading Police Department, is also a PDR (Person of Dubious Reality), as are most of the characters Jack deals with, including the Gingerbreadman, a notorious killer, and Punch and Judy, a violence prone couple who are also marriage counselors. An alien policeman named Ashley, talking bears, a devoted group of cucumber-growing enthusiasts and an immensely powerful company, Quang Tech, add spice. All are grist for Fforde, whose word play runs the gamut from puns to shaggy dog stories. The Gingerbreadman's on the loose, Goldilocks is missing and Jack's once again persona non grata at headquarters. As Jack and his associates 'bring justice to the nursery world,' they also cast a Swiftian eye on corporate hubris, race relations, the drug trade and myriad other targets." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"The Fourth Bear turns out to be a surprisingly cool-eyed glance at the human condition disguised as a witty, typically British entertainment whose elaborately cantilevered plot even includes a McGuffin." Los Angeles Times

Review:

"[B]rilliantly, breathlessly odd." USA Today

Review:

"Fforde is a writer of extreme creativity with a well-honed sense of humor and a fondness for clever wordplay." Denver Post

Review:

"Chock-a-block with puns, literary allusions, groan-worthy asides, and playful dismantling of the police procedural...The Fourth Bear will appeal to fans of whimsy, silliness, or plain old nonsense." Booklist

Review:

"Great fun." Library Journal

Synopsis:

In the second adventure by the bestselling author of the Thursday Next novels, "nursery crime" characters Jack Spratt and Mary Mary take on their most dangerous case so far, as a murderous cookie (The Gingerbread Man) menaces the streets of Reading.

About the Author

Jasper Fforde is the author of the bestselling Thursday Next series. The Fourth Bear is the second novel of Fforde's new Nursery Crime series.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
A R Pickett, December 22, 2006 (view all comments by A R Pickett)
Let's see - anthropomorphic bears; atomic cold fusion involving a strain of cucumbers; a theme park recreating the WW One Battle of the Somme; a psychopathic gingerbread man; outsourcing the tooth fairy; porridge and honey regulated as controlled substances; a car which has uncanny things in common with the portrait of Dorian Gray; planning a wedding and trying to decide which Greek god properly belongs on the guest list; Mrs. Danvers (the characterization enacted by Anna Massey) lately of Manderley working as a government investigator; and characters who know perfectly well they are in a book and discuss which plot device to use next.

As with other books preceding this one, Fforde manages to present a decent police procedural in spite of it all.

A lot of fun!
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(6 of 10 readers found this comment helpful)
missnikkaphon, December 20, 2006 (view all comments by missnikkaphon)
Jasper Fforde is incredibly clever, and with this book the Nursery Crime series really seems to have gotten itself off the ground. His different plot lines never get confused - but when you try to retell them, it becomes apparent that there is a lot going on, and most of it is patently ridiculous. His telling of the story is simple to follow without being simplistic - ideas and details which often would get lost in explanation (and such things are abundant) are instead mentioned casually, as though we're all reasonably familiar with blue aliens who speak binary. The world of his characters is as vivid as any author's depiction of our own. The combination of all these factors makes this book a fantastic read.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780670037728
Subtitle:
A Nursery Crime
Author:
Fforde, Jasper
Publisher:
Viking Books
Subject:
Humorous
Subject:
Nursery rhymes
Subject:
Fairy Tales, Folklore & Mythology
Subject:
Folklore
Series:
Nursery Crime
Publication Date:
August 2006
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
378
Dimensions:
8.56x5.84x1.28 in. 1.14 lbs.

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