The beloved fantasy series comes full circle in the fourth adventure of literary detective Thursday Next...

Detective Thursday Next has had her fill of her responsibilities as the Bellman in Jurisfiction, enough with Emperor Zhark's pointlessly dramatic entrances, outbreaks of slapstick raging across pulp genres, and hacking her hair off to fill in for Joan of Arc. Packing up her son, Friday, Thursday returns to Swindon accompanied by none other than the dithering Danish prince Hamlet. Caring for both is more than a full-time job and Thursday decides it is definitely time to get her husband Landen back, if only to babysit. Luckily, those responsible for Landen's eradication, The Goliath Corporation — formerly an oppressive multinational conglomerate, now an oppressive multinational religion — have pledged to right the wrong.

But returning to SpecOps isn't a snap. When outlaw fictioneer Yorrick Kaine seeks to get himself elected dictator, he whips up a frenzy of anti-Danish sentiment and demands mass book burnings. The return of Swindon's patron saint bearing divine prophecies could spell the end of the world within five years, possibly faster if the laughably terrible Swindon Mallets don't win the Superhoop, the most important croquet tournament in the land. And if that's not bad enough, The Merry Wives of Windsor is becoming entangled with Hamlet. Can Thursday find a Shakespeare clone to stop this hostile takeover? Can she prevent the world from plunging into war? Can she vanquish Kaine before he realizes his dream of absolute power? And, most important, will she ever find reliable child care? Find out in this totally original, action-packed romp, sure to be another escapist thrill for Jasper Fforde's growing legion of fans.

"Welsh writer Fforde's fourth entry in the zany, hypercreative Thursday Next detective series revisits the 'Literary Detective' as she retreats to her hometown of Swindon, England, retiring from the tedious job (as Head of Jurisfiction) she held in Fforde's previous novel, The Well of Lost Plots. Joined by her two-year-old son, Friday, pet dodos Pickwick and Alan, and Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, Thursday realizes that there's someone missing: her husband, Landen, previously 'eradicated' by the Goliath Corporation, a ruthless bio-tech conglomerate corporation. She wants Landen back. Aided by her father, she is reinstated into her old employ, the Special Operations Network, and begins investigating the machinations of power-hungry Fictioneer Yorrick Kaine and the mysterious disappearance of England's president. The fate of the world rests on the outcome of a major croquet tournament, with Thursday pinch-hitting on a lethal playing field as Landen is finally returned to reality (only to fade out again). More than a little wacky, the novel is packed with screwball details as characters get 'written' in and out of the story, hybridized creatures stalk malls and Shakespeare clones start popping up everywhere. With humorous illustrations and curious footnotes sprinkled throughout, Fforde's latest will have hardcore fans roaring — but those new to the series might want to tackle the convoluted mayhem from the very beginning. Agent, Eric Simonoff. 5-city author tour. (Aug.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Mr. Fforde's penchant for plotting knows no bounds, nor does his taste for awful puns...and his occasional silly streak....It's easy to be delighted by a writer who loves books so madly..." Janet Maslin, The New York Times

"A novel in which anything can happen and no line of dialogue is too absurd....Bibliophiles will delight in the busy hodgepodge of literary references." Carmela Ciuraru, The Los Angeles Times

"[I]mpressive, and arguably Fforde's best work to date. It is a compliment to the author's skill and creativity that his humor remains fresh and his central character gains depth." Robin Vidimos, Denver Post

"Fforde delivers a potently political tale that tips its feathered cap at the coming election in America....Fforde is a tireless, almost manic creative spirit, and Something Rotten contains a new host of fantasy inventions..." John Freeman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

"[N]ot as funny as its predecessors." Washington Post

Two years after Thursday Next's Ultraworld adventure, the now ex-head of Jurisfiction returns home. But the Swindon to which Thursday returns is not the one she left, for something is rotten in the state of England.

Jasper Fforde is the author of The Well of Lost Plots, Lost in a Good Book, and The Eyre Affair, the first three books in the Thursday Next fantasy/detective series.