The Big Over Easy
by Jasper FfordeBook 1 of Nursery Crimes
~ Goodreads ~
Any subsequent updates I decide to make will be added to the top of each new repost.
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| Halloween Bingo 2018 |
Progress on 10/7/2018: 115 of 383 pages (30%)
First there was The Strand, the original magazine for which Dr. Watson so painstakingly penned all Holmes adventures. Following Sherlock's retirement The Strand went through a sticky patch and was relaunched in 1931 under the title True Detection Monthly and featured Guild of Detectives stalwart Hercule Porridge and newcomer Miss Maple. The summer of 1936 saw both these characters abscond to the newly formed Real Detective Magazine. Lord Peter Flimsey and Father Broom, however, favored Extraordinary Detecting Feats, which folded after two issues, to be replaced by Sleuth Illustrated. The end of the "golden era" saw a shaking up of the true-crime franchise, and Real Detective, Astounding Police, Remarkable Crime, and Popular Sleuthing merged into Amazing Crime Stories, which is now regarded as the world leader in true-crime adventure.
hehe This book is turning out quite addictive, though I must admit that it's taking a little more time to pick up than I was hoping. Of course, the investigation is going forward. And I can see why we need to spend so much time sort of "introducing" the world, since a lot of it is quite hard to keep up with.
As far as I can tell, it's not how well you solve a criminal case, but how much sensational story-telling value the case has that's the breadwinner for each detective.
I'm also suspecting some inter-office corruption or some sort of conspiracy going on that may or may not involve the over-arrogant DCI Chymes... but that's just my interpretation. Poor Jack Spratt will have to watch his back for the time being, I fear.
Progress on 9/8/2018: 5 of 383 pages (1%)
Briggs drummed his fingers on the desk for a moment.
"Do you want to hear me play the trombone?"
"Might it be prejudicial to my career if I were to refuse?"
"It's a distinct possibility."
"Then I'd be delighted."
Okay, so call me immature, but for some reason, after reading this passage, the first thing I thought about was, "Wow, that escalated fast!"
Okay, so maybe my mind was in the gutter, and maybe I somehow connected trombone with some strange... euphemism... for other things. After all, Mary Mary is interviewing for a new position with Briggs as her superior... and the whole trombone thing just kind of came out of nowhere. O.o
Anyway, don't mind me. Moving right along.
This is my first foray into Jasper Fforde, and I've heard and read a lot of great things about his Thursday Next books, of which are also on my TBR for some day. So I'm kind of glad that this book was listed as an approved suggestion in the Halloween Bingo 2018 - Modern Noir reading list! While I'm not very familiar with the 'noir' genre, I'm also not sure I was up for hardcore 'noir,' especially reading about what kinds of elements populate it. And also because I might be remembering the chaos that was our 2017 Halloween Bingo buddy read for Classic Noir.
Anyway, off I go, starting a whole new book before finishing the other three!
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