The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime

Book Description

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.

Customer Reviews:

screwed up a few bed time stories.......2007-10-01

so, nursery rhymes used to be something that mommy used to read to me, and once i learned to read, i'd read on my own. and they always seemed so inocent, but then i learned what "ring around the rosies" really meant.

this book takes it a step further. now, mamma bear is cheating on pappa bear, goldylocks dies a horrible death, and mary mary, quite contrary, is a police detective.

it's a fun book. puts an odd spin on the childhood memories.

What really happened to Goldilocks?.......2007-09-02

Fforde continues his Nursery Crime series with an investigation into the fate of Goldilocks. A great take-off on a great nursery tale. Along the way, Detective Inspector Jack Spratt struggles with his identity, and he and Detective Sergeant Mary Mary both learn a lot about their relationships. The book contains plenty of literary allusions, humor, and mystery, and just the right amount of "depth."

Great book!.......2007-08-23

This was a terrifically funny book. Jasper Fforde outdid himself with this one. This was much funnier than his first Nursery Crimes book. I highly recommend this for anyone who has read his other books.

Almost perfect.......2007-05-21

If you have ever thought to yourself that "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" seemed incomplete, here's a book that will satisfy you. Fforde's writing, funny and sharp as usual, is a star on its own. While not exactly his Thursday Next series, this should appeal to the same set of readers. The plot of this book is not quite as meandering as it predecessor, The Big Over Easy, and is much more satisfying at the end. I would reccomend this to anyone with an appreciation of literature and a sense of humor (if you lack one, don't read this).

makes me laugh out loud.......2007-05-13

I loved it! I know if I listened again I would catch more of the jokes.

Average customer rating:

One of the most innovative and clever books I've read in a while - Loved it!
How did Humpty Dumpty fall off that wall?
CD Audio Book
A retroactive "rebound" for Fforde
A clever concept that ultimately stumbles in the execution

The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime
Jasper Fforde
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0143037234

Book Description

Jasper Fforde does it again with a dazzling new series starring Inspector Jack Spratt, head of the Nursery Crime Division

Jasper Fforde's bestselling Thursday Next series has delighted readers of every genre with its literary derring-do and brilliant flights of fancy. In The Big Over Easy, Fforde takes a break from classic literature and tumbles into the seedy underbelly of nursery crime. Meet Inspector Jack Spratt, family man and head of the Nursery Crime Division. He's investigating the murder of ovoid D-class nursery celebrity Humpty Dumpty, found shattered to death beneath a wall in a shabby area of town. Yes, the big egg is down, and all those brittle pieces sitting in the morgue point to foul play. BACKCOVER: “A wonderfully readable riot . . . [A] cleverly plotted, magically overstuffed yet amazingly digestible book . . . This summer's perfect beach read for eggheads.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“As if the Marx brothers were let loose in the children's section of a strange bookstore.”
—USA Today

“Pythonesque . . . Like the Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket books, this one is abundantly playful without being truly geared for children. Anyone who has ever been read a nursery rhyme . . . can appreciate Mr. Fforde's outlandish joking.”
—Janet Maslin, The New York Times

Customer Reviews:

One of the most innovative and clever books I've read in a while - Loved it!.......2007-09-10

This is the first Jasper Fford book I have read. I will definitely be reading more - On the surface, this is a well-written and plotted police detective novel, but, oh what a lot there is under the surface! Silly, part Monty Python, part Douglas Adams, part Agatha Christie, I found the book a fast read, fun and delightful.

How did Humpty Dumpty fall off that wall?.......2007-09-02

The town of Reading was shocked when Humpty Dumpty fell off that wall. Was it an accident, or was he murdered? It's the job of Detective Inspector Jack Spratt and Detective Sergeant Mary Mary to find out what really happened. Along the way, they interact with numerous characters from nursery tales and nursery rhymes, and Mary Mary finds out where she belongs. A great beginning to a new series.

CD Audio Book.......2007-08-28

Product was delivered as promised; in better condition than described. Will surely trust this merchant in future.

The product is pure Jasper Fforde. Full of literary "in jokes" and references to many genres of literature, which will cause any rabid reader many uplifting laughs, not to mention the pure fantasy of the melding of the "real" world and the "literary" world. Reading Fforde, you'll wish that this was really our world, as every intersection is full of humor and/or drama; however you choose to view it. Refreshing in the current field of mystery stories. We all need an occasional light reading.

A retroactive "rebound" for Fforde.......2007-08-11

Let's face it--Jasper Fforde isn't nearly as talented or clever as he appears on the surface. The downard digression of the Thursday Next novels clearly demonstrates this. Let's face it, by the last book the series was running on vapors (the newest one, "First Among Sequels" continues this sorry trend.

Which is why "The Big Over Easy" is such a nice surprise. But not a new surprise. It's actually Fforde's rewrite of a pre-Nextian novel, that he's updated to acknowledge references to the characters in one of the Next novels (forgot which one--they all began to blur after "Eyre").

The concept--of Jack Spratt, a hard-boiled, down-on-his-luck detective solving crimes committed by nursery characters--is far more interesting than the Thursday Next concept. Maybe because this was originally written before "Eyre," it is mercifully relatively free of Fforde's endless attempts to position himself as the successor to Monty Python and Terry Pratchett. Its very self-conscious spoofing of hoary detective-novel cliches works well here. If there's a weakness in the book, it's the indistinguishable nature of most of Spratt's supporting characters. His sidekick, Mary Mary, seems like a reduced version of a young Thursday next. His staff consists of an alien, a tall woman, and a hyponchondriac, but, even with Fforde's usually endless exposition, it's hard to tell them apart. The same with Spratt's large family, where the mostly female brood talks alike and acts alike. Characterization of side characters is clearly not his strength.

What works here is the freshness of the idea. The 'nursery world' is portrayed with unusual 'realism,'--quite an achievement for Fforde, whose literary grasp on reality slips away more often than not. The whodunnit plot is lean and well paced. The ending, however, falls flat, as Fforde tries too hard to play up the integration of "nursery character destiny" and creates a not-too-satisfying resolution.

Still, for Fforde, this is a good read. Better than anything he's done (other than "Eyre") since.

A clever concept that ultimately stumbles in the execution.......2007-07-20

With his Thursday Next series, Jasper Fforde demonstrated to the world's readers that he possesses a remarkably fertile and ingenious imagination capable of delighting even such a linear thinker as me. In the Next world, it's a more or less contemporary UK, but one crazily askew from the one we know; 249 wooly mammoths in 9 herds roam the island, dodo birds are kept as pets, Tunbridge Wells has been ceded to Russia in Crimean War reparations, and there's a duty on custard.

In THE BIG OVER EASY, first of the Nursery Crime series, it's still apparently Thursday's England because her first literary adventure, The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel, has been turned into a film. However, in this fantasy novel, the hero isn't Thursday but Detective Inspector Jack Spratt, chief investigator of the beleaguered Nursery Crime Division of the Reading Police Department. Jack labors under a cloud; his arrest of the Three Pigs for the murder of the Big Bad Wolf failed to result in their conviction, and Spratt has the undeserved reputation as a Giant Killer. As he constantly takes great pains to explain to hecklers, there was only one true giant, the other three were just "tall".

Jack's time on the clock is currently monopolized with the investigation into Humpty-Dumpty's apparent murder off Grimm's Road as he sat on a wall. His new assistant is Detective Sergeant Mary Mary, recently transferred from Basingstoke. In the meantime, everyday life goes on; Little Bo-peep continues to report lost sheep, there's the occasional malicious rumor that the sky is falling, pied pipers are wont to arrive in town promoting pest eradication scams, "nail flavor" instant soup is all the rage, aliens continue to deny that they're abducting anybody, the Titan Prometheus, having escaped the shackles binding him to a rock in the Caucasus, is renting an extra room in the Spratt family abode, and Jack's Mom is amazed at the size of the beanstalk growing next to the potting shed.

Fforde has his protagonist take the murder enquiry seriously because, in Spratt's world, it's deadly serious business. As are Spratt's frustrated professional ambition, his backstabbing more famous rival, Detective Chief Inspector Friedland Chymes, and Jack's skirmish with the Independent Police Complaints Commission over the dismal Three Pigs affair. Not to mention the fact that Spratt suspects that Prometheus is seducing his 20-year old daughter, Pandora. Yet, it's the other-worldly eccentricity of the milieu that's certain to provide the reader with certain, if perhaps inconsistent, giddy pleasures. Indeed, Fforde works up such a froth of absurdity that the conclusion to THE BIG OVER EASY seemed, to this reader, especially contrived. It's almost as if the author had backed himself into a plot corner and had to take desperate measures to extricate himself and the book to get the latter off to the publisher in time. For that, I'm knocking off a star. But it won't stop me from ordering and relishing the next volume in the series, The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime.

Average customer rating:

The Cover Was the Best Part
Not a Mystery at all...
Just Okay
Clever and Fast Paced
Promising!

Nursery Crimes (Mommy-Track Mysteries)
Ayelet Waldman
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 042518000X
Release Date: 2001-07-10

Amazon.com

Nursery Crimes, progeny of first-time author Ayelet Waldman, bills itself as a mommy track mystery, the first in a series featuring Juliet Applebaum, a 5-foot-tall dynamo who gave up a career as a public defender to stay home with her daughter Ruby. Pregnant with her second child, Juliet is at loose ends and dissatisfied:

Anyone who tells you that having a child doesn't completely and irrevocable ruin your life is lying. As soon as that damp little bundle of poop and neediness lands in your lap, it's all over. Everything changes. Your relationship is destroyed. Your looks are shot. Your productivity is devastated. And you get stupid. Dense. Thick. Pregnancy and lactation make you dumb. That's a proven scientific fact.

When Ruby, a whiner and grabber par excellence, doesn't make the cut for Heart's Song, L.A.'s most prestigious preschool, Juliet and her husband Peter shrug it off with good grace. But when the school's founder, Abigail Hathaway, is killed in what the police think is a hit-and-run accident, Juliet's convinced something nefarious is afoot. Did Bruce LeCrone, a movie studio powerhouse with a flashpoint temper, kill Abigail after his son was denied admission? What about Daniel Mooney, Abigail's fourth husband--an egocentric new ager who's been communing with a voluptuous redhead? As Juliet discovers that everyone has secrets to keep, she realizes being a stay-at-home-mom is rather more risky than she'd thought.

Waldman's novel is breezy and engaging. Both Juliet's frustration ("Now, suddenly, just because I had doffed my lawyer's wig and donned a housewife's kerchief, people like Detective Carswell thought they could pat me on the head and send me on my way") and her witty asides on the idiosyncrasies of life in southern California (think Kinsey Millhone with a diaper bag) lend ballast to an admittedly slim plot. Effortlessly adept at sketching both character and place, Waldman falters slightly when it comes to action. Too often, she relies on awkward summaries to provide readers with crucial information, and Juliet's deductions occasionally seem abrupt and unsubstantiated. But these narrative hiccups don't detract from a thoroughly pleasant read. One minor cavil: Waldman's rendition of 2-year-old Ruby's speech is irritatingly coy (dinner at an Italian restaurant becomes "fed-up-cino alfwedo"). Since Juliet herself so staunchly opposes the saccharine school of motherhood, must her child descend to its cloying depths? --Kelly Flynn

Book Description

When the principal of Hollywood's premier preschool is killed in a hit-and-run accident, public defender turned stay-at-home mom Juliet Applebaum gets off the mommy track-to track down a murderer.

Ayelet Waldman has given birth to a fresh new franchise with her Mommy-Track Mysteries. Juliet Applebaum is smart, fearless, and completely candid...Kinsey Millhone would approve. (Sue Grafton)

Funny, clever, touching, original, wacky and wildly successful. (Carolyn G. Hart)

Humorous...Juliet's voice is strong and appealing. (Publisher Weekly)

Unique. (Tribune-Review Pittsburgh, PA)

[Juliet is] a lot like Elizabeth Peters' warm and humorous Amelia Peabody-a brassy, funny, quick-witted protagonist. (Houston Chronicle)

Customer Reviews:

The Cover Was the Best Part.......2006-12-11

I read the reviews and figured, "Why not?" The answer is because it was a waste of time. The characters were flat, the plot predictable, and the touches of humor were just not that funny. I wanted to like it, and kept reading, hoping it would improve. It didn't.

Not a Mystery at all..........2006-06-14

I picked up this book at a used book store or yard sale, when I was in the mood for a good mystery. Unfortunately, the only mystery is how Ms. Waldman got this fluff published! The writing is simplistic, repetitive, and sophmoric. I read the whole book in a few hours and was not a better person for it. The plot was very predictable and frustratingly simple. Next time I'll know to look for a mystery from Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie first...

Just Okay.......2006-05-02

The first in a series of an ex-public defender/now mom who wants to solve murders, the book's author really is an ex-public defender/now mom. But the murders she solves are thru her books. The book was pretty short and a fast read. Characters were believable, and especially the scenes with her little girl were charming. Trying to find out who killed the head of a pre-school her daughter was turned down from is the basic plot. Red herrings seemed obvious, and the book was pretty predictable. Humor was not quite up to the standards of more published authors. I will try her second one, though, before giving up on the series. I think it has good potential.

Clever and Fast Paced.......2006-04-27

I recently read an article about the author Ayelet Waldman and her husband Michael Chabon in a book magazine. Although I knew about some of their more recent titles, I wasn't aware that Waldman had written a series of books which she dubbed the Mommy-Track mysteries. Intrigued by the premise of a one time defense attorney, now a stay at home mom and pseudo private eye, I found myself gulping down the pages of the first book Nursery Crimes. Not only did I enjoy this book and recommend it, but I rushed out to get the second book as soon as I finished the first one. Finding a new author is always a pleasure and I expect to continue reading Ayelet Waldman as quickly as she publishes more books in this series or other titles as well.

Rachel has made the decision to be a stay at home
mother after a very demanding career as a defense attorney.
Not entirely happy to be at home she finds sitting in the play
ground boring and now is befuddled by trying to find a pre
school for her 3 year old daughter. But she never thought that
the self assured woman, Abigail Hathaway, who interveiwed them and then rejected them would be dead that night, the victim of a hit and run driver. As Rachel begins to think about the morning they spent with Hathaway and another disappointed couple, she begins to think that the head of a most prestigious per school may very well have been murdered.

Pregnant with her second child, Rachel begins to investigate who could have murdered her. Was it the movie executive whose son was also rejected that day or Hathaway's husband who might inherit millions or the woman's troubled teenage daughter from her first marraige.

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it if you enjoy a witty fast paced read. Rachel is a wonderful character
who in the most honest of ways describes not only the perils
of being a stay at home mother but also one who can't help
but butt in when a murder occurs.

Although it has been over 30 years since I was a stay at home mom, Waldman was able to bring me back to that place of diapers and whining. Like the expression, "Been there, done that whileI am happy for the place where I'm now at, it was fun to have a sideline view of Rachel's life and what she did to spice it up in this book.

Promising!.......2004-06-21

This a great concept for a mystery/detective series. The characters are set with the Juliet, a stay at home Mom, who gave up her career to be with a headstrong two and one-half year old named Ruby, an unflappable husband, and a child soon to be born. Nursery Crimes was witty and breezy at the start and a terrific page-turner at the end. Waldman did a great job with twists and turns that made sense and did not seem contrived. I did figure out who did it a couple of chapters ahead of Juliet, but it's nice to feel smart. My reason for only four stars is that Nursery Crimes did slump in the middle and I feared that a promising beginning would be for naught. However the ending more than made up for that. Besides, how many mysteries have a great start and middle only to fizzle at the end? Nursery Crimes was a nice change from the empty feeling that comes from that path. Having gone through the early stage parenthood myself I find myself identifying Juliet's parenthood trials even though I am a mere man. My child is now a teenager and I hope this series gets that far so I can see how Juliet handles a fourteen year old Ruby. Meanwhile I find myself wondering what future evils will lurk in places such as Chuckey Cheese, the PTA, and Brownies.

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Starring Me!: Baby's Nursery Rhymes
Madeline Olsen
Manufacturer: Silver Dolphin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Board book

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ASIN: 1571454640

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Nursery Crimes

Manufacturer: Barnes & Noble Bookstores
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Move Over Ann Rule!!
The Empty Nursery
Superb Writing. Suspenseful Story.
The Anguish of a Mother
Rave Reviews for The Empty Nursery!

THE EMPTY NURSERY
Jaclyn Weldon White
Manufacturer: Mercer University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0865547653

Customer Reviews:

Move Over Ann Rule!!.......2002-05-02

I am the author of Roseflower Creek, a novel which tells of the short life and death of ten-year-old Lori Jean Dodson, who dies at the hands of her stepfather, in l950's rural Georgia. But Jackie Weldon's story is not one of fiction. It is the heartbreaking true chronicle of a crime which tortured a young mother, her family and all of Atlanta during the sweltering summer of l992. Written with the skill of a true word artist, it will keep you reading long into the night. Though the narrative will break your heart and haunt your soul, you'll find it concludes with the birth of hope, literally and figuratively. Don't miss this story or this gifted author's ability to tell it.

The Empty Nursery.......2002-01-22

This book is riveting and excellently crafted. Jaclyn Weldon White is a gifted writer as well as a knowledgeable law enforcement professional.
Move over Patricia Cornwell-White can take TRUE stories and present them as well as you write fiction.
Anne Jones

Superb Writing. Suspenseful Story........2001-10-18

The deaths of babies and children are always the most difficult
true crime readings for me. It unnerves me to believe there are people out there who would take the life of any child,
especially one of their own. There has to be an absence of conscience for someone to commit such a cowardly act. As in this
case, Haley's death was the result of a cruel, senseless, cold-blooded murder. The death penalty serves a purpose for people like Kenny Hardwick. After the first two chapters of the book, I was so angry with Hardwick that had Haley been my child I would have probably strangled him myself. The author, Jackie White, does a superb job of reseach and writing Haley's story. Since she was so close to Haley's mother, I am certain it took great restraint for Jackie to curb her own anger and emotion and not allow her feelings to color the story. Honestly, I was kept on the edge of my seat until I finally finished reading the book, and confirmed what everyone had already suspected-Kenny was the culprit of this horrible deed. I highly recommend An Empty Nursery and label it a 5 STAR book!!!!!

The Anguish of a Mother.......2001-10-17

One look at the photo of baby Haley Hardwick will lure you into reading the story of a child gone missing. Assume nothing with
The Empty Nursery! Interesting twists and turns develop throughout the telling of this case. Jaclyn Weldon White writes from experience as former police officer in Gwinnet County Georgia, where this crime occurred. She gives the details of a baby's death without being lurid. The reader can feel the aching despair of young Kathy Hardwick, the baby's mother. She bravely endures weeks of not knowing where Haley is only to discover that her husband Kenny has lied to her. The reader is given an inside look at how investigators have to follow protocol even when they have a prime suspect. You will not be disappointed with this heartbreaking story of grief and courage.

Rave Reviews for The Empty Nursery!.......2001-09-29

As a True Crime book lover, I opened this book in eager anticipation. I was not disappointed. From the very first page I was hooked. I found this book to be very well written, very well researched, and totally engrossing. This book was heartbreaking in many ways, most of all because the death of a baby is a hard thing to think about. The anguish of Kathy Hardwick, her realization of who had killed her child, and her struggle to maintain her compose as events unfolded were agonizing to read. The death of Haley and my feelings of wanting to save her were also hard to deal with. I found myself wondering how I would deal with such a situation. I came to admire Kathy Hardwick very much. I also came to hate and loath the killer of baby Haley and to admire the police officers who dedicated many days of their lives to bringing her killer to justice.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in True Crime, anyone who enjoys reading about police officers and how they perform their duties, and anyone who is looking for a book that goes beyond the usual facts. Ms. White has done her homework and written a powerful book that will stay with you long after you finish reading. Jackie, Thank you!!

Nursery Crimes: Sexual Abuse in Day Care

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Nursery Crimes: Sexual Abuse in Day Care
David Finkelhor , and Linda M. Williams
Manufacturer: Sage Publications, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Interpersonal Relations | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0803934009

Book Description

Since the McMartin Preschool case in Manhattan Beach, California, many communities around the country have also been rocked by cases of sexual abuse of very young children in day care. While child welfare workers, prosecutors, and counselors have deliberated about how to respond to such cases, parents, day care staff, and state regulators have wondered whether day care was still a safe place for children. Now a new book addresses this disturbing problem, based on the first nationwide study of 270 cases of sexual abuse in day care. How could children be abused without their parents suspecting? How could trusted day care employees conceal abuse? Can offenders be screened from the ranks of day care employees? Can abusers be brought to justice without further trauma to the children? The authors, well known researchers in the field of child abuse, explore these questions and many others using a wealth of case material and careful analyses. Chapters cover incidence and dynamics, the impact on victims, disclosure and detection, the perpetrators, and the impact on local communities. Over 16 recommendations are forwarded for the prevention, detection, and investigation of these cases. Practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and students will benefit from the information provided in this long-awaited study. "I urge everyone who is concerned about the well being of children, both in day care and out, to obtain a copy of this [book], read it, and to use it. Its recommendations for parents, child care providers, policy makers, and government are both well-based on the researchers' findings and well-reasoned as practical, feasible responses." --John Chafee, United States Senator "Students and professionals researching the topic of sexual abuse of preschool-age children will welcome this well-documented study, which discusses the types of people who perpetrate such crimes and the characteristics of the victims (including risk factors). Case studies--with synopses of the abuse incidents--are presented in the search for answers to why these crimes happen, how they can be prevented, and what impact they have on the victims. Final chapters present the authors' recommendations as to how child abuse can be prevented. An excellent piece of research and analysis for larger public libraries." --Booklist "Written by our nation's premier workers in the field of sexual abuse, Nursery Crimes: Sexual Abuse in Day Care is an enlightening and thought-provoking book. . . a scholarly endeavor that culminates with pragmatic and concrete policy recommendations. This book is must reading for all researchers and policy makers interested in this important and timely topic." --Edward Zigler, Yale University "This is an incredibly important source book on the subject." --Journal of the Institute of Health Education "This volume examines the incidence of the problem, describes the perpetrators of this abuse, evaluates screening strategies for limiting their access to children, and describes the victims, abuse dynamics, and whether the characteristics of the facilities minimize the risk of child sexual abuse. The book also discusses the detection and disclosure process and the impact on children. . . . This book is an excellent resource for all professionals working in the child sexual abuse area, ranging from therapists to investigators to judicial personnel." --Contemporary Psychology "This research project marks an important step toward understanding abuse in day care, and the book extends its usefulness to researchers, educators, administrators, and policymakers, as well as parents. . . . In the midst of widespread fear and confusion about sexual abuse in day care, Nursery Crimes provides practical strategies for confronting this problem." --Criminal Justice Review

Average customer rating:

An Amazing Book!
One Of The Best Books I've Read

There Was an Old Woman (Nursery Crimes)
Eric Weiner
Manufacturer: Harpercollins (Mm)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Customer Reviews:

An Amazing Book!.......2004-02-11

Ellie has it hard. Her mother is a paranoid, over-dramatic person, and her father spends most of his time trying to comfort her mother rather than being attentive to Ellie. Unfortunately, Ellie seemed to inherit some of her mom's (not-so-good) qualities. So, naturally, it doesn't help when a girl who attended Ellie's college turns up missing. This makes the total list of missing girls go up to 3. Detectives believe that the culprit might be an old woman. Soon, Ellie becomes aware of the few seemingly-nice older women in her life. She trusts them... they wouldn't do anything to hurt her, would they?

Basically, "There Was An Old Woman" by Eric Weiner was an unbelievably good book. It contained exactly what it was supposed to... thrills (unlike some other "thrillers" that I've read that weren't thrilling at all). When I first started reading, I thought it would be easy to figure out the killer in the story. However, I quickly realized I was wrong! There are many times that the characters thought they knew the killer's identity, but after 3 or 4 let-downs, it became harder to discover the (somewhat surprising) murderer. Overall, it was one of the best books I have ever read, and it had a (extremely sad) killer ending! Find it and read it; it will be worth your time.

One Of The Best Books I've Read.......2001-02-10

This book was so excellent, in everyway. It consisted of horror, mystery, and had many (many!) twists.

The novel is tells of a girl's stay at an apartment complex while she attends college in a new town. She stays at a boarding house with other college friends, run by an old women. The old women is considered odd by the residents, and muders soon follow.

This book delves into the gritty side of college life, and violence against women. It had numeruos surprise twists, and so many red-herrings, that the ending was only bretrayed by the inept title. This was the only downside to reading the book -- the title gives much of the story away -- unecesserily.

Still, a great read. (This was published under a different name: "Death In The Dark" in some countries)

Book Description

Jambo and Marva emigrated from France to Iowa and opened a small tree nursery.They and their piglets were skilled topiarists. Every autumn, they sculpted giant turkey topiaries, for which there was a big demand. One morning, Jambo awoke to discover all of their turkeys stolen! Things looked grim, but Marva had a plan. Glowing etchings fill the pages with dramatic images of giant turkey topiaries.

Customer Reviews:

Clever pig!.......2004-03-29

Jambo and Marva are immigrant pigs living in Ames Town. They have 12 children and make their living by raising topiaries and pumpkins. One night the topiary thief Voler steals all their turkeys. Facing financial disaster, Marva cooks up a scheme that helps them prove Voler was the culprit The book is not scary, but it does have some tension. It introduces some uncommon vocabulary words such as topiary. It has about 900 words.

Average customer rating:

Nursery Crimes
B.M. Gill
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345351029
Release Date: 1988-07-12

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