Product Description

The Gingerbreadman - psychopath, sadist, convicted murderer and cake/biscuit - is loose on the streets of Reading.

It isn't Jack Spratt's case. Despite the success of the Humpty Dumpty investigation, the well publicised failure to prevent Red Riding-Hood and her Gran being eaten once again plunges the Nursery Crime Division into controversy. Enforced non-involvement with the Gingerbreadman hunt looks to be frustrating until a chance encounter at the oddly familiar Deja-Vu Club leads them onto the hunt for missing journalist Henrietta 'Goldy' Hatchett, star reporter for The Daily Toad.

The last witnesses to see her alive were The Three Bears, comfortably living out a life of rural solitude in Andersen's wood. But all is not what it seems. Are the unexplained explosions around the globe somehow related to missing nuclear scientist Angus McGuffin? Is cucumber-growing really that dangerous? Why are National Security involved? But most important of all: How could the bears' porridge be at such disparate temperatures when they were poured at the same time? (20050619)

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9378 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review

'What makes Fforde a star is not his ebullient cleverness, but the elusive sympathy factor. However ridiculous his themes seem, his characters have a compelling immediacy.'

(Independent )

'It would be hard not to be won over by Fforde's undeniable energy and the sheer, unrelenting number of gags'

(Daily Mail )

'Fforde is inventive and hugely funny.'

(The Times )

'THE FOURTH BEAR is a great choice as it has everything - humour, intrigue and cucumbers as a matter of national security . . . will have you wondering how you haven't discovered Fforde before.'

(Anys Scoular, Observer )

'THE FOURTH BEAR sees one of our funniest and most inventive authors at the height of his powers. The jokes come so fast that it is clear the author simply let his imagination off the leash and had a great time while writing it. You will have a great time reading it too.'

(Daily Express )

'With its witty literary allusions, social satire and blurred boundaries between fiction and reality, it's all completely mad, very funny . . . It also adds to Fforde's growing reputation as one of Britain's most inventive novelists and the thriller element keeps you guessing too.'

(Word )

Praise for Jasper Fforde's new crime series (: )

'I love it. THE BIG OVER EASY is great not just because it's very funny...but also because it works properly as a whodunit...Comic genius.' (Observer )

'A riot of puns, in-jokes and literary allusions that Fforde carries off with aplomb' (Daily Mail )

'This is the first of best-selling Fforde's hilarious, absurd and utterly compelling new series of nursery crimes for adults.'

(Daily Mirror )

'Fforde's dexterously tailored nonsense has an underlying thread of shrewd satire, and the author's own wry, dry narration helps to compensate for the omission in this abridgement of so many of his gloriously surreal jokes.'

(The Times )

'This novel is a wonderful combination of silliness and cleverness, and a delightful holiday from reality. It's got such a good comic premise that it would work even if played straight, but virtually every page is adorned with puns, gags, tongue-twisters or comic setpieces, keeping the reader in a perpetual state of amusement.'

(Independent on Sunday )

About the Author
Jasper Fforde traded a varied career in the film industry for staring out of the window and chewing the end of a pencil. He lives and works in Wales and has a passion for aviation. (20050619)

---

Customer Reviews

Simply fantastic
It's quite simple: Jasper Fforde knows how to write well. That's it. All the quirky elements to his universe are secondary to his engaging and etertaining style. The fact that the universe measures up is a bonus.

I cannot wait for more from the NCD. The stories are so well crafted that it must be difficult to keep the standard high, but so far in this series, and the Thursday Next series, Fforde has not disappointed.

Another Great Book From The World of the NCD.
Following on seamlessly from A Big Over Easy (the first book in the NCD series), The Fourth Bear picks up the story again only a few weeks later. The NCD shone in the brief glory of the Humpty Dumpty case before suffering unfavourable press after the debacle that was the three little pigs murder charge fiasco.

The story starts with the escape of the psycopathic Gingerbreadman from St Cerabellums, a woefully inadequate mental hospital where he has been held for the last twenty years. At the same time, Jack Spratt and Mary Mary start to investigate the disappearance of Goldilocks and how cucumbers tie into the whole story.

Jack also is having trouble at home with Punch and Judy move in next door and his daughter about to marry the Titan Prometheus.

If you enjoyed The Big Over Easy then you shouldn't hesitate in buying this book as well, it's as silly and as funny and just as entertaining. A definite good read!

Nursery madness
A huge fan of Jasper FForde and I think I might be in the minority but I actually prefer the nursery crimes series to Thursday Next. Not sure how far he will go with this series though.