At a reading recently, I heard Jasper Fforde say The Fourth Bear was his favorite book to write. It's easy to see why. One of the most interactive and complicated of his novels, this one seems full of Fforde's heart and soul. The second installment in Fforde's "Nursery Crime" series, featuring the inimitable and oft-suspended DCI Jack Spratt and his deputy Mary Mary, The Fourth Bear takes up the investigation of the mysterious disappearance of investigative reporter Henrietta Hatchett (that is, Goldilocks). Naturally, Goldilocks was on the trail of an explosive story (involving sunbeams and cucumbers, but you'll have to read to find out how).
Good satire, bad puns, and Fforde's stupendously glib wit are here in spades; recommended.
