One of the most original series I have read in a long time began with The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde and continues with The Fourth Bear. In The Big Over Easy, Sargeant Mary Mary gets a job with the Reading police force in hopes of working with her hero, Friedland Chyme. Instead, she is assigned to NCD (Nursery Crimes Division) working for DI Jack Sprat. The NCD is underfunded and understaffed, and has taken a big hit in the press recently for failing to get a conviction for the three pigs who boiled the wolf alive, but have another chance when the falling death of Humpty Dumpty comes under their jurisdiction.

In The Fourth Bear, reporter Henrietta (Goldilocks) Hatchett is missing after running away from the home of Ed, Ursula, and Junior Bruin, and later found dead in a World War I theme park, SommeWorld. How does this death relate to a series of explosions, giant cucumbers, alien sightings, and Pippa Piper picking Peck over Pickle or Pepper? In addition, the serial killer Gingerbread Man has escaped and is on the loose. Join Jack Sprat and Mary Mary as they crack the case.

I really have enjoyed these, and am anxiously awaiting the next Nursery Crime case.