The Fourth Bear

A Nursery Crime

By: Jasper Fforde

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2006 Jasper Fforde (P)2006 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., and Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"Jasper Fforde is able to write diabolically.... Outrageous satirical agility is his stock in trade." (The New York Times)

"Like the creators of...The Simpsons and South Park, Mr. Fforde uses fantasy to dissect real life.... He is our best thinking person's genre writer." (The Washington Times)

"Mr. Fforde manages to bombard the reader with more bizarre detail than most writers would dare to fit in their entire oeuvre, yet he does so with...light prose and easy, confident wit." (The Wall Street Journal)

Another Whimsical but Solid Mystery

Another win for Fforde. This was a fun romp through the fairy tale world of Jack Spratt, and like in The Big Over Easy, the mystery at the heart of story is a good hearty riddle to puzzle through. My one complaint for this audio book is perhaps a matter of comparison, namely that the narrator of The Big Over Easy was so good, everything else seems second rate. I didn't like how heavy or lumbering Jack sounded here, for example, and the accents with the foreign scientists at the beginning was a bewildering mash of random dialects. Lots of little annoyances like that. But the biggest challenge was the voice for Prometheus, with the demigod now sounding like Michael Scott's Mikonos character... very cheap sounding Greek stereotype. Ugh. Otherwise the narrator did fine, but it was a distractor from the story. Loved the story and still had quite a few "driveway moments " where I just had to hear a few more minutes.

The Right to Arm Bears

What a great way to pass the time while waiting for Jasper Fforde's next Thursday Next novel!

Simon Vance is fabulous!

The second book in this series is better than the first and leaves you wishing two things, that Simon Vance had narrated The Big Over Easy, and that Fford had written more than two Nursery Crimes.

Very Witty

I had avoided books by this author because of the mixed reviews I had read. But this one was on sale one day so I thought I would give it a try. I found it delightful and witty. It's not going to win any Pulitzer Prizes but it is an enjoyable light listen that had me laughing out loud at the gym as I peddled my stationary bike. Very cute.

hilarious

I would be reading this at work and find myself laughing outloud. This is a wonderful concoction of Nursery Rhyme characters and the crimes they commit and others try to solve. Not for children as strong language is used throughout.

very entertaining

a grown up version of living nursery rhymes. daily life of the top DCI and his detectives. based in the UK.

Not as good as the first...

But still very enjoyable!
The first book left you with high expectations this couldn't meet.

A Writer for Library Geeks and Aspies like ME!

Jasper Fforde is such a brilliant author does not write down to his readers. He assumes you are a reading geek, and makes clever references to characters in other books that are much enjoyed by lovers of books. I highly recommend ALL of his books, because they will encourage you to read further.

Great book, great narrator.

Loved it! The author has really captured these nursery rhymes in a whole new light. Very humorous for sure.

Whimsical and Funny

Have you listened to any of Simon Vance’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Simon Vance is a ver talented narrator and, like always, does a bang-up job with this performance.

Any additional comments?

This is a light hearted story about murder, political corruption, and terrorism. While it is humorous and glib, it makes some subtle (and not so subtle) jabs at modern day society. The whole "Right to Arm Bears" debate is absolutely genius. This was my first Japer Fford novel but I plan on reading many, many more.