Unconvinced that a former convict and millionaire philanthropist has been murdered by his suicide-victim ex-wife, detective inspector Jack Spratt and his assistant, Mary Mary, uncover a plot involving money laundering and asylum-seeking titans.

Humpty Dumpty, large egg, ex-convict and former millionaire philanthropist is found shattered beneath a wall. Detective Jack Spratt and his Sergeant Mary Mary are soon grappling with a sinister plot involving money laundering, the illegal Bearnaise sauce market, corporate politics and the cut and thrust of international chiropody.

Product Description: If Thursday thought she could avoid the spotlight after her heroic escapades in the pages of Jane Eyre, she was sorely mistaken. The unforgettable literary detective whom Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times calls "part Bridget Jones, part Nancy Drew and part Dirty Harry" had another think coming...read more

Great Britain circa 1985: time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. Baconians are trying to convince the world that Francis Bacon really wrote Shakespeare, there are riots between the Surrealists and Impressionists, and thousands of men are named John Milton, an homage to the real Milton and a very confusing situation for the police. Amidst all this, Acheron Hades, Third Most Wanted Man In the World, steals the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and kills a minor character, who then disappears from every volume of the novel ever printed! But that's just a prelude.

Tired of her responsibilities as the Bellman in Jurisfiction, literary sleuth Thursday Next packs up her son, Friday, to return to Swindon, accompanied by the Danish prince Hamlet, only to find herself coping with outlaw fictioneer Yorrick Kaine, anti-Danish sentiment, the return of Swindon's patron saint, and a seminal croquet tournament. 75,000 first printing.

Publisher's description: 'Detective Thursday Next has had her fill of her responsibilities as the Bellman in Jurisfiction. Packing up her son, Friday, Thursday returns to Swindon accompanied by none other than the dithering Danish prince Hamlet. But returning to SpecOps is no snap--as outlaw fictioneer Yorrick Kaine plots for absolute power, the return of Swindon's patron saint foretells doom, and if that isn't bad enough, back in the Book World The Merry Wives of Windsor is becoming entangled with Hamlet. Can Thursday find a Shakespeare clone to stop this hostile takeover? Can she vanquish Kaine and prevent the world from plunging into war? And, most important, will she ever find reliable childcare? Find out in this totally original, action-packed romp, sure to be another escapist thrill for Jasper Fforde's legion of fans.'

Exhausted by her hectic stint as Miss Havisham's apprentice at Jurisfiction, Thursday Next, a Special Operative in literary detection, is delighted by a supposed respite in the Character Exchange Program in the Well of Lost Plots, a place filled with linguistic chaos, lousy books, plot devices, grammasites, and a murderer. Read by Elizabeth Sastre. Simultaneous.