Big Over Easy Did Humpty Dumpty fall off the wall… or was he pushed? Yeah, yeah. I know it sounds rather cheesy — or rather eggy — but this fluffy little book breathes new life into old tales, taking itself just seriously enough to suspend disbelief while simultaneously poking fun at the universe it creates.

We follow the story of Detective Jack Sprat, a man with an unconscious desire to kill giants (or just tall people) and climb bean stalks, a detective in the oft-ignored Nursery Crimes Division of the town of Reading. Jack is faring badly at NCR due to some disastrous prosecutions (including one against the three little pigs for aggravated manslaughter of the wolf) and failing to get cases published in the pulp mags, which in Reading is the mark of a good detective.

But bumbling and lovable Jack has cracked a doozy of a case when Humpty turns up dead, his shell fractured into a million pieces at the bottom of his favorite thinking wall. Though all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn’t do it (would the horses really be much of a help anyway?), Jack puts together the pieces of Humpty’s death, making sense of the political, financial, romantic and podiatric clues surrounding the poor egg’s demise.

While it may be considered a young adult read in some circles, screw that. Pick up this book for a fun and imaginative journey through a land that’s half Mother Goose and half Law and Order.

Rating: 4 out 5 stars – Book club selection