Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, 341 pagestranslated by Anthea Bell
genre: mystery fiction
This wasn't too baaad of a mystery. Such a neat idea, to have the flock of sheep investigate the murder of their shepherd. Lots of fodder for the mind. The story does a good job of getting information that only the sheep can hear to the reader, and we can understand a lot more than the sheep, even Miss Maple, quite possibly the cleverest sheep in Ireland. The cast of sheep, includes the requisite black sheep of the flock, Othello, and you can see that there is lots of playful fun with the narrative. The sheep face some of their fears and learn a lot about the world and humans. Some sections got a little confusing and woolly but they were sheep trying to make sense of things and they often got distracted by the need to graze. I can understand that in many ways.
Ha! You're so punny!
ReplyDeleteGreat review and very funny. I am reading a lot more mysteries this year, so I am going to check this one out. Sounds like fun...if murder can be fun:)
ReplyDeleteThere is no shortage of interesting ideas out there that make it into books! Thanks for the cute and funny review. ;)
ReplyDeleteI loved your opening line way better than I liked this book. I had to force myself to finish it!!!
ReplyDeleteThe premise of this book reminded me of Babe, so I will be interested to see how it compares.
ReplyDeleteI was groaning at all your ovine puns though, although I understand the temptation!
I enjoyed this book a lot, probably because the premise was amusing but I assumed the author would have trouble developing it into something book-length in a non-cheesy, satisfying way. I was wrong. I think she did an excellent job and I thought it worked quite well.
ReplyDeleteLol! It sounds so cute! Is it considered a cozy mystery?
ReplyDeleteI have an award for you here.
I read this one a while back and while it was not exactly my cup of tea (or bag of wool!), it wasn't bad either. I think mystery readers who are looking for something a bit different would quite enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteI read this a couple years ago and really liked it. Reading about sheep grazing was actually a lot more fun than I originally thought. :)
ReplyDeleteI am really surprised by the amount of reviews I have seen of this book lately... It does look entertaining, though!
ReplyDeleteYour review left me smiling...and wishing that I'd bought this book when I had it in my hands a couple weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteVery funny review. I love puns.
ReplyDeleteI have an award for you. "This Is A Fabulous Blog". See it at: http://joyfullyretired.wordpress.com/2009/01/30/award
A few months ago, I stalled about half-way in. I keep trying to go back, but I seem unable to get past the page where I stopped. I haven't given up on it yet because I think it's such a wonderfully fun concept, but... I'm getting real close.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear it wasn't baaaad for you, though!