A crime against literature—literally

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
So I jumped into mysteries the only way I knew how; I started with a book about books. Besides being witty and funny, The Eyre Affair played up the mystery and fantasy in a creative way. The plot is simple; the villain has stolen a machine (actually they’re bookworms—teehee) that creates a portal between the real world and works of fiction. He then threatens to kill off important people in famous stories if he is not given what he wants. Jane Eyre is his most important target, and if she gets killed in the real world, all copies of Jane Eyre will basically be erased. So yes, the “bad guy” is pretty obvious from the beginning, so we’re not really worried about whodunit. Rather, Fforde gets to play with the setting and characterization. Really I just think he’s having a good time being as creative as possible. There’s four in the series and they all star Thursday Next, the spunky woman trying to save the world from the destruction of literature. Oh yes, there’s time travel as well. What a great mix of mystery and fantasy! I’ll have to keep this book in mind for next month…