"Soon to be a major motion picture!" That's how the blurb for Three Bags Full (#1,351) by Leonie Swann begins the GoodReads review. While that is apparently true, it's Ms. Swann's other quirky mysteries which caught my attention. This is an early book of hers and is now enjoying a resurgence in popularity.
When a shepherd is killed in a remote Irish village, there is much speculation about the perpetrator and the motive, but not a lot of activity to actually solve the mystery. But the sheep in his flock want to know. Led by the feisty Miss Maple each sheep contributes his or her bit to the pool of knowledge as they weave the facts together. After all, their fates depend on it...
There is now a second book in this series, and I look forward to reading it, too. One piece of advice: if you have never read Three Bags Full, do yourself a favor and skip the intro by A.J.Finn. It's been added to the reprint of the original. If you want to have all the plot points and twists explained to you in excruciating detail before you have the pleasure of reading it for yourself, by all means read Finn's intro. I stopped well before I finished it with a distinct air of relief. It reminded me of when I was a junior in high school and my class was assigned Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Fortunately for me, I had already read it on my own. Our teacher (who was a graduate student at Harvard) began the first class on the book by announcing "The minister did it." Way to disincentivize a class of teenagers whose only interest might have been the smutty speculation! Save yourself that disappointment and forge ahead on your own with Three Bags Full. After all, you can always go back and read the analysis afterwards.
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