The fifth book in the phenomenally successful Thursday Next series, from Number One bestselling author Jasper Fforde. ** 'Ingenious - I'll watch Jasper Fforde nervously' Terry Pratchett on The Eyre Affair** Fourteen years after she pegged out at 1988 SuperHoop, Thursday Next is grappling with a recalcitrant new apprentice, the death of Sherlock Holmes and the inexplicable departure of comedy from the once-hilarious Thomas Hardy novels. Her idle sixteen-year-old would rather sleep all day than save the world from imminent destruction, the government has a dangerously high stupidity surplues, and the Stiltonista Cheese Mafia are causing trouble for Thursday in her hometown of Swindon. Then things begin to