Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story
Leonie Swann
Flying Dolphin Press
Fiction, Mystery
Themes: Anthropomorphism, Country Tales
***
Description
Early one morning, a flock of Irish sheep discover their shepherd dead in the meadow, a spade buried in his innards. The late George Glenn of Glennkill read to them every afternoon, making them somewhat more clever than the average sheep, and they aren't about to let the murder of their faithful shepherd go unsolved or unpunished. In an investigation spearheaded by Miss Maple, the smartest ewe in Ireland (and perhaps the world), they explore the secret life and gruesome death of George Glenn.
Review
I enjoyed this one as I was reading it (through most of its length, at least), but a few faults kept it from hitting four stars in the ratings. Miss Maple and the other sheep develop distinct personalities, but there are just a few too many to juggle in one's head, and some of the extras wound up trampling on time that could've gone to the lead sheep and the murder investigation. Like many anthropomorphic animal tale authors, Swann had to pick and choose their beliefs and what they would and would not know about humans. She did a decent job, with only a few hiccups now and again. As for the investigation, it wends through the dark past of a seemingly idyllic Irish village, unearthing many a secret on its way, and not just among the humans they're investigating; it turns out sheep, too, can have questionable histories. Sometimes the knots of names and scandals grew overwhelming, especially as the sheep often had to guess at human names (they dub the long-nosed priest God, leading to a humorously skewed ovine view of human religion - which matters little, as any sheep knows that a soul is evidenced by one's sense of smell, meaning humans have very small souls if they have them at all.) The biggest problem, though, would have to be the investigation's outcome. While not a betrayal on the "it's all a dream" scale, it nonetheless feels highly unsatisfactory. I'm also disturbed how the final chapter leaves a gap in the fence just wide enough for a sequel. If you're looking for something different than the average mystery or fiction book, and if you don't mind disappointing endings that seem to exist just because the author herself was stumped by her own mystery, go ahead and give it a shot.