Something Rotten
by Jasper Fforde

Description:
Two years after Thursday Next's Ultraword adventure, the now ex-head of Jurisfiction returns home accompanied by a toddler, a pair of dodos, and Hamlet, eager to learn a little bit about conflict resolution. But the Swindon to which Thursday returns is not the one she left - for something is rotten in the state of England.

That something is Yorrick Kaine, escaped fictionaut, Daneophobe and engineer of the Ultraword scam. He is now Chancellor of England and intends to make the invasion of the Welsh Socialist Republic his first task when elected Dictator.

But time is out of joint. A timephoon in the dark ages is throwing prophets into the present - one of whom, Swindon's very own St Zvlkx, has a few startling revelations: not least the end for The Goliath Corporation and Yorrick Kaine, who both seem to be inextricably linked to the outcome of the 1988 World Croquet League final.

It's very much in a day's work for Thursday, who with help from her father, Hamlet and 'Spike' Stoker, manage to deal with everything Swindon can throw at her, yet still find time to answer the following questions: How can she uneradicate her husband? Who is cloning Shakespeares? Why does Nelson insist on dying at Trafalgar? Who is the assasin trying to kill her? And why is it so difficult to find reliable childcare?