Translated by Amy Bojang — Fifteen years since it was published, German author Leonie Swann’s detective thriller Big Bad Wool has finally been translated into English. It’s the follow-up to Swann’s popular mystery Three Bags Full, which itself has appeared in over 30 languages and is currently being made into a movie starring Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson and Bryan Cranston. I’ll admit neither book is one I would have read if I’d understood the premise beforehand, but I’m delighted to have found them! Three Bags Full takes place in Ireland, the Big Bad Wool is set in France.
Dark doings occur in these books, including murder, and the detectives devoting their full attention to the case belong to a flock of sheep. Yes, sheep!
The sheep don’t perfectly understand the human world, of course, but they are observant, patient, and one of them – Miss Maple – is quite clever at putting two and two together. Part of their understanding has developed through their shepherds’ habit of reading to them each night: mysteries, romances, and in one unfortunate interlude, a text on sheep diseases.
The sheep understand some English, but to them, the French people speaking ‘European,’ as the sheep call it, sound like they’re honking. They mis-hear some words – woolpower, for example – though they have the enviable ability to tell when a human is lying. When they don’t know the word for some particular object, they call it a Thing. I’ve started doing that around the house.
In Big Bad Wool, Rebecca, their shepherdess, takes the flock the on a long-promised trip to Europe. She lives in her caravan along with her Mum, a Tarot devotee, though sheep keep eating a card here or there, diminishing the deck and people’s possible fortunes. Rebecca, her mother and the sheep are overwintering alongside a French chateau. Snow is on the meadow and ominous tracks are everywhere.
Rebecca is troubled by some of the sketchy characters inhabiting the chateau, which used to be a mental hospital. One man is spying on her; another believes he actually is a spy. One enters her caravan and destroys her red garments; another gives her a red coat. Deer and other animals are being found in the forest, brutally murdered. Is a werewolf on the prowl?
Local legend suggests that’s the case – the culprit may be a creature called the Garou, apparently. Rebecca worries about the safety of her sheep, and they worry about hers. After an attack on her sheepdog, Tess, the vet brings her a Hungarian sheepdog, Vidocq, who is a rambunctious, but an unknown quantity.
The plot becomes complicated, making the story perhaps somewhat overlong, but it’s refreshing seeing the world through the eyes of the animals, and I didn’t mind. The sheep fear the forest, where the dead animals were found, but they are determined to go there to pin down the Garou.
The sheep bring distinct personalities and skills to this adventure. Aside from Miss Maple’s acknowledged cleverness, Mopple has the best memory, Othello is a born leader and learned a lot in his early days living in a zoo, Lane is the fastest runner, and the fearless winter lamb, born out of sync with the sheep calendar, hasn’t acquired a name yet and longs for one.
The sheeps’ meadow is next to a fenced-in herd of goats. The temperamental and attitudinal differences between the species and their different capabilities prove most entertaining and useful. Swann (a pen name) must be exceptionally observant to render animal behaviour so vividly and convincingly.
Some things the sheep get wrong, and others they understand quite differently than the humans do: the value of veterinarians, for example. They go about their sheepy business (mainly focused on eating) in a charming, sheepy way. If nothing else, their adventures are a welcome antidote to the daily news.
For more animal antics see Hard Bite by Anonymous-9.
Allison & Busby
Print/Kindle/iBook
£12.99
CFL Rating: 4 Stars
