Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

Three Bags Full

Leonie Swann

This is an off-the-wall tale of an unusual flock of sheep, trying to find out who killed their beloved shepherd. A lot of the fun comes from the sheep's limited perspective on human behaviour and motive, which, combined with a sheeplike short attention span, somewhat handicaps their amateur sleuthing. The story is a dotty but maddeningly compelling read for those times when you feel like something light and amusing to chew over!

Extract
Othello told them about a strange garden, and how George had been buried in a box. A murmur ran through the flock.
"They don't have a pit there, but the dead don't just decay either. it looks like a garden, not a vegetable garden, but a garden anyway, and all very tidy. And do you know what they said about that garden?" Othello looked round at them, his eyes sparkling. They said it belonged to God".
The sheep stared at each other in horror. Fancy planting dead people in your garden! They liked God less and less.
Parallels
  • Explorers of the New Century by Magnus Mills
  • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon