What rabbits are to WaterShip Down & cats are to The Warrior Series, this flock of sheep is to this story. Great character and situation descriptions. The story line was intriguing to the very end. ( )

I really enjoyed this story told from the sheep's point of view. They are trying to find out who murdered their shepherd. Hilarious and interesting. ( )

I fell in love with Three Bags Full in it's very first pages. It's a story about Irish sheep who set out on a mission to discover the murderer of their beloved shepherd, George, who has been stabbed through with a spade. It's a story fill with lovable characters; more to point, the sheep, and their thoughts on humans and the way the world works around them and their observations on it all. It's a comedy. It's a mystery. It's a little bit of everything, all rolled into a big, woolly yarn of a tale that is both in turns ingenious, funny and inspiring.

When George's flock discovers his body in the meadow one day, stabbed through with a spade, their initial reaction is panic. But to Miss Maple, the cleverest sheep in all of Glennkill, this is something more than just the death of their shepherd: this is a murder mystery. So, she takes it upon herself to discover the murderer, and eventually she is able to convince the rest of the flock to partake in the mystery as well. George was a kind shepherd and took very good care of his sheep, even reading to them in the evenings, and so they take their knowledge of the human character as they have seen through their stories, and begin on a mission to bring justice to their dear, departed shepherd.

The village of Glennkill itself is inhabited by a colorful cast of characters, all whom we learn about through the eyes of the sheep. The sheep have a keen perspective on human nature and the character buildup of the members of the village. Through the course of their investigation, however, they do begin to see people in a new light, discovering that everyone may not be categorized into their initial, limited sheepish view of people. It's through these growing observations that the story really starts to take off, as the sheep themselves begin to view themselves differently as they learn to care for themselves without having a shepherd about.

The story does end on a rather serious note, going in a direction that I honestly did not expect at all. The book is for the most part a fun little story, humorous throughout (I mean, honestly, how can murder mystery solving sheep not be funny?), yet the story loops around and becomes a lesson learned on people and the solitude that they have in their life. Not that the story ends sadly, but it becomes more philosophical than funny at the end, really making the reader question the life of not only the sheep, but their beloved shepherd as well.

I would like to see Swann continue the story of the Glennkill sheep (and she obviously left the story open for more). I would greatly like to see their further adventures and watch them as they discover more mysteries to unravel. ( )

One of the more unique mysteries I've read. The sheep are playing the role of the detectives, trying to determine who murdered their shepherd. The sheep are quirky, although they did annoy me at times. The crime was wrapped up in what I thought was an anticlimactic way. However, it was an enjoyable summer read. ( )

This book has a very clever premise: sheep, whose shepherd, George, is found dead on a hillside in Ireland, take it upon themselves to solve the mystery of his death. Since George had read books to them daily, including detective novels, they are quite familiar with the ways of men, and set out looking for clues.

The book begins with a “Dramatis Oves,” a list of all the sheep who appear in the story along with a brief description of each. Most notable is Miss Maple, “the cleverest sheep in the flock, maybe the cleverest sheep in Glennkill, quite possibly the cleverest sheep in the whole world.” I also grew quite fond of Mopple the Whale, "a very stout Merino ram ... almost always hungry."

The sheep overhear witnesses claiming “the Lord took George” and this throws them off at first. More confusing, some of the sheep have heard the Lord is a lamb, and others that the Lord is a shepherd. After a bit they decide the local pastor is the Lord, because they once heard him say “Welcome to the house of God!”

They also suspect the butcher, simply because they find him to be such a reprehensible fellow.

This book has such promise, but I found that reading about sheep can be, well, rather soporific. The pace is a bit slow, as the sheep are easily distracted by fragrant tufts of grass and clover. The humans in the book aren’t very interesting, except for George, who is dead.

My husband and I both read this book, and, as usual, we have two different evaluations:

Evaluation by Jill: Oh, how I wish this book were as cute as the idea behind it. But there’s a reason why counting sheep is recommended for insomnia. It isn’t a bad book, it just isn’t as engaging as I had hoped. Rating: 3/5

Evaluation by Jim: I enjoyed the book and give it a higher rating than my wife does. The author is quite clever in writing from the perspective of the sheep. For example, they learn a great deal from scent. At the same time, their worldview is extremely limited, all but two of them having spent all of their lives in the same pasture. The eventual solution to the murder is a bit contrived, but the resolution of the inter-ovine relationships seems genuine. Rating: 3.8/5 ( )

A pleasant read, but I can't see myself reading it a second time. The mystery itself is a bit shaky and I thought the ending was weak. Swann does a fine job with the sheep, but most of her human characters aren't all that interesting, and I often had trouble piecing together who knew whom and why. I realize we mostly see the humans through the sheep's eyes, and the sheep don't understand humans well, but I still found it jarring. That said, it is a nice story about sheep. ( )

Animal detectives have become very popular. Usually that means dogs or cats. In this case, it's a flock of sheep, who try to solve the murder of their shepherd.

The mystery is solved, but the true pleasure of this book is the sheep. ( )

In the rural village of Glennkill in Ireland, a flock of sheep are horrified to find their shepherd dead, with a spade stuck through him. The sheep decide that they must investigate the murder and work out who killed their beloved master, in order that justice can be done. Along the way, the encounter various obstacles, face their fears and learn a few lessons about life.

I thought this was an adorable book. The premise is unusual - a flock of sheep make for an unlikely detective squad. But these are no ordinary sheep! Their dead shepherd, George Glenn, had read to them every day of their lives and treated them as proper friends, holding conversations with them. As a result, they are able to think things through and make plans.

Each sheep has a distinct character. The main characters are Miss Maple, the cleverest sheep in all Glennkill and maybe the world; Othello, a black ram with a mysterious past; Mopple the Whale, a sheep with an amazing memory and a seemingly inexhaustible appetite; Sir Ritchfield, the elderly lead ram; and Zora, a sheep with a head for heights.

If the reader can accept the premises of this unusual murder hunt, the book is very enjoyable. The flocks literal interpretation of human conversations and interactions make for some laugh-out-loud moments, and the secret of who killed George Glenn is kept until almost the very end.

Definitely a book I would recommend - heartwarming and amusing. However, it's put me off eating lamb chops for a while! ( )

I loved this book. It is rather quirky, after all, it's about sheep detectives(and for me the fact that it is about sheep detectives was enough reason to read it, whithout knowing anything else about it...)! But it is a lot of fun, and you genuinely care about what happens to the sheep while also getting caught up in the mystery. I would love to read anything else the author chooses to write! ( )

A reasonably amusing read. Sheep trying to solve the murder of a shepherd; but Watership Down it ain't. The idea is better than the book. Set in Ireland but with little local atmosphere. Somewhat disappointing as there was potential in the idea but it seemed to just miss the mark. Nevertheless it was an easy read with some chuckles and a few nice moment of sheep philosophy.

Flip the pages and the cartoon sheep jumps - sadly the best part. ( )

The basic story is a mystery: a shepherd is murdered and the book is told from the perspective of his sheep as they try to unravel who did it. It sounded lighthearted, perhaps a bit fluffy, but it might be fun...and, certainly, it has received positive reviews. In the end, I only found it fair. The personalities of the sheep were well done—human-like, but certainly not human—and I enjoyed them. However, the plot could not carry the story: disjointed, lacking in depth, and occasionally venturing off into the metaphysical, which didn't fit the book's type. ( )

When their beloved shepherd is found dead in his field, a flock of sheep, led by the very clever Miss Maple, set out to discover who his murderer is.I loved this book. It was cute, quirky and at times, hilarious. It took me a while to get into it. It got busy at times - too much action going on between the sheep and the townspeople. I found myself going back to remember who was who. But once the story slowly unfolded, I couldn't put it down. ( )

The premise of THREE BAGS FULL is simple. Glenkill shepherd George Glenn is found dead in the paddock, murdered, a heavy spade stuck through his middle. So we have a murder mystery.

But what isn't so simple is that the tale of the investigation is told from the point of view of his flock, a rag taggle collection of rare breeds put together by George for their wool and rarity. George has been working on their intelligence too, reading to them every day. The cleverest sheep in the flock is Miss Maple, and her enquiring mind won't let her leave the puzzle of George's death alone. She is assisted by some other notable characters such as Othello, a black Hebridean sheep with four horns, who was once in a circus, and Mopple, a very stout Merino ram who never forgets anything.

Miss Maple impatiently scraped grass and earth up with her hoof. 'But it happened,' she said. 'There must be an end to the story. If George had finished the detective story we would know how it ended. And I want to know. You want to know too, I know you're curious about it. You just don't want to bother your sheepy heads.'

'It's too much for us,' said Cordelia, embarrassed. 'So many human things that we can't understand. And there's no-one to explain words to us now.'

Seeing things from a sheep's point of view with half-understanding can certainly be extremely perplexing and I thought Swann did a very good job of passing this perplexity on to the reader. There were times I was really scratching my head trying to work out what on earth was happening. I think I got the events straight, and I certainly know who killed George.

There were glimmers of ANIMAL FARM in this book, but Swann's ability to sustain the satire is nowhere near as good as Orwell's. There are some interesting characters among the flock, and also among the townspeople. We are given lots of clues that enable us to piece together events that have occurred in the last seven years (the span of a sheep's memory).

But this is not a book that will suit the impatient reader. Other reviewers have commented on how slow it is in patches, and I don't think Leonie Swann manages to sustain it's allegorical nature all the way through.

How to categorise it? A cozy perhaps, but not particularly light. There are little puzzles that keep the grey cells working all the time, and it is easy to miss a clue or two, with the result that what is happening becomes totally incomprehensible. There's humour too - Melmoth the disappearing ram for example; the minister hearing confession behind the grill and then discovering it is actually Othello in the box; the Winter Lamb, a troublemaker with a yen to be involved. ( )

A quick, light read. Some of it is very funny, and Swann does a good job of letting the reader understand the progression of the mystery while keeping the sheep's ignorance believable. The ending doesn't live up to the rest of the book, but overall, I was amused and entertained. ( )

A cute, fun read. Not a lot more. Once you accept Swann's unlikely premise, the rest pretty much follow from there. ( )

i LOVE three bags full it is like my favorite book ( )

I thought the idea for this book was a great one. I loved the different sheep characters with their names appropriate to their personalities, and the human world seen through their eyes were often comic. However, I thought the book was far too long for the slightness of the story and would have benefitted from more ruthless editing. ( )

A sheep detective story! George the shepherd is found dead in a field one day, with a spade shoved straight through him. His sheep, shepherd-less and terribly loyal, take it upon themselves to solve the crime. This was a fun book, a good whodunnit from an unusual point of view. The sheep are all colorful characters that the reader gets to know throughout the novel, and it's interesting to consider what misconceptions they would have about how the world works. Nice fun fluffy (woolly ;-) ) read ( )

original concept, entertaining characters and perspective, but at times unevenly sustained. ( )

I loved this book, so much so that I promptly ordered the follow-up from Amazon - sat down with proverbial cup of tea to find that it was in German - was sooo disappointed. Three Bags Full has immediately made it into my 'Excellent' tag, which is a real achievement - books don't get there lightly. The plot, although aptly slow moving, was a delight, as were all the central characters. Sheep will never appear the same again. It seemed totally logical to me how the sheep were treated by George which is the beauty of the writing - I feel Leonie Swann must have spent some time in rural Ireland to catch the wonderful lyricism and idiosycracies so well. ( )

first line: "'He was healthy yesterday,' said Maude."

This mystery, translated from German, is indeed about a flock of sheep who investigate the untimely death of their shepherd. The novel begins with a "DRAMATIS OVES" (including "Miss Maple," the main detective of the flock; "Othello," the sole black sheep; and "Melmoth" the ovine Wanderer), and it only gets odder from there. In anthropomorphizing the sheep, Swann also demonstrates the flock-like social needs and behaviors of humans. There are parts I didn't much like (such as the way an unknown sheep introduced late in the book acts as a sort of deus ex machina, if you will, in explaining the mystery to the main ovine characters). Overall, though, Three Bags Full is a well-written, entertaining, and even thought-provoking read. ( )

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Seeing the cover or hearing the synopsis you may think it's a fluffy read (no pun intended), but by the end, the wisdom of the sheep far pervades anything the humans did.

The basic plot is easy enough: a flock of sheep wake up one morning to see their shepherd dead, a spade driven through his chest. Since his sheep have become extra smart because of all the books he has read them, they decide to solve the mystery themselves.

What follows is a delightful story that makes you see humankind through a sheepy perspective. Everything the sheep say and do make sense in a fantastic way, and even though the sheep never fully understand the extent of the dark past surrounding their shepherd, it is easy enough for the human reading it to. This book goes quickly and I dare you to not fall in love with at least one of the sheep. ( )

When shepherd George Glenn is found in his field with a spade driven through his body, the sheep he leaves behind take it upon themselves to solve the murder. The victim's habit of reading to his flock has rendered the animals unusually intelligent, and each sheep contributes his or her own talent as they observe the villagers of Glennkill in hopes of uncovering the mystery. The best detectives in the flock appear to be the brilliant Miss Maple, smart enough to avoid the trivial "Smartest Sheep in Glennkill" contest, the bold black ram Othello, and the all-remembering (and all-eating) Mopple the Whale. As the sheep piece together clues and debate motives, they find that there's no shortage of suspects: "Bible-thumping Beth" paid George frequent visits, George's wife Kate was unhappy, the neighboring shepherd Gabriel has a strange flock of non-fleecy sheep, and the flock's favorite human to place under suspicion, Ham the Butcher, always smells of "screams, pain, and blood."

The novel can be cute and gentle but also darkly humorous, and even though the author has fun with the genre, there are serious elements to the story. Swann strikes a balance between making her furry protagonists intelligent and human enough to have emotional depth while still allowing them to maintain a sheep-y, childlike view of the world. A ram has a point after all, when he notes that death caused by blood-inducing injuries is "All perfectly natural," and no sheep is above ogling aromatic vegetables. While the novel is primarily a mystery, these particular sheep are also rather philosophical and will, for instance, pass their time pondering the "cloud sheep" in the sky, wondering what one does to become a "cloud sheep." Othello in particular is a very introspective ram, having lived through the horrors of a circus and the exoticism of residing in a zoo. The sheep's personalities are treated with as much care as those of any human characters, and the fate of the shepherd-less flock becomes as central to the story as the identity of the murderer.

The novel is not a fast-paced mystery, but taking time to graze among the sheep as they wax philosophic about the advantages and downfalls of being part of a flock, whether it's comprised of sheep or humans, is just as rewarding as their moments of amateur sleuthing. ( )

A fun, quirky book about a flock of sheep investigating the death of their shepherd.

The story is told from the POV of the sheep. There are several main sheep characters. They are not super or alien sheep, just sheep that were cared for and respected by their shepherd. The sheep have a small amount of knowledge of the human world, so they see things sheep-centricly. The author does a good job keeping to the sheep POV, though at times it makes the story that deals with the humans and they mystery seem disjointed.

I hope the story of their journey to Europe continues. ( )

Animal detectives have become very popular. Usually that means dogs or cats. In this case, it's a flock of sheep, who try to solve the murder of their shepherd.

The mystery is solved, but the true pleasure of this book is the sheep. ( )