Discover Well-Read Black Girl Books and the projects reshaping publishing →

Book Summary and Reviews of Big Bad Wool (A Sheep Detective Story) by Leonie Swann

Big Bad Wool (A Sheep Detective Story) by Leonie Swann

Big Bad Wool (A Sheep Detective Story)

by Leonie Swann

  • Published:
  • May 2025, 384 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

In the highly anticipated follow-up to the breakout offbeat hit Three Bags Full, an enterprising flock of sheep must get to the bottom of just who—or what—is leaving a trail of grisly destruction in its wake.

With one solved mystery under their wooly belts, the time has come for the sheep of Glennkill to explore Europe. Together with their new shepherdess, Rebecca, they move into their winter quarters in the shadow of a French chateau. But their new home is far from idyllic. A number of sheep from a previous flock have disappeared, and deer are dying unnatural deaths in the forest. The strange goats from the neighboring pasture have a theory: a werewolf. Could that be real, or just a fantasy?

When a human falls victim, it becomes clear that even fantasies can be fatal. And the last thing the sheep want is to lose another shepherd. With the help of the goats next door, they follow the werewolf's trail in a desperate attempt to save both themselves and Rebecca with sheep logic, courage, and woolpower.

This clever, tense mystery features the ultimate amateur sleuths as they ponder curious human motives, attempt to change their fortunes by eating tarot cards, and borrow a harebrained scheme from a not-so-secret spy in an attempt to thwart the beast that's been stalking them.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"Witty ... As in the previous book, Swann gives each of her animal protagonists a distinctive voice and personality, and she stirs up hilarious misunderstandings between the flock and their human counterparts. The mystery itself is brisk and surprising. Cozy mystery fans will be delighted." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Likely to warm the hearts and expand the horizons of readers." —Kirkus Reviews

"A complete original." —Booklist

This information about Big Bad Wool (A Sheep Detective Story) was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Click here and be the first to review this book!

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Leonie Swann

Leonie Swann grew up near Munich and earned degrees in philosophy, communications, and psychology from Munich University and the Munich School of Philosophy. Her debut novel, Three Bags Full, became an instant hit, leading the German bestseller charts for months. It has since been translated into twenty-six languages, won both the PETA Award and the prestigious Glauser Prize for crime fiction in the debut category, and will soon be a major motion picture. She has now published six books, including The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp, and lives and works in the English countryside near Cambridge.

More Author Information

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked Big Bad Wool (A Sheep Detective Story), try these:

  • Lost Lambs jacket

    Lost Lambs

    by Madeline Cash

    Published 2026

    About this book

    Rippling with humor, warmth, and style, Lost Lambs is a new vision of the charms and pitfalls of family dysfunction.

  • Once There Were Wolves jacket

    Once There Were Wolves

    by Charlotte McConaghy

    Published 2022

    About this book

    From the author of the beloved national bestseller Migrations, a pulse-pounding new novel set in the wild Scottish Highlands.

  • Barn 8 jacket

    Barn 8

    by Deb Olin Unferth

    Published 2020

    About this book

    An unforgettably exuberant and potent novel by a writer at the height of her powers.

We have 10 read-alikes for Big Bad Wool (A Sheep Detective Story), but non-members are limited to three results. Join free to see the complete list of recommendations.
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
When No One Else Will
by Amanda Skenandore
1940s Chicago nurse risks everything at an illegal women’s clinic during a high-profile trial of courage and sisterhood.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket
    The Jellyfish Problem
    by Tessa Yang
    A marine biologist rescues a Maine island menaced by a giant glowing jellyfish in this inventive debut.
  • Book Jacket
    Look What You Made Me Do
    by John Lanchester
    A propulsive tale of intergenerational tension and revenge from the Booker Prize nominee.
  • Book Jacket
    Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young
    by Zayd Ayers Dohrn
    Son of Weather Underground radicals recounts life on the run and decades of revolutionary struggle.
Who Said...

Happiness belongs to the self sufficient

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Book
Trivia
  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

Q S, S

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.