UK hardcover	UK 'Royal' edition	US Hardcover

With unheard of cooperation between publishers, Hodder & Stoughton and Penguin, the UK and US editions of Something Rotten were released nearly simultaneously in both regions. The UK release occurred on July 26, 2004 followed closely by the US release on August 9. That left time for a 2 week UK promotional tour between releases.

There is also a special UK 'Royal' edition with artwork that is in keeping with the previous three books. Subsequent printings of the first three books will have artwork similar to the 'pulp' feel of the new standard UK edition. The US versions will remain unchanged.

Synopsis:
The blurb for the UK edition goes like this:

. . . I have watched Grammasites in flight over the pleasure domes of Xanadu, cantered bareback on unicorns through the leafy forests of Zenobia and played chess with Ozymandias, the King of Kings. But despite all these moments of wonder and delight, my heart belonged back home in Swindon and to a man named Landen Parke-Laine. He was my husband, the father of my son, he didn't exist, and I loved him . . .

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?

Detective Thursday Next has had her fill of her responsibilities as the Bellman in Jurisfiction, enough of Emperor Zhark's pointlessly dramatic entrances, outbreaks of slapstick raging across pulp genres, and hacking off her hair to fill in for Joan of Arc. Packing up her son, Friday, Thursday returns to Swindon accompanied by none other than the dithering Danish prince Hamlet. Caring for both is more than a full-time job, and Thursday decides it's definitely time to get back to her husband, Landen, if only to babysit. Luckily, those responsible for Landen's erdication, the operatives of the Goliath Corporation - formerly an oppressive multi-national conglomerate, now and oppressive multi-national religion- have pledged to right the wrong.

But returning to SpecOps isn't a snap. Problems arise instantly. When outlaw fictioneer Yorrick Kaine seeks to get himself elected dictator, he whips up a frenzy of anti-Danish sentiment and demands mass book burnings. The return of Swindon's patron saint bearing divine prophecies could spell the end of the world within five years, possibly sooner if the laughably terrible Swindon Mallets don't win the SuperHoop, the most important croquet tournament in the land. And if that's not bad enough, The Merry Wives of Windsor is becoming entangled with Hamlet. Can Thursday find a Shakespeare clone to stop this hostile takeover? Can she prevent the world from plunging into war? Can she vanquish Kaine before he realizes his dream of absolute power? And, most important, will she ever find reliable child care? Find out in this totally original, action-packed romp, sure to be another escapist thrill for jasper Fforde's legion of fans.