I give this series Four out of Five Stars.
I’ve just finished the fourth book in Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce mystery series and I’ve already put in my order for the fifth book. This is a delightful series, full of eccentric characters and intricate plots. It’s funny, too!
Alan Bradley’s main character is a brilliant 11 year old chemist and amateur detective growing up in post-WWII Britain. Flavia has an unhealthy fascination with poisons and death, a fascination that puts her squarely in the middle of a various murder investigations. She lives with her father, her two older sisters, and her father’s handyman (but so much more) Dogger, in their crumbling mansion called Buckshaw.
In the first book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Flavia finds a dead body in the kitchen garden at Buckshaw. Not rattled in the least and wanting to solve the murder herself, she embarks on her own investigation into the death. The local police aren’t too keen on her involvement but her discoveries turn out to be invaluable in the end.
The fact that Flavia is a child does nothing to detract from the books, and in fact, allows for a bit of ridiculousness that you wouldn’t believe if it came from an adult. I have to admit that I do tend to glaze over a bit when she gets into the detailed chemistry bits but that is due to my own lack of knowledge and not any failing on the author’s part.
If you enjoy a light-hearted, intellectual mystery then the Flavia de Luce books are for you.
This weekend, I’m off to a glass mosaic workshop to get my art on. I’ll be learning the techniques and creating my own masterpiece to take home at the end of the workshop. I’ll keep you posted. Wish me luck!
Kind regards,
Anne
Tea and Trifles 