The Grave's a Fine and Private Place by Alan Bradley

THE GRAVE'S A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE by Alan Bradley is the latest (number 9) in the Flavia de Luce series set in 1950’s England. As readers of these reviews know, I truly do adore young Flavia and the witticisms she often shares (see previous reviews from 2016, 2015 and 2013). In this latest offering, Flavia and her elder sisters, Ophelia and Daphne, plus the family retainer named Dogger, are punting along the river near Volesthorpe when a body is discovered. A perfect opportunity for Flavia to apply her sleuthing skills and knowledge of chemistry, especially poisons!  This title seemed to bring the sisters closer together which I was happy to see. However, the mystery itself was rather complex and I found that I was losing interest near the end and struggling to keep track of some of the local characters. Flavia herself describes this as “the most complicated case I had ever come across …. And hardly a sensible clue to be had.”  I concur while waiting impatiently for the next in this award-winning series. THE GRAVE'S A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE received starred reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.

English mysteries ...

Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d by Alan Bradley
It’s mystery time and Flavia de Luce is back! Called a combination of Eloise and Sherlock Holmes by Boston Globe reviewers, Flavia continues to grow-up in rural Bishop’s Lacey, England with a love of chemistry and an affinity for encountering dead bodies. 

This time, in Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d by Alan Bradley, she sets off to deliver a message and finds Roger Sambridge hanging upside down and dead on the back of his bedroom door. Setting off to impress local Inspector Hewitt, Flavia is determined to solve the mystery and distract herself from her father’s illness, all while sharing numerous wry musings with the readers.  To me, Flavia’s entertaining observations are some of the best moments in Bradley’s award winning books:  

• On monosyllabic: “Why, incidentally, does a word meaning ‘a single syllable’ require a five-syllable word to describe it?”

• On the winter landscape: “‘Rather like Good King Wenceslas, isn’t it?’ I said, ticking off the points on my mittened fingers (which isn’t as easy as it sounds).”  

If you like mysteries, prefer less violence, and are looking for a unique and memorable sleuth, you are sure to enjoy the entire Flavia de Luce series. Highly recommended for all ages, Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d received a starred review from Library Journal.

Another gentle mystery set in England is Death of an Avid Reader by Frances Brody. During the 1920’s, private detective Kate Shackleton takes a case to search for the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy, but dying, aristocrat.  As her inquiries continue, a body is found in the local library basement and an itinerant peddler, Umberto, is blamed.

Questions abound: Who was the child’s father? Is the library haunted? What motive was there for the murder?  Will an innocent man be convicted? Kate and her sidekick, ex-policeman Jim Sykes, seek the answers in book six of the series. A good match for fans of Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs or Charles Todd’s Bess Crawford.  Please let us know if you have a mystery to recommend.

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley

Those who read this blog already know that I adore Flavia de Luce, the pre-teen sleuth and chemist-in-training whose family estate, Buckshaw, is located in Bishop’s Lacey, England. The series is set in the 1950’s and in this newest title Flavia is transported to boarding school, Miss Bodycote's Female Academy, in Canada.  There she encounters a corpse almost immediately and readers have the fun of joining her in solving this country house type mystery while meeting a whole new cast of students and faculty created by award-winning author, Alan Bradley.

Flavia and her droll observations of people and situations remains charmingly at the heart of the story:

• “Whenever someone tells you that they want to have a little talk, you can be sure they mean a big one.”
•  “It requires a certain nerve to play at this kind of game: a kind of steely bluff combined with the innocence of a baby lily, and I must say that I was rather good at it.”
•  “A hissing in the garden is a sound that cannot be ignored by any human female since the time of Eve and I was no exception.”

Give yourself a New Year’s treat and enjoy As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust available on Tuesday, January 6^th.

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches

On a recent visit to the library at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, I was very pleasantly surprised to see the award winning Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and other Alan Bradley mysteries on the shelf in the high school.  Even though the main character, Flavia de Luce, is only 11 in the first book, she is a favorite amongst adults and students.  And quite an unforgettable character she is, given her fascination with arsenic, strychnine, and other poisons. Through the first few books, we watch as she follows her passions to solve mysteries, navigates relationships within her less-than-functional family, and reaches out to others in the community.  

The books are intertwined but can be read separately and I thoroughly enjoyed the most recent offering, The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, where Flavia explores her Mother’s life, meets Winston Churchill, and takes to the skies.  The aspect I liked best, though, was watching Flavia’s struggle to maturity: “This was one of the troublesome thoughts with which I had recently begun to be plagued: new, raw, and still not entirely to be trusted.  It was like thinking, sometimes, with someone else’s brain….and I wasn’t sure I approved of it entirely” (Chapter Four).    What adolescent has not felt similarly?

There are hints of travels in the future for Flavia …. Please, please, please do not let this 6^th book be the last!  We will miss Flavia’s wry insights: “One of the marks of a truly great mind, I had discovered, is the ability to feign stupidity on demand” (Chapter Ten).  All of us (including the many readers who enjoy these books in Italian, German, French, and other languages) want to continue to read about how “unstoppable” Flavia truly is!  For readers new to the series, see the author’s website.