by Alan Bradley
2009 Delacorte Press
Winner of the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger Award
Our library Mystery Book Club selection, February 2011
Setting: 1950, English countryside, small village
11-year-old Flavia de Luce finds a man gasping his last breath in the family cucumber patch. Flavia "is both appalled and delighted" by the discovery. Later, she learns that he is someone from her father's past.
Mr. de Luce is eventually jailed and awaiting trial, charged with the man's murder. It is up to Flavia to sort things out.
Flavia is not your normal 11 year old. Her favorite room in the house is her ancient Chem Lab upstairs. Using ingenuity, cunning, deductive reasoning, and a lot of snooping around, Flavia begins to find a few answers...and a dangerous adversary.
This is an adult novel, although readers from Flavia's age on up will enjoy it. It has mystery, danger, an assortment of odd local characters, and a lot of chuckles, thanks to Flavia's precociousness and her mission to get revenge on her older sisters.
Not for those who like a fast-pace, modern settings, & graphic violence. This little gem is for readers who appreciate unique & interesting characters, very good writing and a mystery that is off the beaten path.
I've heard good things about this book, and with your recommendation, it's going on the list!
ReplyDeleteI'm almost done with The Incredible Lightness of Scones, in which Ian Rankin appears (again), which has (again) prompted me to read an Ian Rankin mystery. Love Edinburgh!
Questions discussed: (Possible spoilers)
ReplyDeleteWhy did Bradley cast an 11 year old as the main character?
Did Flavia act her age at various points of the book?
Did descriptions of natural landscape, for example, willows, match descriptions of some characters in the book?
Did Flavia & her sisters attend school/lessons?
What was the fate of the stamps & why?
At what point did you solve the mystery?
Notes of interest:
ReplyDeleteBradley won the Debut Dagger Award based on his 1st 15 pp -- and was offered a 3-book deal!
He had never been to England until he submitted his entry for the award.