Tag: flavia de luce

What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust by Alan Bradley (Mystery)

Flavia De Luce is back! Joined (against her wishes) by her obnoxious (but very similar IMHO) cousin Undine and the always welcome, long-time family retainer Dogger, Flavia sets out to defend the family’s cook against a murder charge. Major Grayleigh — a genial but private man — was found dead after eating the mushrooms picked and cooked by Mrs. Mullet. Obviously nothing is what it seems on the surface, and there are some big surprises that unfold with the mystery. All told in Bradley’s irreverent style and populated with arcane bits of history that I can’t believe are real. The Neck Verse and clergy indemnity? Timycha, a pregnant Pythagorean philosopher, who bit off her own tongue to prevent her disclosing secret information during torture? Look them up!

I always like the characters — some new, some old. Max — a retired concert pianist of “diminished verticality” (his words) — is a favorite of mine. In all, plenty of fun. I had wondered if Bradley had stopped writing as it’s been five years since the last volume, and they had been coming annually so I’m happy to see that it’s not over yet! I’m not actually sure how old Flavia is any more — she was 11 at the start of the series but that was nine books ago …

Thank you to Bantam and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on Sept. 3rd, 2024.

The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Book to be released on Jan. 22, 2019.

Writing: 4/5 Plot: 3.5/5 Characters: 3.5/5

New word (to me): deliquescence — the process by which a substance absorbs moisture from the atmosphere until it dissolves in the absorbed water and forms a solution.

Shakespeare’s sonnet on grave robbers starts “Before the golden tresses of the dead…” which gives a hint as to the subject matter of this delightful installment of the Flavia De Luce series. For those of you who haven’t met Flavia before, she is the precocious pre-teen with a penchant for poisons and passion for chemistry and now the owner of Buckshaw — the somewhat decaying family estate in Bishop’s Lacy. This episode was internally referred to as the “Curious Case of the Clue in the Cake” (said clue was the finger bone of a recently deceased Spanish guitarist found in Flavia’s sister’s wedding cake!) — but the digit-based investigation uncovers a more deliciously evil plot swirling around homeopathic distillations and murder.

Bradley’s writing is fun — every volume is full of arcane references in the fields of literature, history, anthropology, architecture, and of course Flavia’s favorite: chemistry. My favorite line:

“Like a sponge the human brain can only absorb so much before it begins to leak.”

This one is pretty good too:

“Great music has much the same effect upon humans as cyanide, I managed to think: It paralyzes the respiratory system.”

You can certainly read this one without the others — or really start anywhere you like in the series, though there is a nice progression to going in order.