As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by C. Alan Bradley

Reviewed by Jeanne

At the end of the previous book, Flavia de Luce learned she was being sent to Canada to Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy.  Her mother, Harriet, had attended the school and left quite an impression.  Flavia isn’t at all thrilled at this turn of events.  She desperately misses Buckshaw, Dogger, her father, and even her sisters.  Not even discovering that her chemistry teacher is Mrs. Bannerman—the woman acquitted of poisoning her husband and a personal hero of Flavia’s – is enough to make her want to stay.

There is one bright spot:  the first night at the school, a body tumbles out of the chimney in Flavia’s room.

The body is charred and partially mummified, wrapped in a flag. It appears to be the body of a young woman, but oddly the adults don’t seem inclined to let Flavia examine the body too closely. Could it possibly be the remains of a former student of the Academy?

This is the seventh adventure of the extremely precocious but not precious Flavia de Luce, a twelve year old with a passion for chemistry and for mysteries. I confess I had some concerns when I found Flavia would set out for the New World, but she didn’t disappoint.  Her observations are as sharp as ever, and she has a whole new cast of characters to impress and/or appall. She’s a bit more of a fish out of water here. She’s uncertain at times how to interact with her peers, but for the most part Flavia does what she always has:  assesses the situation and takes action. The adults are almost more befuddled by her than the other girls, of course, and Flavia has many opportunities to indulge her taste for theatrics.  The author even allowed some long distance interaction with the folks of Buckshaw so that readers weren’t totally bereft of the other characters we’ve come to know.

The brevity of this review is from a desire not to give too much away.  If you’re already a fan, I think you’ll enjoy this latest outing which continues the turn toward what has been called The Great Game.  If you’ve acquired a taste for pheasant, you’ll know what I mean. 

On the other hand, if you haven’t yet experienced Flavia de Luce I would strongly suggest you start with an earlier book. This is a series best read in order.

1. The Sweetness At the Bottom of the Pie
2. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
3. A Red Herring Without Mustard
4. I Am Half Sick of Shadows
5. Speaking From Among the Bones
6. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches
7. As Chimney Sweepers Come To Dust

Speaking From Among the Bones by C. Alan Bradley

Reviewed by Jeanne

I admit from the outset that I am a devoted Flavia fan. The precocious twelve year old with a passion for chemistry and solving murders is one of my favorite literary characters, but sometimes this series is a hard sell.  It just sounds so—well, Nancy Drewish. It helps a bit to tell folks that the setting is an English village in the 1950s, where she lives with her emotionally distant father and two disagreeable sisters in a crumbling manor house but that still doesn’t convey the appeal of the series. Flavia has an insatiable intellectual curiosity, be it for a way to slightly poison someone or how to read her sisters’ diaries undetected.

In Speaking from Among the Bones, Flavia is enthusiastically looking forward to the disinterment of St. Tancred’s bones on the 500th anniversary of his demise.  It makes a nice diversion from the worry that her home, Buckshaw, may be sold out from under them.  Before the tomb is opened, however, Flavia discovers a much fresher corpse:  the body of Mr. Collicutt, the church organist who had gone missing.  How did he end up in Saint Tancred’s crypt? Why was he wearing a gas mask?

The writing somehow remains fresh and funny, though never silly.  Some of the descriptions of Flavia’s hair-raising underground graveyard adventures made me hold my breath for a variety of reasons. (Bradley does have a way with description!) The mysteries pile up and the solutions are ingenious.  I'll admit that for once I spotted the murderer before Flavia did, but that in no way lessened my enjoyment.  In fact, I'd venture to say that the reason she failed to figure it is a reflection of Flavia's character, which is one reason I like the series so much:  Flavia, while brilliant and seemingly sophisticated, is still a child and her analysis and interpretation of events is often from a child's point of view. She finds her old sister's romances baffling, for example, and is still naive enough to half believe some of her sisters' taunts even if she pretends not to.

You don’t have to read the series in order, but if you want to understand the full significance of the last line it might be better to start with an earlier book. Fans will be counting the days until the next book comes out.  Alas, The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches  isn’t scheduled until 2014!

1. The Sweetness At the Bottom of the Pie
2. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
3. A Red Herring Without Mustard
4. I Am Half Sick of Shadows
5. Speaking From Among the Bones

Flavia de Luce Redux!

The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley (F BRA Main)

Reviewed by Jeanne

Life has returned to normal for Flavia de Luce, eleven year old chemist, would-be sleuth and resident of Bishop’s Lacey.  After all, it’s probably too much to expect to find yet another stranger lying dead in one’s cucumber patch.  Flavia is making the best of things by continuing her experiments and trying to find new ways to torment her older sisters, Daffy and Feely, who cheerfully return the favor.  Things start to look up a bit when Rupert Porson, puppeteer extraordinaire, and  his beautiful assistant Nialla turn up in the village and agree to do a performance at the church.  They have very little choice in the matter:  their van has broken down and they’re stuck until it’s repaired.  Flavia soon has reason to suspect that Rupert is no stranger to Bishop’s Lacey:  one of his puppets bears an uncanny resemblance to a child who died several years earlier under somewhat unusual circumstances.

When Rupert has a fatal encounter with large amounts of electricity, Flavia knows at once that it’s no accident.  The police tend to agree, but they seem less than enthusiastic about having an underage detective doing her own investigations.  That doesn’t deter Flavia in the slightest, of course, and she sets out to learn all she can about the tangled relationships and dark pasts of those involved.

I for one cheered the return of the indomitable Flavia de Luce whom we first met in The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.  Some people found Flavia too precocious and too smug, but I found her delightful.  She has a sharp tongue and quick wit. (In regard to the vicar’s wife, Flavia says “I have to admit… that Cynthia was a great organizer, but then, so were the men with the whips who got the pyramids built.”)


She’s extremely well read, extremely bright and more than a bit stubborn, but she’s still a child. She understands a great deal but not quite as much as she thinks she does, especially where emotions are concerned.  She’s read Madame Bovary, for instance, but doesn’t quite grasp some of the implications.  She goes to her friend Dogger, an ex-soldier suffering from shell-shock who serves the family as chauffeur and general handyman, and inquires about a particular passage:

“What did Flaubert mean… when he said that Madame Bovary gave herself up to Rudolphe?”

“He meant,” Dogger said, “That they became the greatest of friends.  The very greatest of friends.”

To which Flavia replies, “Ah!  Just as I thought.”

The supporting cast is wonderful. The family plays a lesser role in this second book, though the scenes with visiting Aunt Felicity are not to be missed.  Instead we have a fine cast of suspects with complex motivations and dark histories.  Bradley seems to evoke England of the 1950s with ease.

You don’t need to have read the first book to enjoy this one; each stands alone.  There’s a lot of humor but it’s thoughtful rather than slap-stick.  I find Flavia delightful and I hope you will too.

Dig Deep: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Reviewed by Jeanne

Recently, I read a question posted online that asked readers which they preferred, a writer or a storyteller. I didn’t respond, but if I had, I would have said that it depended: if I wanted to escape for a couple of hours, give me a storyteller who would make the time fly by. If I were on a desert island and had but one book, I think I’d prefer a writer, one whose phrases would make me stop and ponder or delight me with wordplay.

For me, The Sweetness in the Bottom of the Pie fulfills both requirements. This first novel by Alan Bradley has memorable characters, an intriguing plot and a fine way with a phrase. I found myself chortling over line after line, hoping that I would remember to use some of these at some point in the future. Perhaps I should have taken notes.

The story is narrated by Flavia de Luce, a precocious eleven year old with a passion for chemistry, especially poisons. She has two insufferable older sisters, Daphne and Ophelia, and an emotionally distant father who spends his days with his stamp collection. They live in Buckshaw, an aging manor house in a village in 1950s England where things are not so much dull as ordinary. The first hint that something is amiss is the discovery of a dead bird on the doorstep, a postage stamp stuck on its bill.

The next morning, Flavia arises early and slips out to the garden only to find a man dying amid the cucumber vines.

Flavia is thrilled.

So begins one of the freshest, wittiest mysteries I’ve read in quite some time. While some reviewers have complained that Flavia is far too sophisticated for a child, I found her to be a delight. She has an impressive vocabulary and wide knowledge of literature and music, but she reacts as a child. Certain subtleties elude her, such as the nuances of romance. She concocts elaborate plots to extract revenge on Feely and Daffy, goes for long and glorious rides on Gladys (her bicycle), and pokes her nose into everybody’s business. She’s a British version of Harriet the Spy, albeit with murder. I don’t know that I’d like Flavia for a relative or a neighbor, but I certainly enjoyed her antics from afar, and I have no doubt she would object to the word “antics.” Most of the other characters are seen through Flavia’s filter, but the author still gives them the room to surprise his heroine. There is also a definite old- fashioned feel to the series; I actually would have thought earlier than the 50s if the author hadn’t given some dates to the contrary.

I hated to see this romp come to its exciting end, and am awaiting my turn to read the sequel, The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag (F BRA Main).