Source: Library (audio)
Description: Life at Buckshaw for 11 year old Flavia de Luce is very uneventful. Her days are spent in her chemistry lab, being tormented by her sisters, and figuring out how to get her revenge on said sisters. Until one day a dead bird with a stamp pinned on its bill is found at the door and the next day a body is found in the cucumber patch. And curious precocious Flavia has no intention of leaving the murder solving to the police.
Genre: Mystery
Why I Picked This Book: I had heard great things about this series and the premise sounded unique enough that I wanted to give it a try.
My Impression:
I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from this mystery. One of the reasons I've waited so long to try the series is that I wasn't sure how an adult mystery could have a primary detective who was an eleven year old girl. For the most part it really worked. Flavia does read like a adolescent though a fairly odd, overly precocious adolescent. I thought her relationship with her sisters was entertaining - especially her war with Ophelia. As the mystery itself unraveled it revealed quite a lot about the inner workings of Buckshaw and Bishops Lacey. The pacing of the story was a bit uneven and got slow in parts. While the beginning was interesting and the last 1/3 sped by there was some dragging in the middle and some excessive detail. The information on the stamps themselves was interesting and I enjoyed the secondary mystery involving the suicide of the teacher 30 years in the past. While I guess the who fairly early on I didn't truly guess the why until it was revealed. While The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie didn't blow me away I did enjoy it - especially the last 1/4. I'm curious to see how the series and Flavia develop.
Audio Note: Jayne Entwistle does a fantastic job narrating. Her voice sounds perfect for Flavia without sounding too young for the older characters. I'm very glad to see that she does the narrating for the rest of the books in the series.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Yes. While I'm not running out immediately to get the next book I am intrigued to see where the series goes.
Would I Recommend this Book?: Yes. I think most mystery readers would enjoy this.
Challenges Met? Library Challenge
I'm glad you read this and liked it for the most part. I actually think this series gets better as you go, because you learn more and more who all the characters are. I mean, you get to understand them. And I definitely agree, Jayne Entwhistle as the narrator is amazing!
ReplyDeleteI love Jayne Entwistle's narration! I can see that the series would improve as it goes on. There's a lot of bits and pieces that needed to come together. I definitely am looking forward to seeing where the series goes.
DeleteI've seen this book around, and often thought about picking it up. Thanks for the review, I'm going to grab it the next time I see it.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting premise and uniquely done. It's definitely worth a read!
DeleteI keep wobbling back and forth about whether to read this series; I think my reservations are the same as yours before you read it. I'm still not sure, to be honest, but I am glad you ended up liking it for the most part.
ReplyDeleteIt was an interesting read and there's a lot of potential for the series. I think you would enjoy it though it isn't perfect.
DeleteYay! I'm happy to see you review this. It's always been one that interested me, but I've never really thought it would be my kind of book. When I get to it I will definitely go with the audio. Hopefully that will keep me listening even when it gets boring. I thought it might feel a little pretentious because of it being an adult book but a child MC. I'm glad you didn't mention that. So I guess it didn't?
ReplyDeleteHappy reading!
Brittany @ This is the Story of My(Reading) Life
I didn't find it pretentious though I was a little concerned about that that too. It really didn't come off as pretentious but more as Flavia being impressed with herself.
DeleteI'm not really a mystery reader, but whenever I see the cover of the books by this author they always grab my attention! Great review!
ReplyDeleteThe covers always get me too! This was interesting and I think even those who don't like mysteries might enjoy this one.
DeleteOK, so I discussed this book with my mystery group a few years ago. And it received mostly thumbs up from everyone. I was one of the ones that didn't love it. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I have one close friend from the group who absolutely loves this series. She keeps encouraging me to try again and I've thought about it. But...not yet. LOL
ReplyDeleteI didn't love this one but I did love the potential I saw. I think now that the character and circumstances of Flavia are developed we can get a more fleshed out story. Or at least I hope so!
DeleteGood review - and very timely from my perspective. My book club just chose this for our May book, so I'm glad to hear that you liked it and that the audio version is well done. I'm not sure whether I'll read it or listen to it, but I will look forward to it!
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting and there's a lot of potential for the series that made up for the flaws for me. And the audio is fantastic!
DeleteThis is one I've been curious about for a while. I think I'd like it, it sounds both cute and intriguing. Good to know the audio is good too, duly noted!
ReplyDeleteI'm on book six. I've enjoyed this series. Flavia cracks me up. I love her fascination with poisons and dead bodies. I can totally imagine her flying down the pebbled path with her legs sticking out and pigtails flying back on Gladys.
ReplyDeleteI do like the sound of our eleven year old detective and even the synopsis screams read me. I would like to try this on audio.
ReplyDeleteI was curious about this book (I'm usually confused about this author and think he's Alan Bennett !) but I guess I wouldn't really appreciate it, so thanks for sharing your review :)
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