Last
week I finished the eighth book in Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce novels, Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d. It
was as much fun reading this as the first in the series, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, and those that followed.
For
those of you who have not yet had the pleasure of reading the series, Flavia de
Luce is an eleven year old girl living in a large country manor house in
England sadly in need of repairs, and money for the repairs. Flavia had
discovered a large room in one of the wings that was a chemistry lab of one of
her ancestors, Tarquin de Luce, who’d had mental problems. She found his books
and the chemicals he used as well as all the equipment that went with them and
became an amazing chemist for such a young girl. She was as bright as any adult
scientist and this comes through in every book in the series.
Her mother had disappeared somewhere in the
Alps when Flavia was very young. Her father had been an officer in World War
II, and ended up in a prison camp. Now he spends much of his time with his
stamp collection. She has two teenage sisters who torment her and play horrible
tricks on her and tell her she was adopted. But she usually gets back at them
in some way or another. Another character is Dogger, a soldier who had been
close to her father and also a prisoner of war, who suffers now from occasional
spells from PTSD. He’s totally devoted to her father and to Flavia, too.
The
first book takes place in the summer of 1950. It’s in this book that Flavia
finds someone dying in the garden and watches as he takes his last breath.
Being the inquisitive person she is, she sets out to solve who murdered him,
much to the dismay of Inspector Hewitt. In time throughout the series, he comes
to rely on her since she solves the murder and others in the books that follow.
Her best friend throughout the series is Gladys. Gladys is her old bicycle, and
she talks to her and treats her like her best friend in every book. One has to
feel sorry for Flavia for not having any real friends because her sisters never
respect her, and she is quite precocious, too, which might put those her own
age off. However, there are those in
town who like her and are quite friendly. Mrs. Mullet, the housekeeper and cook
and Dogger care for her, but it’s not quite like having a close relationship
with anyone.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the
Pie was
the Most Award-Winning Book of any year. It won the Macavity Award for Best
First Mystery Novel, Barry Award for Best First Novel, Agatha Award for Best
First Novel, Dilys Award, Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel, Spotted Owl Award
for Best Novel, and the CWA Debut Dagger
Award.
The
books that followed were: The Weed that
Strings the Hangman’s Bag, A Red Herring without Mustard, I am Half-sick of
Shadows, Speaking From Among the Bones, The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, As
Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust.
In
Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d, his
most recent book, she’s now twelve years old. It’s in the winter right before
Christmas, and she’s just returned from Canada where she was sent to a special
school in the last book, which she hated. Her father’s in the hospital with
pneumonia and too sick for her to visit. Her sisters are still unfriendly to her.
Again she discovers a body as in every other book, and gets busy trying to
solve who the murderer is. And yes, to her danger, she does find out who the
murderer was, and Inspector Hewitt, who tried to keep her from investigating in
the beginning, is pleased with what she discovered. Dogger has been looking out
for her more since her father is in the hospital, and yes, she still has her
best friend, Gladys.
My
only regret in finishing this book is that I know I won’t have another Flavia
de Luce book to read for at least a year.
In
reading the praise that has come through from many authors of the books and
book reviewers, I only hope and pray he continues on with the series because
not only would I be disappointed, so would thousands of other fans of the
Flavia de Luce books.
Have
you read any of this series?
If
you haven’t, would you like to read it?
Thank you, Gloria, for your post on Alan Bradley and the delightful Flavia De Luce books. I was at the Malice Domestic conference dinner when it was announced that "Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" won an Agatha Award. It intrigued me, so I got a copy and was hooked. I'm so pleased to learn that there is a recent release in the series. I've also listened to the audiobook versions of the books, and the narrator is terrific. This is definitely one series to add to the TOP of your too be read list.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a wonderful series. I've never heard of it. For some reason, while reading your post, I kept thinking of The Secret Garden. one of my favorite books.
ReplyDeleteI adore this series! I'm quite a bit behind in reading them, but they are what I call my Desert Island books, the books that I read on the beach when I know I will have no distractions.
ReplyDeleteGrace, I was at that Malice conference, too. It's probably where I bought his first book there since I always spend a lot of money buying books there.
ReplyDeleteKait, I know you'll love them not only because of how delightful Flavia is, but also because of his excellent writing.
Shari, they are great books. I think you'd better forget about being on a desert island and find time to read them even just a little at a time.
I would read! I love series and these titles are so intriguing. Thank you for introducing us to this author.
ReplyDeleteVicki, you won't be sorry once you start them.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't familiar with this series, so thank you, Gloria, for pointing it out to us.
ReplyDeleteI love Flavia, a combination of Harriet the Spy with Hermione Granger's science smarts.
ReplyDeleteKM, I think you'll enjoy it because it's very well written.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, isn't she delightful. I was afraid when he took her to Canada that would be the last in the series so I was so glad when he brought her back to England.