Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd

July 4, 2016
Bestseller Bradley’s lively eighth Flavia de Luce novel (after 2015’s As Chimney Sweeps Come to Dust) finds the preadolescent chemist and detective back at Buckshaw, her crumbling family estate in England, after being dishonorably discharged from Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy in Canada. Her beloved father’s sickness taints homecoming, leaving moody Flavia to ward off a flock of pesky sisters. Welcome distraction comes when Flavia stumbles on the body of a local wood-carver strapped upside-down to a wooden contraption, flanked by a stack of children’s books by famed nonsense-versifier Oliver Inchbald. Flavia, who’s delighted to investigate under the eye of her old friend Inspector Hewitt, uncovers a backstory to the murder involving a man devoured by seagulls and a madcap Auntie Loo who dies scuba diving. Only the somewhat arbitrary final reveal disappoints. Child detectives can irritate, but Flavia’s a winner, a mix of sparky irreverence and wrathful propriety who evades the preciousness endemic to the species. Agent: Denise Bukowski, Bukowski Agency.

October 31, 2016
Those who’ve delighted in the seven previous 1950s-era mysteries narrated by precocious British preteen Flavia de Luce are sure to enjoy her eloquent if sometimes snarky new account. Returning to her ramshackle family home in Bishop’s Lacey, England, at Christmastime, the budding chemist, poison expert, and self-styled sleuth is dismayed to find her father has been hospitalized with pneumonia, visitors not permitted. While attempting to lift her spirits and avoid her annoying sisters and cousin, she stumbles upon the corpse of the town’s woodcarver, crucified upside down. Suddenly feeling “gloriously alive,” she sets out, determined to bring the murderer to justice, armed with a logical mind and a major clue­—the first edition of a popular children’s book. Reader Entwistle has been the voice of Flavia and her family, friends, and enemies for all eight audios for one reason: she’s the perfect choice. Not just capable of credibly imitating the voice of youth, she’s able to mold it to fit the mercurial moods of Flavia, from, in this case, worrying about her father to experiencing elation when uncovering new details, some as bizarre as a report of a man gobbled up by seagulls. A Delacorte hardcover.

July 15, 2016
Banished from Miss Bodycote's Female Academy in far-off Toronto (As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust, 2015, etc.) and sent back home to England, Flavia de Luce wants nothing more than to hug her beloved father. Fate has other plans.No sooner has unapologetically precocious Flavia arrived back in Buckshaw, the home her late mother left her, than she's informed in hushed tones that the impecunious Col. Haviland de Luce is in hospital with pneumonia. Before she can tear herself away from Ophelia and Daphne, the hateful older sisters she's dubbed Feely and Daffy, and her recently discovered cousin Undine to go visit him and spread her distinctive brand of cyanide cheer, a routine errand she agrees to run for Cynthia Richardson, the vicar's wife, brings her face to knees with woodworker Roger Sambridge, who's been crucified upside down on the bedroom door of his cottage. Instead of screaming and fleeing like any other 12-year-old, Flavia naturally investigates. The most interesting discovery she makes is a set of Oliver Inchbold's children's books, which would seem far from the obvious reading material for an unmarried 70-year-old man. Her quest to ascertain what they were doing in Sambridge's library leads Flavia to a series of increasingly revealing conversations with Carla Sherrinford-Cameron, whose signature was in one of the books; to rumors that both Carla's late aunt, Louisa Congreve, and Sambridge neighbor Lillian Trench are witches; and to a past crime that's been cunningly concealed from Flavia's pal Inspector Hewitt--everywhere, in short, but to her father's bedside. Although she seems for quite a while to be relying on good contacts and good luck, Bradley's preteen heroine comes through in the end with a series of deductions so clever she wants to hug herself. So will you.

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August 1, 2016
Nothing makes 12-year-old Flavia de Luce feel more gloriously alive than murder. The brilliant young chemist-sleuth has just returned from her mother's old school in Canada to find her beloved father hospitalized with pneumonia, leaving her English household morose and her two older sisters as disagreeable as ever. But when Flavia takes off on her bicycle named Gladys to deliver a message from the vicar's wife to woodcarver Roger Sambridge, she finds the man dead, his body suspended upside down in a wooden frame. Adding to the puzzle is a nearby shelf of mint-condition first editions by renowned children's author Oliver Inchbald, including a copy inscribed to Carla Sherrinford-Cameron, a girl Flavia knows. Turns out that Carla's aunt, Louise Congreve, was a dear friend of Inchbald, who was pecked to death by seagulls before Louisa herself died in a diving accident. With the help of convicted and then acquitted murderer Mildred Bannerman, Flavia follows leads to reveal the truth to Inspector Hewitt. Readers of all ages will revel in the accomplishments and share in the sorrow of Flavia, a perennial charmer.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

Starred review from September 1, 2016

In her eighth series installment (after As Chimney Sweepers Come To Dust), Flavia de Luce is back tearing up the roads between her family estate at Buckshaw and the village of Bishop's Lacey on her trusty bicycle Gladys. The 12-year-old intrepid girl detective and imaginative chemist has returned home from Canada to a grim house with her father in the hospital. On her first day back, Flavia discovers a corpse, setting off yet another investigation employing her considerable wit and unique logic and leading us through another puzzle steeped in English lore. Part Curious George and part Miss Marple, Flavia is also a lonely little girl growing up in post-World War II England with adults who are otherwise engaged. Still, she manages to make her way, and readers can only delight in watching Flavia make sense of her world. VERDICT Mystery fans seeking novels with wit, an immersive English countryside setting, and rich characterizations will be rewarded with this newest entry in the award-winning series. [See Prepub Alert, 3/14/16; a September LibraryReads Pick.]--Cheryl Bryan, Orleans, MA

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2016

Wickedly smart young Flavia de Luce launched her investigative career with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, a multiaward winner, and her last two outings were both No. 1 LibraryReads picks. Here, she happily arrives home from banishment, uh, boarding school, in Canada only to learn that her father has been hospitalized. To escape a house full of unbearable relatives, she agrees to deliver a message sent by the vicar's wife to a gruff and isolated wood-carver, only to find him hanging upside down and his brindled cat looking singularly indifferent.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2016

In her eighth series installment (after As Chimney Sweepers Come To Dust), Flavia de Luce is back tearing up the roads between her family estate at Buckshaw and the village of Bishop's Lacey on her trusty bicycle Gladys. The 12-year-old intrepid girl detective and imaginative chemist has returned home from Canada to a grim house with her father in the hospital. On her first day back, Flavia discovers a corpse, setting off yet another investigation employing her considerable wit and unique logic and leading us through another puzzle steeped in English lore. Part Curious George and part Miss Marple, Flavia is also a lonely little girl growing up in post-World War II England with adults who are otherwise engaged. Still, she manages to make her way, and readers can only delight in watching Flavia make sense of her world. VERDICT Mystery fans seeking novels with wit, an immersive English countryside setting, and rich characterizations will be rewarded with this newest entry in the award-winning series. [See Prepub Alert, 3/14/16; a September LibraryReads Pick.]--Cheryl Bryan, Orleans, MA

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.