A Red Herring Without Mustard

Starred review from December 6, 2010
In Bradley's outstanding third Flavia de Luce mystery set in post-WWII rural England (after 2010's The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag), precocious 11-year-old Flavia de Luce and her family pursue their different interests. Flavia's widowed father, Col. Haviland de Luce, has his philately; 17-year-old sister Ophelia ("Feely"), her music; and 13-year-old sister Daphne ("Daffy"), her books. Flavia's escape is the old, elaborately equipped chemistry lab installed by her late great-uncle, Tarquin de Luce, in their Buckshaw estate. Flavia's discovery of an old Gypsy woman who's been attacked in her wagon sends the girl off on an investigation that will reveal more of Buckshaw's secrets as well as new information about Harriet, the mother Flavia never knew. In this marvelous blend of whimsy and mystery, Flavia manages to operate successfully in the adult world of crimes and passions while dodging the childhood pitfalls set by her sisters.

Starred review from January 1, 2011

Oh, to be 11 again and pal around with irresistible wunderkind Flavia de Luce.

Upset at a fortuneteller's words, Flavia upends a candle and, whoosh, the gypsy's tent goes up in flames. Determined to atone, especially since Fenella Faa has confided that years ago Flavia's father, the Colonel, once drove her and her husband off his Buckshaw estate, Flavia invites her onto the property, where she's soon attacked. And she's not the only one. Brookie Harewood, whom Flavia found fiddling around with Buckshaw antique fire irons in the library in the dead of night, is soon poked dead by a de Luce sterling-silver lobster fork on the estate's Trafalgar lawn. Determined to resolve these troubles and win the esteem of Inspector Hewitt, Flavia springs into full detecting mode, assaying chemicals in her laboratory, sidling up to suspects and making leading remarks, finding then losing Fenella's granddaughter Porcelain, reconsidering the claims of a certain Mrs. Bull about a gypsy stealing her child, sorting through an antiques scam, and researching the proclivities of the Hobblers, a mostly defunct religious sect. There's time left over, of course, to bedevil Daffy and Feely, her older sisters, and win the heart of everyone who's followed her earlier escapades (The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag, 2010, etc.).

A splendid romp through 1950s England led by the world's smartest and most incorrigible preteen.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2011

The 11-year-old sleuth with a penchant for chemistry and a knack for discovering corpses triumphantly returns in this third installment of Bradley's award-winning mystery series (The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie; The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag), once again finding herself in the middle of a murder investigation. The novel opens with the quintessential church fete in the English village of Bishop's Lacey. An old, cantankerous gypsy reads Flavia's palm, and her prognostications prove lethal. When local layabout and all-around shifty character Brookie Harewood is found murdered, what's a child prodigy to do? Flavia's deceased mother, Harriet, plays a part in this tale, as does the unsolved disappearance of a village baby who went missing years ago. VERDICT Whether battling with her odious sisters or verbally sparing with the long-suffering Inspector Hewitt, our cheeky heroine is a delight. Full of pithy dialog and colorful characters, this series would appeal strongly to fans of Dorothy Sayers, Gladys Mitchell, and Leo Bruce as well as readers who like clever humor mixed in with their mysteries. [Library marketing; see Prepub Alert, LJ 9/1/10.]--Amy Nolan, St. Joseph P.L., MI

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2011
Stubborn, precocious Flavia de Luce seems old beyond her 11 years, but readers of her previous encounters with dead bodies and mystery know she has a vulnerable side, as well. Nowhere is that more visible than in her relationships with her distant father and her sisters, who constantly taunt her. In her latest adventure, the family is on the verge of bankruptcy. Father is auctioning his beloved stamps and selling the family silver. In the midst of this crisis, the irrepressible young snoop investigates the beating of a gypsy fortune-teller and the murder of a local thief, which seem somehow connected to a group of religious eccentrics, an antique shop, a missing baby, and a strange, fishy smell. Sound complicated? It is, but Bradley handles it so well you hardly notice. Buttressed by consistently quirky characters and an English country-village backdrop, Flavias chatterbox narration reveals the amateur sleuths obnoxiousness as well as her intellegence and irrepressible curiosity. The upshot is a spirited, surprisingly innocent tale, despite murky goings-on at its center. Think of Flavia as a new Sherlock in the making.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)