Synopses & Reviews
Alan Bradley, author of the most award-winning series debut of any year, returns with another irresistible Flavia de Luce novel.
It’s Christmastime, and Flavia de Luce — an eleven-year-old sleuth with a passion for chemistry — is tucked away in her laboratory, whipping up a concoction to ensnare Saint Nick. But she is soon distracted when a film crew arrives at Buckshaw, the de Luces’ decaying English estate, to shoot a movie starring the famed Phyllis Wyvern. Amid a raging blizzard, the entire village of Bishop’s Lacey gathers at Buckshaw to watch Wyvern perform, yet nobody is prepared for the evening’s shocking conclusion: a body found strangled to death with a length of film. But who among the assembled guests would stage such a chilling scene? As the storm worsens and the list of suspects grows, Flavia must ferret out a killer hidden in plain sight.
Review
"If ever there was a sleuth who’s bold, brilliant, and yes, adorable, it’s Flavia de Luce." USA Today
Review
"[Alan] Bradley has created one of the most original, charming, devilishly creative and hilarious detectives of any age or any time." Bookreporter
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"[Flavia is] the most intrepid and charming adolescent chemist/detective/busybody in all of rural, post–World War II England." The Seattle Times
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"Quirky and delightful...Flavia is a classic literary character who manages to appeal to both young and old readers equally." Wichita Falls Times Record News
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"Bradley’s plot twists and turns delightfully." Fort Worth Star-Telegram
About the Author
Alan Bradley is the internationally bestselling author of many short stories, children’s stories, newspaper columns, and the memoir The Shoebox Bible. His first Flavia de Luce novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, received the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award, the Dilys Winn Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Agatha Award, the Macavity Award, and the Barry Award, and was nominated for the Anthony Award. His second and third Flavia de Luce novels are The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag and the New York Times bestselling A Red Herring Without Mustard. Bradley lives in Malta with his wife and two calculating cats.