Friday, March 22, 2013

Book Review-Speaking from Among the Bones

Flavia is back!

Flavia de Luce is an eleven year old sleuth.  She lives in a sleepy English village (Bishop's Lacey) in the early 1950's, during a time when the British were still recovering from the Second World War.  She lives with her two older sisters Ophelia (Pheely) and Daphne (Daffy), and their father in an old family country mansion.  Unfortunately, the estate belongs to their mother who has been missing for the past 10 years, and the government is trying to collect the inheritance taxes.  Flavia finds solace in her chemistry lab, which is in the unused wing of the house.

Flavia's passion is chemistry, but she also enjoys a good mystery-and if it involves a dead body so much the better!  The latest book in the series is Speaking from Among the Bones. When the book opens, we find that the organist at St. Tancred's is missing, the organ is acting up, and the parish is waiting for the bones of St. Tancred to be unearthed for the 500th anniversary celebration of his death.   Flavia, of course, is in the middle of everything.  When St. Tancred's burial chamber is opened, Flavia manages to be the first to look inside.  And with her discovery we are off and running on another romp through Bishop's Lacey.

The series has been building up the backstory of the de Luce family, so it is best to read these in order!



Speaking from Among the Bones: A Flavia de Luce Novel
Speaking from Among the Bones: A Flavia de Luce Novel
By Bradley, Alan
2013-01 - Delacorte Press
9780385344036 Check Our Catalog

From award-winning author Alan Bradley comes the next cozy British mystery starring intrepid young sleuth Flavia de Luce, hailed by "USA Today" as "one of the most remarkable creations in recent literature." …More


Other books by the same author.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
By Bradley, Alan
2009-02 - Doubleday Canada
9780385665827 Check Our Catalog

In his wickedly brilliant first novel, Debut Dagger Award winner Alan Bradley introduces one of the most singular and engaging heroines in recent fiction. …More


The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Mystery
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Mystery
By Bradley, Alan
2010-03 - Delacorte Press
9780385342315 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title

From Dagger Award-winning author Bradley comes this utterly beguiling mystery starring one of fiction's most remarkable sleuths: Flavia de Luce, a dangerously brilliant eleven-year-old with a passion for chemistry and a genius for solving murders. …More


A Red Herring Without Mustard: A Flavia de Luce Novel
A Red Herring Without Mustard: A Flavia de Luce Novel
By Bradley, Alan
2011-02 - Delacorte Press
9780385342322 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title

In the third installment of Bradley's bestselling series, Flavia de Luce must clear a woman's name to prevent a grave injustice, while trying herself to avoid an early (and unjust) grave. …More


I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
By Bradley, Alan
2011-11 - Delacorte Press
9780385344012 Check Our Catalog

It's Christmastime, and the precocious Flavia de Luce--an 11-year-old sleuth with a passion for chemistry and a penchant for crime-solving--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. …More


Complimentary Reads
Harriet the Spy
Harriet the Spy
By Fitzhugh, Louise
2001-05 - Yearling Books
9780440416791 Check Our Catalog

Harriet M. Welsch is a spy. In her notebook, she writes down everything she knows about everyone, even her classmates and her best friends. Then Harriet loses track of her notebook, and it ends up in the wrong hands. Before she can stop them, her friends have read the always truthful, sometimes awful things she's written about each of them. Will Harriet find a way to put her life and her friendships back together? …More


The Spellman Files
The Spellman Files
By Lutz, Lisa
2009-01 - Pocket Books
9781416594178 Check Our Catalog

In her irresistible, laugh-out-loud debut novel, Lutz introduces Isabel Izzy Spellman, a 28-year-old private eye working for her family's investigative business--a family that puts the fun in dysfunctional. …More


The Sunday Philosophy Club
The Sunday Philosophy Club
By McCall Smith, Alexander
2004-09 - Pantheon Books
9780375422980 Check Our Catalog

A BookPage Notable Title
A Fiction Bestseller - 2004
Filled with endearingly thorny characters and a Scottish atmosphere as dense and savory as oatmeal, "The Sunday Philosophy Club" is irresistible, and Isabel Dalhousie is the most delightful literary sleuth since Precious Ramotswe.
…More


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