Delightful, delicious, de-lovely de Luce

  

   

     This is a rich fruitcake of a book, chock-full of choice morsels, drenched in heartening spirit! If you've read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie you'll know what I'm on about because the excellent Flavia de Luce, eleven-year-old master chemist, poisons expert and sleuth to be reckoned with, has returned in Alan Bradley's The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag, and it does not disappoint.

   If you're unfamiliar with Flavia, she lives (in 1950) in a large but crumbling house on the edge of the English village of Bishop's Lacey. Her mother met a tragic but somewhat mysterious end when she was a baby - and I hope this back story will be developed as the series continues - so she is growing up with her emotionally distant father, two beastly sisters and various family retainers for company, but she's rarely on the back foot, being a girl of sharp intelligence, ingenuity, and encyclopedic knowledge.

    When master showman Rupert Porson, famous creator of television's "Magic Kingdom" and Snoddy the Squirrel, is murdered during a puppetry performance at the village hall, Flavia gets involved. What was the dead man's connection with the Inglebys of Culverhouse Farm? Could the vicar, possibly, have ...? And what did Mad Meg really see in Gibbet Wood?

   All will be revealed, of course, as the intricate plot unfolds, but there is such period charm to the book, and the precocious Flavia is so original a character, that on all fronts it's a joy to read from start to finish!

Comments

[Beth]

This sounds like a fantastic book and a new author to me, I shall definitly be keeping my eye out for this one.

Hugsxxx

[LizF]

I loved Flavia's first adventure and will look out for this at the library, budget not being up to hardback prices at the moment I'm afraid.
Like the look of the Barbara Trapido and 'Inheritance' in your new arrivals column!

[Lulu]

What fabulous titles these books have! I know they say never judge a book by its cover, but is it ok to judge it by its title?

www.lampandbook.blogspot.com

[Cornflower]

More treats in store, I think!

[Cornflower]

They are great titles, aren't they?

[Julie Fredericksen]

I thought that "The Weed..." was not quite as good as the first Flavia de Luce book, but still very good. As you say, there is such period charm and Flavia such an original character. I will definitely, happily read any other Flavia book that comes along.

At least SHE does not poison people (well, those lavender creams wouldn't have killed, would they?), unlike some other character we know. I am being coy here but I am sure you know to whom I am referring.

[Cornflower]

Indeed!

[Frances]

Loved this one as much as the first. Mischievous charm in Flavia!

[GeraniumCat]

My copy arrived this week - I almost can't wait to read it, but am going to be firm with myself. I've got to read The Debt to Pleasure first!

[MelD]

Looking forward to reading this, which I have just ordered...

However, dismayed to find that the German version (NOT what I ordered!!) has the boring title "Murder in the Cucumber Patch" - not exactly an inspired rendering of this interesting English title! Who translates these things?! (Not me, though I am a translator!)

Reading your blog is like wallowing luxuriously in a library of all my favourite books, past, present and future, and I'd trust almost any recommendation because you can obviously read my mind - I only wish I could keep up (and afford all the books I'd like to read, never mind find the time for them all ;o)!

[Cornflower]

What a lovely comment - thankyou!

[Bina]

I loved this book at least as much as Sweetness, maybe even more!Can´t wait for the next one!
Your blog is really lovely btw :)

[Cornflower]

Thankyou, Bina!