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Flavia de Luce #5
Speaking from Among the Bones
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Mystery & Thriller (2013)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.”
Eleven-year-old amateur detective and ardent chemist Flavia de Luce is used to digging up clues, whether they’re found among the potions in her laboratory or between the pages of her insufferable sisters’ diaries. What she is not accustomed to is digging up bodies. Upon the five-hundredth anniversary of St. Tancred’s death, the English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey is busily preparing to open its patron saint’s tomb. Nobody is more excited to peek inside the crypt than Flavia, yet what she finds will halt the proceedings dead in their tracks: the body of Mr. Collicutt, the church organist, his face grotesquely and inexplicably masked. Who held a vendetta against Mr. Collicutt, and why would they hide him in such a sacred resting place? The irrepressible Flavia decides to find out. And what she unearths will prove there’s never such thing as an open-and-shut case.
Eleven-year-old amateur detective and ardent chemist Flavia de Luce is used to digging up clues, whether they’re found among the potions in her laboratory or between the pages of her insufferable sisters’ diaries. What she is not accustomed to is digging up bodies. Upon the five-hundredth anniversary of St. Tancred’s death, the English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey is busily preparing to open its patron saint’s tomb. Nobody is more excited to peek inside the crypt than Flavia, yet what she finds will halt the proceedings dead in their tracks: the body of Mr. Collicutt, the church organist, his face grotesquely and inexplicably masked. Who held a vendetta against Mr. Collicutt, and why would they hide him in such a sacred resting place? The irrepressible Flavia decides to find out. And what she unearths will prove there’s never such thing as an open-and-shut case.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 29, 2013
894 people are currently reading
20466 people want to read
About the author
Alan Bradley
34 books8,617 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
With an education in electronic engineering, Alan worked at numerous radio and television stations in Ontario, and at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Ryerson University) in Toronto, before becoming Director of Television Engineering in the media centre at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, where he remained for 25 years before taking early retirement to write in 1994.
He became the first President of the Saskatoon Writers, and a founding member of the Saskatchewan Writers Guild. His children's stories were published in The Canadian Children's Annual, and his short story, Meet Miss Mullen, was the first recipient of the Saskatchewan Writers Guild Award for Children's Literature.
For a number of years, he regularly taught Script Writing and Television Production courses at the University of Saskatchewan (Extension Division) at both beginner and advanced levels.
His fiction has been published in literary journals and he has given many public readings in schools and galleries. His short stories have been broadcast by CBC Radio.
He was a founding member of The Casebook of Saskatoon, a society devoted to the study of Sherlock Holmes and Sherlockian writings. Here, he met the late Dr. William A.S. Sarjeant, with whom he collaborated on their classic book, Ms Holmes of Baker Street. This work put forth the startling theory that the Great Detective was a woman, and was greeted upon publication with what has been described as "a firestorm of controversy".
The release of Ms. Holmes resulted in national media coverage, with the authors embarking upon an extensive series of interviews, radio and television appearances, and a public debate at Toronto's Harbourfront. His lifestyle and humorous pieces have appeared in The Globe and Mail and The National Post.
His book The Shoebox Bible (McClelland and Stewart, 2006) has been compared with Tuesdays With Morrie and Mr. God, This is Anna.
In July of 2007 he won the Debut Dagger Award of the (British) Crimewriter's Association for his novel The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, the first of a series featuring eleven year old Flavia de Luce, which has since won the 2009 Agatha Award for Best First Novel,the 2010 Dilys Award,the Spotted Owl Award, and the 2010 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie has also been nominated for the Macavity, the Barry, and the Arthur Awards.
Alan Bradley lives in Malta with his wife Shirley and two calculating cats.
With an education in electronic engineering, Alan worked at numerous radio and television stations in Ontario, and at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Ryerson University) in Toronto, before becoming Director of Television Engineering in the media centre at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, where he remained for 25 years before taking early retirement to write in 1994.
He became the first President of the Saskatoon Writers, and a founding member of the Saskatchewan Writers Guild. His children's stories were published in The Canadian Children's Annual, and his short story, Meet Miss Mullen, was the first recipient of the Saskatchewan Writers Guild Award for Children's Literature.
For a number of years, he regularly taught Script Writing and Television Production courses at the University of Saskatchewan (Extension Division) at both beginner and advanced levels.
His fiction has been published in literary journals and he has given many public readings in schools and galleries. His short stories have been broadcast by CBC Radio.
He was a founding member of The Casebook of Saskatoon, a society devoted to the study of Sherlock Holmes and Sherlockian writings. Here, he met the late Dr. William A.S. Sarjeant, with whom he collaborated on their classic book, Ms Holmes of Baker Street. This work put forth the startling theory that the Great Detective was a woman, and was greeted upon publication with what has been described as "a firestorm of controversy".
The release of Ms. Holmes resulted in national media coverage, with the authors embarking upon an extensive series of interviews, radio and television appearances, and a public debate at Toronto's Harbourfront. His lifestyle and humorous pieces have appeared in The Globe and Mail and The National Post.
His book The Shoebox Bible (McClelland and Stewart, 2006) has been compared with Tuesdays With Morrie and Mr. God, This is Anna.
In July of 2007 he won the Debut Dagger Award of the (British) Crimewriter's Association for his novel The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, the first of a series featuring eleven year old Flavia de Luce, which has since won the 2009 Agatha Award for Best First Novel,the 2010 Dilys Award,the Spotted Owl Award, and the 2010 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie has also been nominated for the Macavity, the Barry, and the Arthur Awards.
Alan Bradley lives in Malta with his wife Shirley and two calculating cats.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,023 reviews
December 12, 2023
A new mystery solved together with Miss Flsvia Deluce is always a pleasure. Some are more exciting than the others. I still enjoyed spending time with the 11 years old amateur chemist and detective but not as much as with her previous adventure. During the 500th anniversary of St. Tancred’s death, the Bishop’s Lacey is preparing to open its patron saint’s tomb. Flavia decides to take a peak before the others and instead of the saint, she discovered the body of Mr. Collicutt, the church organist.
January 9, 2015
Wow! I admit I wasn't expecting much with this latest installment of my very favorite mystery series. Not because it hasn't alway been wonderful, but because I've never read a series that kept on being wonderful so long. This one was most excellent. I have just closed the book and must tell you that the last sentence caused me to leap off the couch, throw off my snuggy in the most unladylike fashion and shriek and hoop and holler. What a surprise! I had been wondering about "it" since the first book and now this. But wait, it was not exactly explained, just dropped on ya like a mind blowing bomb. Now I am positively TORTURED at the realization that I shall have to wait God only knows how long for the next one. Oh, someone sedate me till then.
November 20, 2020
Rating: 3.9* of five
The Publisher Says: Eleven-year-old amateur detective and ardent chemist Flavia de Luce is used to digging up clues, whether they’re found among the potions in her laboratory or between the pages of her insufferable sisters’ diaries. What she is not accustomed to is digging up bodies. Upon the five-hundredth anniversary of St. Tancred’s death, the English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey is busily preparing to open its patron saint’s tomb. Nobody is more excited to peek inside the crypt than Flavia, yet what she finds will halt the proceedings dead in their tracks: the body of Mr. Collicutt, the church organist, his face grotesquely and inexplicably masked. Who held a vendetta against Mr. Collicutt, and why would they hide him in such a sacred resting place? The irrepressible Flavia decides to find out. And what she unearths will prove there’s never such thing as an open-and-shut case.
My Review: The ending threw me a curve.
The middle was a busy muddle.
The beginning was a laugh a minute.
And I enjoyed it all. I didn't know who the murderer was, and when revealed I was a bit surprised I hadn't thought of that. I was mildly ticked that, at the ending of the book after the murderer was disposed of, a loose end wasn't tucked tidily away but rather left to be part of the cliffhanger resolution. If Mr. Bradley should happen to pass into his Eternal Reward before the next book is completed and edited, I shall engage every root woman and witch doctor and psychic and spiritualist I can locate to hound the rotter into spirit-writing it.
So, since I'm usually a tartar about judging cozies, demanding the characters and the plot mesh, why am I still reading these somewhat ramshackle novels? After all, the murderer's identity isn't at all well set up, and the red herrings are ummm far-fetched, and the propulsive event is barely, barely set up and then ignored.
Yeah, well, cozies are about characters and about a species of ma'at maintenance, and these novels deliver all the pleasures of those qualities in spades, doubled. Bradley's quite improbable little genius Flavia de Luce is a pill of the first water, a know-it-all, and a little girl on the edge of some enormous growings-up that all of us who've passed through adolescence can empathize with. Her passive, defeated father, her cruel sisters, her delightful world of Buckshaw with its fully equipped chemistry lab and its decaying splendor, and the people of Bishop's Lacey, all mix together into an immersive Barsetshire-esque experience of enfolding charm and warmth.
This is the fifth book, don't begin here if you're picking up a new series as too much will be a spoiler for some payoff surprises in earlier books. But should you pick up the series at all? Hmmm. Don't, if you're a puzzle-solver; don't, if you have to have a sleuth whose abilities and access are believable; do, if you're after the aforementioned immersive experience.
But, if you do read the book, I defy you not to laugh at the fate of the Heart of Lucifer.
The Publisher Says: Eleven-year-old amateur detective and ardent chemist Flavia de Luce is used to digging up clues, whether they’re found among the potions in her laboratory or between the pages of her insufferable sisters’ diaries. What she is not accustomed to is digging up bodies. Upon the five-hundredth anniversary of St. Tancred’s death, the English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey is busily preparing to open its patron saint’s tomb. Nobody is more excited to peek inside the crypt than Flavia, yet what she finds will halt the proceedings dead in their tracks: the body of Mr. Collicutt, the church organist, his face grotesquely and inexplicably masked. Who held a vendetta against Mr. Collicutt, and why would they hide him in such a sacred resting place? The irrepressible Flavia decides to find out. And what she unearths will prove there’s never such thing as an open-and-shut case.
My Review: The ending threw me a curve.
The middle was a busy muddle.
The beginning was a laugh a minute.
And I enjoyed it all. I didn't know who the murderer was, and when revealed I was a bit surprised I hadn't thought of that. I was mildly ticked that, at the ending of the book after the murderer was disposed of, a loose end wasn't tucked tidily away but rather left to be part of the cliffhanger resolution. If Mr. Bradley should happen to pass into his Eternal Reward before the next book is completed and edited, I shall engage every root woman and witch doctor and psychic and spiritualist I can locate to hound the rotter into spirit-writing it.
So, since I'm usually a tartar about judging cozies, demanding the characters and the plot mesh, why am I still reading these somewhat ramshackle novels? After all, the murderer's identity isn't at all well set up, and the red herrings are ummm far-fetched, and the propulsive event is barely, barely set up and then ignored.
Yeah, well, cozies are about characters and about a species of ma'at maintenance, and these novels deliver all the pleasures of those qualities in spades, doubled. Bradley's quite improbable little genius Flavia de Luce is a pill of the first water, a know-it-all, and a little girl on the edge of some enormous growings-up that all of us who've passed through adolescence can empathize with. Her passive, defeated father, her cruel sisters, her delightful world of Buckshaw with its fully equipped chemistry lab and its decaying splendor, and the people of Bishop's Lacey, all mix together into an immersive Barsetshire-esque experience of enfolding charm and warmth.
This is the fifth book, don't begin here if you're picking up a new series as too much will be a spoiler for some payoff surprises in earlier books. But should you pick up the series at all? Hmmm. Don't, if you're a puzzle-solver; don't, if you have to have a sleuth whose abilities and access are believable; do, if you're after the aforementioned immersive experience.
But, if you do read the book, I defy you not to laugh at the fate of the Heart of Lucifer.
January 7, 2015
”Now from yon black and fun’ral yew,
That bathes the charnel-house with dew,
Methinks I hear a voice begin;
(Ye ravens, cease your croaking din;
Ye tolling clocks, no time resound
O’er the long lake and midnight ground)
It sends a peal of hollow groans,
Thus speaking from among the bones.”
Thomas Parnell
A night-Piece on Death (1721)
When they decide to open the crypt of St. Tancred on the 500th anniversary of his death no one is more excited than Flavia de Luce. She is hoping for something gross, terrifying, and of scientific interest to be revealed when the bones of the saint are brought into the light of day.
She gets more than even she could bargain for.
After worming her way into a position to see first... what there is to be seen... she is greeted by the grotesque, swollen, masked body of the once swoon worthy organist for the church. Mr. Collicott has met a most unfortunate end. The unexplained will soon be explainable as the precocious amateur detective Flavia begins to investigate.
A mysterious puddle of blood in the church will have to be investigated using the microscope her strange, but venerated Great-Uncle, Tarquin de Luce, bought for the laboratory he had installed in the family home at Buckshaw. The lab is Flavia’s home within her home. Luckily she has one hair ribbon, that hasn’t been lost, that she can dip into the blood and take a sample of the fluid home. She is a scientist first and a...shuddering... yuck exclaiming... young woman second.
She became interested in blood when her two sisters Daphne (Daffy) and Ophelia (Feely) began insisting that she was adopted. Getting blood samples from her two sisters, through rather devious means, was the first step in proving to herself that her sisters were her sisters though at times it was tempting to start believing she wasn’t related to such creatures.
”Viewed through a microscope at low power, human blood looks at first like an aerial view of the College of Cardinals, dressed in their scarlet birettas and capes, milling about in Vatican Square, waiting for the Pope to appear on the balcony.”
Flavia’s real love is poison. Yes, many wonderful dreams have been spun from her love of poison and her wish, at times, to use it.
”I’ve mentioned before my passion for poisons and my special fondness for cyanide. But, to be perfectly fair, I must admit that I also have something of a soft spot for strychnine, not just for what it is, but for what it’s capable of becoming, Brought into the presence of nascent oxygen, for instance, these rather ordinary white crystals become at first rich blue in color, then pass in succession through purple, violet, crimson, orange, and yellow.
A perfect rainbow of ruin!”
She isn’t the only amateur detective in town. A man interested in the 500 year old flower seeds from Tancred’s tomb has also shown an interest in more than just flora-archaeology. She noticed the tagline…Inquiries on his business card. He can’t fool her!
Bishop’s Lacey is her English hamlet of doom, soon to rival Cabot Cove for it’s collection of untimely and nefarious deaths. She must continue to dodge the police who are always trying to keep her contained, and take more chances if she is going to solve the murder before her rival.
The science that Alan Bradley sprinkles liberally throughout the plot adds another level to Flavia’s investigations. It is so interesting to see science taken from the textbook and applied in such useful ways. Flavia by reading and applying that knowledge to experimentation and further observation gives herself the tools to see solutions in dust and cobwebs that would simply be useless to the rest of us. Whether she is trapped in a deep grave, locked in a room, or merely evading detection she has a head full of Macgyveresque answers that will help her prevail.
This is my fifth adventure with Flavia and my enjoyment of the series deepens with each new installment. I’m surprised at the witty, laugh out loud, fresh situations that Bradley continues to create for his audacious creation. Originally there were only supposed to be six books in the series, but it was recently announced that there will be ten. Sam Mendes has optioned the series for TV, but don’t say... “I’ll just wait for the television show”. Chances are, of course, they are going to muck it all up, so pick up the first book, read them in order (though they are written to each stand alone), and at the end of this one you are going to have a similar reaction that I had…OMG!
February 5, 2013
Ahhhhhhh!!!!! Really?!?! How long do we have to wait to find out what that means?
That was my first reaction to the last line of the book. The Flavia books are quickly becoming some of my favorites of all time, and the series is definitely at the top of my list. The tangle of mystery, murder, and normal family life make these a great read for all ages.
That was my first reaction to the last line of the book. The Flavia books are quickly becoming some of my favorites of all time, and the series is definitely at the top of my list. The tangle of mystery, murder, and normal family life make these a great read for all ages.
January 10, 2024
4 stars
short review for busy readers: another good installment of the Flavia de Luce mysteries. This time with a lot more backstory about the family and the addition of new characters in a neighboring village. Mystery is good. (About a 7 on the Ease of Solving Scale) Longer than most Flavia mysteries and a little more morbid.
in detail:
St Tancred was a de Luce!!
For the 500 year anniversary of the saint's death, the vicar in Bishop's Lacey wants to open his tomb, but the bishop and his snooty henchman...er...secretary, are dead set against it.
Flavia, with her interest in the dead, can't wait to view the mouldy bones and makes sure she's front and centre when -- a much more recent corpse is discovered during excavations. The recently disappeared organtist!
What do St Tancred, Feely, a wheezy organ, several women in two villages, a private detective, the vicar, the bishop, the bishop's secretary and Mr Battle, the church groundskeeper, have to do with it? Flavia will find out!
I was delighted to find out that St Tancred was indeed a de Luce, and that Bishop's Lacey was originally just Lacey, which was a corruption of Luce! I always have had a soft spot for St Tancred. It just fits that Flavia's village would have its own saint....and he would somehow be related to the venerable de Luces. Glad that Bradley made such use of him!
Read this as part of my Series Challenge 2024.
short review for busy readers: another good installment of the Flavia de Luce mysteries. This time with a lot more backstory about the family and the addition of new characters in a neighboring village. Mystery is good. (About a 7 on the Ease of Solving Scale) Longer than most Flavia mysteries and a little more morbid.
in detail:
St Tancred was a de Luce!!
For the 500 year anniversary of the saint's death, the vicar in Bishop's Lacey wants to open his tomb, but the bishop and his snooty henchman...er...secretary, are dead set against it.
Flavia, with her interest in the dead, can't wait to view the mouldy bones and makes sure she's front and centre when -- a much more recent corpse is discovered during excavations. The recently disappeared organtist!
What do St Tancred, Feely, a wheezy organ, several women in two villages, a private detective, the vicar, the bishop, the bishop's secretary and Mr Battle, the church groundskeeper, have to do with it? Flavia will find out!
I was delighted to find out that St Tancred was indeed a de Luce, and that Bishop's Lacey was originally just Lacey, which was a corruption of Luce! I always have had a soft spot for St Tancred. It just fits that Flavia's village would have its own saint....and he would somehow be related to the venerable de Luces. Glad that Bradley made such use of him!
Read this as part of my Series Challenge 2024.
April 7, 2019
I do love Flavia de Luce! Such a plucky, fearless eleven-nearly twelve year old who loves nothing better than reading criminology texts and brewing up poisons in the chemistry laboratory inherited from her Uncle Tar. Living in the early 1950s, Flavia is mostly left to her own devices by her eccentric family of mean older sisters and disengaged father, who has never got over his wife's death ten years earlier, Flavia has the run of their dilapidated stately home and the local countryside on her bicycle and a knack for finding dead bodies.
In this episode, Flavia is distracted from inventing new poisons (which she dreams of using on her sisters) by the news that the tomb of the local saint, Saint Tancred, is be be disinterred on the 500th anniversary of his death. As the Vicar is a particular friend of hers she wastes no time in heading for the church in Bishop's Lacey. Not unexpectedly, there is a murder in the church and a dastardly plot involving Saint Tancred's tomb to be solved.
The joy in these books is not so much the murder mystery but Flavia's spirited and inventive interactions with her sisters, father, Dogger, her father's valet/gardener (and ex-army mate), the Vicar, police Inspector Hewitt (and his elegant wife, Antigone) as well as a new friend - Adam Sowerby, a botanist who collects ancient seeds and shares Flavia's interest in solving crimes. Outside of boarding school, Flavia seems to have few friends her own age but the grown-ups all seem to treat her as an undersized but intelligent adult. The plot and discourse are infused with wry British humour which makes the mystery a lot of fun.
In this episode, Flavia is distracted from inventing new poisons (which she dreams of using on her sisters) by the news that the tomb of the local saint, Saint Tancred, is be be disinterred on the 500th anniversary of his death. As the Vicar is a particular friend of hers she wastes no time in heading for the church in Bishop's Lacey. Not unexpectedly, there is a murder in the church and a dastardly plot involving Saint Tancred's tomb to be solved.
The joy in these books is not so much the murder mystery but Flavia's spirited and inventive interactions with her sisters, father, Dogger, her father's valet/gardener (and ex-army mate), the Vicar, police Inspector Hewitt (and his elegant wife, Antigone) as well as a new friend - Adam Sowerby, a botanist who collects ancient seeds and shares Flavia's interest in solving crimes. Outside of boarding school, Flavia seems to have few friends her own age but the grown-ups all seem to treat her as an undersized but intelligent adult. The plot and discourse are infused with wry British humour which makes the mystery a lot of fun.
January 3, 2026
All I want for Christmas...
One more corpse and I’d have a full hand
... is a new adventure by Alan Bradley. All Flavia de Luce desires is to complete her straight flush of dead people. Her wish might be granted in this fifth episode from the life of our teenage amateur sleuth and poisoner.
Only it’s not Christmas time in the little hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey. Flavia and her family are preparing to celebrate Easter and her sister Feely is practising in the old St Tancred’s Church for an organ concert, since the regular organist Mr. Collicutt has gone walkabout.
Guess what?
Flavia has her wish soon granted, as she discovers the body of the missing organist in the church’s catacomb as the village prepares to celebrate the 500 anniversary of the death of their patron saint.
I got to my feet and stood up to my full height of four foot ten and a quarter inches. I’m quite tall for my age, which is almost twelve.
“Yaroo!” I shouted, waggling my arms to keep my balance. “I’m the King of the Castle!”
>>><<<>>><<<
This is one of my comfort reads that I like to save for the Holiday Season each year, both because it is a sure thing to put me in a good mood, for all its morbid accents, and because I want to avoid burnout. I found out that moderation is key for these character driven series.
Making the review all about Flavia is very tempting, given her engaging personality and wicked sense of humour. These are not necessarily the same traits that make Flavia a very good crime investigator. I would say her methodical, science-oriented mind, her inquisitiveness, her courage, her quick mind and resourcefulness, her rebel heart and her dogged determination are what make Flavia the main attraction in this particularly gruesome show.
“A-qua Flavia,” I said aloud, savoring each syllable. It had a nice ring to it.
I had created a poison which, in sufficient quantities, was enough to stop a rogue elephant dead in its tracks. What it would do to an impertinent sister was almost too gruesome to contemplate.
One aspect of poisons that is often overlooked is the pleasure one takes in gloating over them.
Don’t worry, dear reader. If Flavia has managed to go through four previous books without killing her annoying big sisters Feely and Daffy, she will probably restrain her impulses here, too. Having the means to retaliate against perceived bullying does help with her self-esteem.
Because I don’t want to write here about the actual investigation into the death of the missing organist or about the reason a lot of suspicious characters converge on St Tancred’s Church, I would like to remark on the quality of the support characters in the series, starting with Gladys, our valiant heroine’s steed:
From astride a bicycle, stairs appear to be much steeper than they actually are. Far below, in the foyer, the black and white tiles were like winter fields viewed from a mountaintop. I got a firm grip on the front bracking handles and started down at an alarming angle.
“Bucketa-bucketa-bucketa-bucketa,” I exclaimed, one for each stair, all the way down, my bones rattling pleasantly.
The next assist comes from trusty Dogger, her father’s friend and general helper around the mansion: Dogger raised one eyebrow a fraction. “Were you thinking of disinterring a dead body, miss?” he asked.
Another good advice from Dogger to the aspiring sleuth: “Facts are often in direct opposition to assumptions.”
Mrs. Mullet is as usual up to no good in the kitchen : “Put some parsnip marmalade on it!”
A couple of new additions to the cast are welcomed to the Buckshaw Hall team in this episode. One of them is called Esmeralda and, if she has little to say in the actual investigation, she makes up for it with chemistry lab material for Flavia’s experiments:
Farewell hard-boiled eggs. Hail Steamed Eggs Deluxe de Luce!
Sniffing around St Tancred’s churchyard is a rival investigator and alleged friend of her father named Adam Tradescant Sowerby . Flavia is unsure if Adam is a rival or an ally, but she listens to what he has to say:
“It is also wise to remember that when it comes to diamonds, there is one power which they possess without a doubt, and that is the power to make people kill.”
Flavia and Adam also trade information about the amazing chemical properties of daffodil bulbs.
>>><<<>>><<<
I hear somebody exclaim: Wait a minute! Who said anything about diamonds? I thought we weren’t going to reveal spoilers here.
Well, any good murder thriller needs its McGuffin, and diamonds are assigned the role here. Along with blood and cemeteries. Blood as in family ties and blood as in dripping horror material:
When the wooden head of a saint begins suddenly weeping blood in a remote village church, who do you call?
Ghostbusters!
Or, in case they are unavailable due to Intellectual Property restrictions, self-appointed local sleuth Flavia de Luce.
Since my review is developing into a quotation fest due to my own delight in the snarky delivery of Flavia, I will just continue in the same vein, considering these remarks to be self-explanatory and a good example of why I will continue with the series:
Whether it’s a whole house or just a single drawer, there’s a deep and primitive pleasure that comes from snooping through someone else’s belongings. Although part of me was scared silly, the greater part was having the time of my life. I wanted to whistle, but I didn’t dare.
A churchyard in the March moonlight should be enough to give anyone the ging-gang-goolies, but not this girl.
>>><<<>>><<<
For my closing remark, I will return to family ties. These are the catalyst of the separate and controlling story arc of the de Luce family, the one that continues from one book to the next and the reason I recommend reading the novels chronologically.
As Flavia grows up and learns more of the secret history of her family, which apparently goes back more than 500 years to the life and death of St Tancred, so does the dynamic of her affection for her father and sisters, her interactions with the supporting cast and her continuing search for her own missing mother Harriet.
This is why I have saved the last quote for last. Flavia finds it in a letter her mother sent to a secret friend living in hiding at a nearby manor.
Remember what I told you: Books make the soul float.
I am glad there are more books in this series for me to discover.
One more corpse and I’d have a full hand
... is a new adventure by Alan Bradley. All Flavia de Luce desires is to complete her straight flush of dead people. Her wish might be granted in this fifth episode from the life of our teenage amateur sleuth and poisoner.
Only it’s not Christmas time in the little hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey. Flavia and her family are preparing to celebrate Easter and her sister Feely is practising in the old St Tancred’s Church for an organ concert, since the regular organist Mr. Collicutt has gone walkabout.
Guess what?
Flavia has her wish soon granted, as she discovers the body of the missing organist in the church’s catacomb as the village prepares to celebrate the 500 anniversary of the death of their patron saint.
I got to my feet and stood up to my full height of four foot ten and a quarter inches. I’m quite tall for my age, which is almost twelve.
“Yaroo!” I shouted, waggling my arms to keep my balance. “I’m the King of the Castle!”
>>><<<>>><<<
This is one of my comfort reads that I like to save for the Holiday Season each year, both because it is a sure thing to put me in a good mood, for all its morbid accents, and because I want to avoid burnout. I found out that moderation is key for these character driven series.
Making the review all about Flavia is very tempting, given her engaging personality and wicked sense of humour. These are not necessarily the same traits that make Flavia a very good crime investigator. I would say her methodical, science-oriented mind, her inquisitiveness, her courage, her quick mind and resourcefulness, her rebel heart and her dogged determination are what make Flavia the main attraction in this particularly gruesome show.
“A-qua Flavia,” I said aloud, savoring each syllable. It had a nice ring to it.
I had created a poison which, in sufficient quantities, was enough to stop a rogue elephant dead in its tracks. What it would do to an impertinent sister was almost too gruesome to contemplate.
One aspect of poisons that is often overlooked is the pleasure one takes in gloating over them.
Don’t worry, dear reader. If Flavia has managed to go through four previous books without killing her annoying big sisters Feely and Daffy, she will probably restrain her impulses here, too. Having the means to retaliate against perceived bullying does help with her self-esteem.
Because I don’t want to write here about the actual investigation into the death of the missing organist or about the reason a lot of suspicious characters converge on St Tancred’s Church, I would like to remark on the quality of the support characters in the series, starting with Gladys, our valiant heroine’s steed:
From astride a bicycle, stairs appear to be much steeper than they actually are. Far below, in the foyer, the black and white tiles were like winter fields viewed from a mountaintop. I got a firm grip on the front bracking handles and started down at an alarming angle.
“Bucketa-bucketa-bucketa-bucketa,” I exclaimed, one for each stair, all the way down, my bones rattling pleasantly.
The next assist comes from trusty Dogger, her father’s friend and general helper around the mansion: Dogger raised one eyebrow a fraction. “Were you thinking of disinterring a dead body, miss?” he asked.
Another good advice from Dogger to the aspiring sleuth: “Facts are often in direct opposition to assumptions.”
Mrs. Mullet is as usual up to no good in the kitchen : “Put some parsnip marmalade on it!”
A couple of new additions to the cast are welcomed to the Buckshaw Hall team in this episode. One of them is called Esmeralda and, if she has little to say in the actual investigation, she makes up for it with chemistry lab material for Flavia’s experiments:
Farewell hard-boiled eggs. Hail Steamed Eggs Deluxe de Luce!
Sniffing around St Tancred’s churchyard is a rival investigator and alleged friend of her father named Adam Tradescant Sowerby . Flavia is unsure if Adam is a rival or an ally, but she listens to what he has to say:
“It is also wise to remember that when it comes to diamonds, there is one power which they possess without a doubt, and that is the power to make people kill.”
Flavia and Adam also trade information about the amazing chemical properties of daffodil bulbs.
>>><<<>>><<<
I hear somebody exclaim: Wait a minute! Who said anything about diamonds? I thought we weren’t going to reveal spoilers here.
Well, any good murder thriller needs its McGuffin, and diamonds are assigned the role here. Along with blood and cemeteries. Blood as in family ties and blood as in dripping horror material:
When the wooden head of a saint begins suddenly weeping blood in a remote village church, who do you call?
Ghostbusters!
Or, in case they are unavailable due to Intellectual Property restrictions, self-appointed local sleuth Flavia de Luce.
Since my review is developing into a quotation fest due to my own delight in the snarky delivery of Flavia, I will just continue in the same vein, considering these remarks to be self-explanatory and a good example of why I will continue with the series:
Whether it’s a whole house or just a single drawer, there’s a deep and primitive pleasure that comes from snooping through someone else’s belongings. Although part of me was scared silly, the greater part was having the time of my life. I wanted to whistle, but I didn’t dare.
A churchyard in the March moonlight should be enough to give anyone the ging-gang-goolies, but not this girl.
>>><<<>>><<<
For my closing remark, I will return to family ties. These are the catalyst of the separate and controlling story arc of the de Luce family, the one that continues from one book to the next and the reason I recommend reading the novels chronologically.
As Flavia grows up and learns more of the secret history of her family, which apparently goes back more than 500 years to the life and death of St Tancred, so does the dynamic of her affection for her father and sisters, her interactions with the supporting cast and her continuing search for her own missing mother Harriet.
This is why I have saved the last quote for last. Flavia finds it in a letter her mother sent to a secret friend living in hiding at a nearby manor.
Remember what I told you: Books make the soul float.
I am glad there are more books in this series for me to discover.
April 14, 2020
I let out a small howl of frustration and pathos upon finishing this one. It may be my favorite Flavia book yet, but it ends on SUCH a series-level cliffhanger. And of course, it's the last book of the series I own, and getting physical books whilst under quarantine is a bit difficult. It's taken over a month and counting to get hand lotion from Amazon (all because I was too scared to go to Rite Aid!), so I'm not thinking my odds of getting books from them are too good either. Barnes and Noble, perhaps.
Anyway. The mystery in this one is, I think, one of the best of the series. It's tightly plotted, just the right level of grisly (a dead organist with exploded internal organs? how ghastly!), and retained my eager interest throughout. The cast and setting are by now fully developed, and Flavia's slowly becoming a little more self-aware and starting to see the people around her as real people with valid thoughts and feelings of their own - though she's still certainly not above sneaking around them to moonlight in skullduggery and sleuthing. Harriet de Luce, Flavia's long-gone-yet-everpresent mother, continues to surprise.
I've been reading these books with a certain amount of quarantine inspired might-as-well, but I think I'd actually like book #6 now.
Anyway. The mystery in this one is, I think, one of the best of the series. It's tightly plotted, just the right level of grisly (a dead organist with exploded internal organs? how ghastly!), and retained my eager interest throughout. The cast and setting are by now fully developed, and Flavia's slowly becoming a little more self-aware and starting to see the people around her as real people with valid thoughts and feelings of their own - though she's still certainly not above sneaking around them to moonlight in skullduggery and sleuthing. Harriet de Luce, Flavia's long-gone-yet-everpresent mother, continues to surprise.
I've been reading these books with a certain amount of quarantine inspired might-as-well, but I think I'd actually like book #6 now.
December 4, 2017
Alan Bradley on luonut huippuhauskan ja nokkelan jännityskirjasarjan, jonka päähenkilö on itseoikeutetusti Flavia de Luce, 11v. salapoliisi, joka selvittää rikokset tuosta noin vain pikkuvanhalla päättelykyvyllä. Tällä kertaa Flavialla on pari kilpailijaakin, mutta niiden käsittely oli helppoa kauraa kokeneelle salapoliisille, joka ei kaihtanut hautausmaita ja yöllisiä tutkimusretkiä kaiken maailman luolissa ja loukoissa, jopa urkujen sisällä.
Siitä aasinsilta uhriin, joka oli kadonnut urkuri. Flavia järjesti minulle monta poskettoman hervotonta naurukohtausta joutuessaan aina vähän päästä kummallisiin tilanteisiin. Salapoliisin työssä näyttäisi olevan tärkeintä nopsat jalat, pyöräilytaito, kemialliset kokeilut, uteliaisuus ja nenän pistäminen paikkoihin, jotka eivät hänelle kuulu. Lisäksi liukkaasta kielestä ja hyvistä hoksottimista on runsaasti apua.
Tämä oli sarjan viides kirja, muttei viimeisin. Hyvä koukku lopussa <3
Siitä aasinsilta uhriin, joka oli kadonnut urkuri. Flavia järjesti minulle monta poskettoman hervotonta naurukohtausta joutuessaan aina vähän päästä kummallisiin tilanteisiin. Salapoliisin työssä näyttäisi olevan tärkeintä nopsat jalat, pyöräilytaito, kemialliset kokeilut, uteliaisuus ja nenän pistäminen paikkoihin, jotka eivät hänelle kuulu. Lisäksi liukkaasta kielestä ja hyvistä hoksottimista on runsaasti apua.
Tämä oli sarjan viides kirja, muttei viimeisin. Hyvä koukku lopussa <3
June 2, 2013
It has been over a year since reading the previous Flavia book, so I thought that my reactions would be less likely to be tainted by prior annoyance. I think that was the case but, frankly, this book did not rise above the others.
The book seemed even more disjointed than the previous books, as best as I could recall. The plot had many little episodes which didn't seem to fit together, even Flavia's thoughts were distracted and less focused (the ribbon situation, for example). Characters were introduced, like Adam, who seemed merely a way to provide Flavia with what information she could not have deduced herself, rather than as a whole character. Inspector Hewitt was barely present until the very latter part of the book. And given that some of her observations were not noted in the book (try find the reference to thumbs and wrists when she meets Jocelyn, not) and the solution came to her in a dream... well... Then those little emotional ... vignettes ... with her sisters, seemed to come up out of the blue and disappear there, their solidarity no more understandable than their enmity.
But I am looking forward to finding out what happened to Harriet, and it looks like that is going to be resolved, so I will soldier on.
Final note, given that this is the 5th book and Flavia is still 11 - this seems as dangerous a locale as Three Pines in Louise Penny's books - and a lot of deaths piling up in under a year.
The book seemed even more disjointed than the previous books, as best as I could recall. The plot had many little episodes which didn't seem to fit together, even Flavia's thoughts were distracted and less focused (the ribbon situation, for example). Characters were introduced, like Adam, who seemed merely a way to provide Flavia with what information she could not have deduced herself, rather than as a whole character. Inspector Hewitt was barely present until the very latter part of the book. And given that some of her observations were not noted in the book (try find the reference to thumbs and wrists when she meets Jocelyn, not) and the solution came to her in a dream... well... Then those little emotional ... vignettes ... with her sisters, seemed to come up out of the blue and disappear there, their solidarity no more understandable than their enmity.
But I am looking forward to finding out what happened to Harriet, and it looks like that is going to be resolved, so I will soldier on.
Final note, given that this is the 5th book and Flavia is still 11 - this seems as dangerous a locale as Three Pines in Louise Penny's books - and a lot of deaths piling up in under a year.
December 11, 2012
Near the end of Speaking From Among the Bones, Inspector Hewitt visits Flavia in the Buckshaw drawing room after she’s nosy-parkered her way, again, into solving the latest murder:
What follows is my favorite part of the book, where Flavia gleefully does the wrap-up in her “humble, jolly-girl-well-met kind of voice” (that does not fool anyone in the slightest), while the exasperated but fond Inspector takes notes and tries to delicately balance himself between being supportive of her intellect and disapproving of her wild lack of self-preservation.
Something about their relationship breaks my heart (on Flavia’s end at least). I find myself reading between the lines every time they are together, hunting for Inspector Hewitt’s true thoughts, suffusing his character with emotional nuances that Flavia fails to pick up but that I’m sure are there. Flavia needs a hero in her life, someone to look up to, who will indulge her but also impose limits – how much is Inspector Hewitt investing in being that person? Because we only see him from her point of view, and because she finds him so inscrutable, I’m not sure we’ll ever know – but watching them develop as a pair is one of the best parts of this series. And this stuff is even better with the addition of his wife Antigone, who seems to recognize Flavia’s lonely little-girl-crush for what it is and is so, so kind about it.
The man is fighting a losing battle, of course. Even when he goes out on a limb and explicitly tells her not to put herself in danger, she isn’t hearing it. After he tells her to remember there are dangerous killers on the loose, she practically swoons with excitement:
Where would we be if the amateur detectives of the world decided things were getting to dangerous and they’d better stay in for the night?
Flavia is under an inordinate amount of stress in this installment. Her sister is getting married, marking her passage out of Flavia’s life as far as she’s concerned, and Flavia is just starting to realize she doesn’t want her to go. Her family’s money troubles have come to a head and Buckshaw is actually For Sale. Another huge part of her life she is on the verge of losing (including her laboratory!). Her father seems even more like a ghost, like a defeated man. All of this probably accounts for the more melancholy tone in this novel; even though Flavia’s humorous narrative is still whip-smart and the characters are all crazy-quirky, Flavia’s worries are starting to eclipse her optimism and disrupt the natural order of things.
Naturally, the murder she has to solve provides her distraction – during the opening of Saint Tancred’s tomb on the 500-year anniversary of his death, to which Flavia has inserted herself without permission, she discovers not an uncorrupted saint’s body but a murdered church organist-- but even though it makes up the bulk of the story, it’s not THE story. (And to be honest, I found it a little hard to follow, what with the inclusion of a mysterious holy artifact, two other amateur detectives Flavia must contend with, Flavia’s side obsession with testing everybody’s blood, and a whole host of new-ish Bishop’s Lacey characters whose tangled histories intersect way too much with the case. I really needed that wrap-up at the end.) THE story, for me at least, is Flavia’s search to belong somewhere, even in her own family, her own village. And her then insistence that she be recognized and given credit for it.
As bad as things get, she is still irrepressible in her demand for attention. After her wrap-up, when everybody gets up and Inspector Hewitt casually and somewhat dismissively thanks her for her time, she wonders:
“Where are the trumpets?”
And that is the best thing about her.
*Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this e-ARC*
“Right, then,” Inspector Hewitt was saying. “Let’s have it.”
I couldn’t help thinking how much progress he had made since we had first met nine months ago, upon which occasion he had sent me to fetch the tea.
There was hope for the man yet.
What follows is my favorite part of the book, where Flavia gleefully does the wrap-up in her “humble, jolly-girl-well-met kind of voice” (that does not fool anyone in the slightest), while the exasperated but fond Inspector takes notes and tries to delicately balance himself between being supportive of her intellect and disapproving of her wild lack of self-preservation.
Something about their relationship breaks my heart (on Flavia’s end at least). I find myself reading between the lines every time they are together, hunting for Inspector Hewitt’s true thoughts, suffusing his character with emotional nuances that Flavia fails to pick up but that I’m sure are there. Flavia needs a hero in her life, someone to look up to, who will indulge her but also impose limits – how much is Inspector Hewitt investing in being that person? Because we only see him from her point of view, and because she finds him so inscrutable, I’m not sure we’ll ever know – but watching them develop as a pair is one of the best parts of this series. And this stuff is even better with the addition of his wife Antigone, who seems to recognize Flavia’s lonely little-girl-crush for what it is and is so, so kind about it.
The man is fighting a losing battle, of course. Even when he goes out on a limb and explicitly tells her not to put herself in danger, she isn’t hearing it. After he tells her to remember there are dangerous killers on the loose, she practically swoons with excitement:
My heart accelerated.
Dangerous killers on the loose! The words to which every amateur sleuth lives in eternal hope of hearing. Ever since I first heard them spoken on the wireless by Philip Odell in “The Case of the Missing Marbles,” I had longed for someone to say them to me. And now they had. “Dangerous killers on the loose!” I wanted to shake the Inspector’s hand….
My cup of crime runneth over, I thought.
Where would we be if the amateur detectives of the world decided things were getting to dangerous and they’d better stay in for the night?
Flavia is under an inordinate amount of stress in this installment. Her sister is getting married, marking her passage out of Flavia’s life as far as she’s concerned, and Flavia is just starting to realize she doesn’t want her to go. Her family’s money troubles have come to a head and Buckshaw is actually For Sale. Another huge part of her life she is on the verge of losing (including her laboratory!). Her father seems even more like a ghost, like a defeated man. All of this probably accounts for the more melancholy tone in this novel; even though Flavia’s humorous narrative is still whip-smart and the characters are all crazy-quirky, Flavia’s worries are starting to eclipse her optimism and disrupt the natural order of things.
Naturally, the murder she has to solve provides her distraction – during the opening of Saint Tancred’s tomb on the 500-year anniversary of his death, to which Flavia has inserted herself without permission, she discovers not an uncorrupted saint’s body but a murdered church organist-- but even though it makes up the bulk of the story, it’s not THE story. (And to be honest, I found it a little hard to follow, what with the inclusion of a mysterious holy artifact, two other amateur detectives Flavia must contend with, Flavia’s side obsession with testing everybody’s blood, and a whole host of new-ish Bishop’s Lacey characters whose tangled histories intersect way too much with the case. I really needed that wrap-up at the end.) THE story, for me at least, is Flavia’s search to belong somewhere, even in her own family, her own village. And her then insistence that she be recognized and given credit for it.
As bad as things get, she is still irrepressible in her demand for attention. After her wrap-up, when everybody gets up and Inspector Hewitt casually and somewhat dismissively thanks her for her time, she wonders:
“Where are the trumpets?”
And that is the best thing about her.
*Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this e-ARC*
August 10, 2022
4 Stars for Speaking from Among the Bones: Flavia de Luce, Book 5 (audiobook) by Alan Bradley read by Jayne Entwistle.
Flavia is such a fun character and Jayne Entwistle does such a wonderful job with her voice. Flavia has a murder to track down and she uses every bit of her wit to get to the bottom of the crime.
Flavia is such a fun character and Jayne Entwistle does such a wonderful job with her voice. Flavia has a murder to track down and she uses every bit of her wit to get to the bottom of the crime.
October 7, 2024
I love this series! Of the 5 I have read so far, I think this one is my favorite. A little more character growth. Some very honest and poignant looks at grief, loneliness and despair all wrapped up in a great mystery, wry humor, and quaint English countryside. Gladys almost earns her own character part here. And Dogger just keeps winning your heart. Flavia turns 12 and finds her life is changing in ways she doesn’t quite understand. And Bishop’s Lacey is once again the center of a mysterious murder. (This place might rival Cabot Cove soon!). The victim this time? The organist at Saint Tancred’s. Organists, it is generally understood, rarely have a sense of humor. But Flavia with her quick mind, her love for science and her reflective, if not occasionally reckless, nature, is on the trail of the killer.
If you are a mystery lover and you haven’t already, pick up this series (you can easily find the first book). Don’t let the premise throw you. These are grown-up storylines that just happen to feature an 11-yo detective. The observations she makes of the world around her and the people in it are as intuitive and accurate as an adult’s, maybe more so.
“I had once remarked to Feely that, because of the oxygen, breathing fresh air was like breathing God, but she had slapped my face and told me I was being blasphemous.”
Or…
“Was sorrow, in the end, a private thing? A closed container? Something that, like a bucket of water, could be borne only on a single pair of shoulders?”
But in the same way, the humor bubbles up authentically when you aren’t expecting it:
“No point in wasting time with false vanity when you possess the real thing.”
If you can, I recommend the audio version. The reader voices this series superbly and helps us 21st century Americans find our way into post-WWII Britain.
Let me know what you think of this series!!
If you are a mystery lover and you haven’t already, pick up this series (you can easily find the first book). Don’t let the premise throw you. These are grown-up storylines that just happen to feature an 11-yo detective. The observations she makes of the world around her and the people in it are as intuitive and accurate as an adult’s, maybe more so.
“I had once remarked to Feely that, because of the oxygen, breathing fresh air was like breathing God, but she had slapped my face and told me I was being blasphemous.”
Or…
“Was sorrow, in the end, a private thing? A closed container? Something that, like a bucket of water, could be borne only on a single pair of shoulders?”
But in the same way, the humor bubbles up authentically when you aren’t expecting it:
“No point in wasting time with false vanity when you possess the real thing.”
If you can, I recommend the audio version. The reader voices this series superbly and helps us 21st century Americans find our way into post-WWII Britain.
Let me know what you think of this series!!
July 30, 2019
The previous Flavia book was disappointing, and Alan Bradley has corrected every shortcoming of that book and produced the finest Flavia yet. (Newcomers, do read them in order or you will miss a great deal.) It is wonderful to be back in Bishop's Lacey, cuddled up with this cozy mystery in which Bradley's talent shines.
The mystery is the tightest and most interesting yet, and has a slightly eerie atmosphere new to the series. I loved that eerieness and hope it reappears in another.
Flavia has grown up a little (she's almost 12, after all) and the stories of Flavia and her sisters, her mother, father and the estate Buckshaw move forward more than ever. The changes in these beloved characters are most welcome after the static, stilted book four.
Alan Bradley's clever prose is wonderfully entertaining. It's not great literature but for what it is, it's terrific. He is a remarkably gifted writer and at his best here. The book has mystery, wit, suspense, irony, humor and I could go on with the adjectives but the best of all is it has heart. He loves his characters and the town itself and writes about them with lovely tenderness. I didn't want to reach the end of the book.
That he ended on a cliffhanger is surprising -- and maddening good fun. I wish I had book six right now (and seven through ten as well!), and sincerely hope they meet the very high standard he has set himself with "Speaking From Among the Bones."
The mystery is the tightest and most interesting yet, and has a slightly eerie atmosphere new to the series. I loved that eerieness and hope it reappears in another.
Flavia has grown up a little (she's almost 12, after all) and the stories of Flavia and her sisters, her mother, father and the estate Buckshaw move forward more than ever. The changes in these beloved characters are most welcome after the static, stilted book four.
Alan Bradley's clever prose is wonderfully entertaining. It's not great literature but for what it is, it's terrific. He is a remarkably gifted writer and at his best here. The book has mystery, wit, suspense, irony, humor and I could go on with the adjectives but the best of all is it has heart. He loves his characters and the town itself and writes about them with lovely tenderness. I didn't want to reach the end of the book.
That he ended on a cliffhanger is surprising -- and maddening good fun. I wish I had book six right now (and seven through ten as well!), and sincerely hope they meet the very high standard he has set himself with "Speaking From Among the Bones."
June 5, 2021
This was probably my favorite Flavia de Luce. Bishop’s Lacey continues to be the sedate village with a muder rate higher than Chicago, and as usual, Flavia discovers the body - in a tomb, nonetheless. The tomb belongs to a saint who died 500 years before, who is supposed to be all bones... which he is, underneath. The much fresher corpse is on the top, wearing a gas mask. Flavia goes sleuthing and discovers a large number of interesting village family secrets. We get to know a new set of characters in the village, and Flavia actually improves her relationship with her sisters. Finances are still troubled - Buckshaw is now up for sale. One of my pet peeves is that why does the colonel not work or invest or something? They could use the income and it would divert him from his grieving for his wife.
The mystery is definitely the best in the series so far: it is intricate, there are lots of misdirections and Flavia gets to hang out in tombs at night. She does some fine detecting rivaling of Hercule Poirot. But Poirot does not do chemistry experiments or rescue chickens, so you see where this comparison is not that flattering to him, after all.
And as a first, the novel ends on a cliffhanger. The mystery is solved, don’t worry, but we do wonder what that last sentence means...
The mystery is definitely the best in the series so far: it is intricate, there are lots of misdirections and Flavia gets to hang out in tombs at night. She does some fine detecting rivaling of Hercule Poirot. But Poirot does not do chemistry experiments or rescue chickens, so you see where this comparison is not that flattering to him, after all.
And as a first, the novel ends on a cliffhanger. The mystery is solved, don’t worry, but we do wonder what that last sentence means...
March 25, 2013
I love Flavia! What a great character! She's better than the "plucky" Nancy Drew. In this book she helps solve the mystery of a murdered church organist.
Bradley keeps Flavia being 12 by her spying on her sisters, naming her bike "Gladys", complaining about the housekeepers food. Yet, this 12 year old genius find clues and has a firm grasp of chemistry. Flavia has an irresistible voice. She is so funny and quirky. I can't wait to read the next book in the Flavia de Luce mystery series.
Bradley keeps Flavia being 12 by her spying on her sisters, naming her bike "Gladys", complaining about the housekeepers food. Yet, this 12 year old genius find clues and has a firm grasp of chemistry. Flavia has an irresistible voice. She is so funny and quirky. I can't wait to read the next book in the Flavia de Luce mystery series.
April 23, 2013
Flavia de Luce continues to be one of my favorite characters in all my reading. She is a genius in her chemical meanderings and in her skill of detection, but we are often reminded that she is still indeed a child, not yet twelve. This latest entertaining tale centers around the disinterment of a saint's bones, St. Tancred, who was laid to rest in Bishop's Lacey in the church bearing his name. Hidden passages, a powerful diamond, and a dead choir master all become a part of the mystery which Flavia takes upon herself to untangle. Along the way, she uncovers some interesting secrets of her mother's, whose shortened life Flavia has had to piece together herself over the years of silence from the rest of her family. Of course, Flavia's adventures are never without danger to her, and, yet, she faces danger and fear with the good sense and balance she does her life. In every marvelous book in this series, I keep wishing for 3 things for Flavia--1) good food to eat, rather than the apparent swill served by Mrs. Mullett 2) someone to love Flavia in the role of a parent and treasure her for the gem that she is 3) the financial woes of Buckshaw to disappear, leaving Flavia secure in the home she so loves. Alan Bradley has created a character and a series that will become stamped upon your heart. The wonderfully absurd titles of these enchanting books are also part of the magic.
February 3, 2017
Loved this one as much as I did the previous four. Flavia's up to it again and she's a force to be reckoned with in this novel. Can't wait to read the next.
March 16, 2023
Once again a newly discovered series, starring a pre-teen sleuth, no less. Its Crooked House, Sherlock Holmes and Famous Five (and perhaps many others) all rolled into one. There's a good amount of chemistry info too, served in dollops at regular intervals by the not-exactly-endearing heroine! Pretty amusing ending that cleverly makes the reader champing at the bit to start the next book.
February 19, 2013
Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley is the fifth book in the Flavia de Luce series. This book was released January 2013. The publisher is Delacorte Press.
The bones of St. Tancred are set to be exhumed on the 500th anniversary of his death. Instead, they find the body of the missing organist.
Twelve year old Flavia is on the case.
Flavia is a prodigy with a vast knowledge of chemistry and a knack for crime solving.
Flavia has a troubled home life. Her mother is missing, her father is in debt, they are in danger of losing their home, and her sisters take great delight in tormenting her.
Set in the early 1950's, Flavia is certainly an anomaly to those in her community. Her gifts are not taken for granted though.
In all honesty, I have not read the previous installments of this series. When I first started reading the book I thought perhaps I had mistakenly picked up a YA type mystery.
Having an eleven or twelve year old girl for the lead protagonist, told in first person, had me feeling a bit skeptical. I soon got over that. This a very imaginative , poignant, humorous mystery.
I know I'm missing some vital part of Flavia' s backstory and will have to go back and catch up on the previous four novels. For those that follow this series, the ending will be a big surprise.
overall a A-
I received this book from Netgalley for an honest review.
The bones of St. Tancred are set to be exhumed on the 500th anniversary of his death. Instead, they find the body of the missing organist.
Twelve year old Flavia is on the case.
Flavia is a prodigy with a vast knowledge of chemistry and a knack for crime solving.
Flavia has a troubled home life. Her mother is missing, her father is in debt, they are in danger of losing their home, and her sisters take great delight in tormenting her.
Set in the early 1950's, Flavia is certainly an anomaly to those in her community. Her gifts are not taken for granted though.
In all honesty, I have not read the previous installments of this series. When I first started reading the book I thought perhaps I had mistakenly picked up a YA type mystery.
Having an eleven or twelve year old girl for the lead protagonist, told in first person, had me feeling a bit skeptical. I soon got over that. This a very imaginative , poignant, humorous mystery.
I know I'm missing some vital part of Flavia' s backstory and will have to go back and catch up on the previous four novels. For those that follow this series, the ending will be a big surprise.
overall a A-
I received this book from Netgalley for an honest review.
October 22, 2021
Flavia deLuce has done it again! She may be only 11 years old, but she is such a brilliant little sleuth, sneaking around solving a murder right under the sight of almost everyone. I just love listening to these books on audible, because the narration that Jane Entwistle does with bringing all the characters to life is so spot on with this series all of these books are such a delight to listen to. I'm looking forward to the next one!
August 7, 2023
We didn't really, that particular murder of crows was safe from Us, we didn't murder it. But like this war we have been painting by ourselves, for ourselves, together, we could handle it. That particular murder of crows, we can handle it, oh how peculiar, we could murder this, something we can murder together, these crows. But We were so extremely kind to those unkindness of ravens flitting by overhead over our own heads. She and I. So kind to the otherness of Others. But not to each other. That was the decision we made together, our collective effort. A singular thought. A murder we didn't commit in the Snow.
My hand was still in hers, fortunately, she was still fictitious here, though not elsewhere, fiction is tough. But the reality of looking into her dead eyes is harder, still holding onto her, I was still following her into her forest that was still and still hers. Into her own woodlands, not really chasing her but being chased by something else at this point. We had already crossed the Rubicon, this was our final crossing, having crossed the Rubicon long ago. We were already amidst the deader trees. When she turned to me, pointing at the book that wasn't in my other hand. She spoke. "Oh, I really like this cover. I know that is not a raven or a crow but it is a bird. It is still reminding me of you, that I know." I didn't look at her, oh my love, my not so erstwhile Love, but that is a Rook. Our skeletal horses that are no longer waiting for us be damned, that is a rook, but you didn't. Alienist. Though I was thinking, it is not about this beautiful cover, lovely loveless lovelorn Love, it is about the beautiful writing being charming and this book is ever so charming, so charming. Reminds me of someone I rarely forget but will never forgive. But sometimes I wish I would. Forget that is, her.
Because we are being distanced by something other than this distance this time. Though she is Wrong about one thing. It is not the distance that is keeping us apart. But what did she know, she was the one who had put a distance between us and not the one that could be measured in rosts.
But this book? This book is great. Last night was Great too. So much fun to read. But it kept reminding me of a home that wasn't home anymore. Reading this was reminding me of home but not the kind you live in and I want to live in that home so badly that it not bad. Oddly enough, that is good. But that's not what is odd here. The thing about this book series is while the author is Canadian the books are set in 1950s England. Truly delightful. Now all that put me in the mind of something else. Here I must borrow words from Imagine Dragons :
Oh why can't you let go
Like a bird in the snow
This is no place to build your home
And clearly, that cold place is not my home, I never needed that to be free, I cannot build one there, a log cabin or a mountainous bothy, an alpine pleasure where I could pleasure her with pleasure. She always wanted me to pleasure her in a way that was Only pleasurable for Her. I have no home there in that lusciously dreary country but my Home is there. A Lonely one that is happier now. So fuck it. It is pretty hard not to blame Canada, for taking so much from me and leaving so little for the rest of us. Forget existential crisis, I do not exist for you or your dreck world, I am so much more. But this is the worst existence I have been experiencing and all the ensuing crises as well. And she is barely there to witness this all. Where are you? However, I do enjoy imbibing the existential dread, yummy. Your midden is sweet as ever and drinking it is still rather sweet. But here's the thing, even when you were hurting me, you were there. You were hurting me because you were there. You were hurting me because you were alive and your breathing pained me. Even though she wanted me to swallow her sunset, I cannot begrudge her her selfish self-preservation that is actually pretty selfless. I am just really sorry that we couldn't finish our pepperoni pizza in peace. Especially today on the 28th of July. Because it has been a full Wolf Year since she once dreamt of kissing me in her dream. But the thing to remember is that I am going through hell too. Sure, it is different than your hell, it is hell nonetheless. But we don't know what the future potion is brewing in the cauldron for us. We still have an eternity together. I'll give her plenty of chances to make it up to me, cashing in rainchecks and all the kisses in between.
But coming back to this book, to round this up, I have always loved this series, but reading this volume, I didn't realize just how much I have missed it and all those lovely characters.
Let's see? I read the previous book, well, way back in September of 2015. Whoa. So long ago. Ages ago. When even though we didn't love each other but our collective shadows were in love with us all the same. Butt. So much time has gone by. Yet. We are here still outside of time. And in all that time, like my would-be lover once said, a baby could have come out. Though to be fair, we didn't make any, not even papery ones, nor did I put one in her or on her face. But what did come out is the Following. When I read the previous novel it impelled this just by one Word, boudoir :
https://www.wattpad.com/753489160-in-...
Oh, what the hell, I love her so much. Oh, what hell indeed, nothing can hurt us now, time cannot molest us anymore.
I love you so much and not at all.
I am not even sure if she is in the book that is about her anymore. I don't know if the book that is about her is about her now. Besides, she is half a legend and almost a myth now. I know I want to love her without waiting for her. I want her without wanting her. I need her tonight without her night and besides, by the time it's morn at the dawn she is all mine anyway. In all those lovely wisteria mornings, when she is truly beautiful to me.
When, when
I will see her again
I know I will see her again because
When the earth was last born, when her world was still fresh from her mind when she had first woken up with a new language from dreaming my dreams, she thought of me first and then the rest of her demise. For. Whenever she wakes up she feels me. When she wakes up the first thing she thinks of is me. But I think about her all the time and only feel her sometimes and not enough these dreary days.
What happened to all our skeletal horses, nonlove, where are they now? I honestly thought she was a rogue planet. But she is so blackened now. Why does she weigh like dead stars? Not sure. Unclear. Huh. I don't even know what her lifeless life that her lie is about anymore. I do not want her life. I want her in my life. I want her to make me the center of her life. I want her to live her life.
She has a spear to protect her own. She is a hardened warrior. She is a shield maiden. Nonugly. I would count all of her battle scars and lick each and every one of her wounds. Welts that are still weltered in her blood. I will make her whole again. I am happy about the September Dragons, red and bright, and the dragons feel good about her. And I feel good about the Chaser. I remember her. Remember to cherish her. Even if she is gone and never to be found again in the forest. Sylvan Wolves are all hers. Even if she is not mine. But here is the thing.
She should see just how perfect she is in my eyes. Looking so cute in that seatbelt, she truly is manna from the heavens.
She is my queen and I will never love her.
This is my abattoir now.
There is nothing I want from anywhere.
There is nothing you have that I'd want.
You have nothing for me.
There is nothing I need or want from you other than yourself.
I am not hurt. But it grieves me so, what we didn't do with each other, let alone to one another. How can I not mourn that?
Not so together in this now but still together
the careful empire of words that we have been building so carefully, you said what you said making me feel so lonely in my affection for you, like I am the only one here in our fallen kingdom, just me here as if you didn't personally contribute the bricks for our stone tower. Leaving me alone with the remnants of that feminine power, left crumbling in my arms, all alone. All decked out in black, all dreck now, you are. Everything you had told me, all that you have said to me thus turning into dirt and dross in my hands.
I know what I have to do now.
I must finish her in order to finish her.
I will finish her so that I can finish this.
2019
2013
This is nothing now but an extension of a promise. It's so funny.
What had meant so much then doesn't mean a thing to me now. In the end, this was nothing but a promise I was making myself though I was not aware of it.
I kept my promise in the end. I am here after all. But by the end of that promise, there is nothing there. I am empty.
I am alone. I am left with an emptiness that's not there.
October 26, 2021
This is the fifth in the Flavia de Luce series and I am enjoying this series so much (even if I (re)-discovered it rather late).
Bishop's Lacey is preparing to celebrate the 500th anniversary of their Patron Saint, by opening St Tancred's tomb. Of course, Flavia - obsessed by chemistry and death - is more than a little interested and so is there to discover that the body in the vault is that of the missing church organist. There there unravels a mystery which involves a whole host of different characters, each involved in some way or other with the goings on involving St Tancred, missing diamonds and family secrets.
Talking of family, Flavia's own small world is more precarious than ever, with her family home being sold. Will the family once again manage to escape financial ruin? There is a twist in the tale and I cannot wait to read on after the great reveal at the end.
Bishop's Lacey is preparing to celebrate the 500th anniversary of their Patron Saint, by opening St Tancred's tomb. Of course, Flavia - obsessed by chemistry and death - is more than a little interested and so is there to discover that the body in the vault is that of the missing church organist. There there unravels a mystery which involves a whole host of different characters, each involved in some way or other with the goings on involving St Tancred, missing diamonds and family secrets.
Talking of family, Flavia's own small world is more precarious than ever, with her family home being sold. Will the family once again manage to escape financial ruin? There is a twist in the tale and I cannot wait to read on after the great reveal at the end.
February 20, 2020
Buckshaw by moonlight was a scene from a dream. As I rode towards it along the avenue of chestnut trees, the house was half illuminated by a pale silvery light, the other half in darkness, its long black shadow crawling away across the Trafalgar Lawn toward the east, as if trying to reach the safety of the distant trees…
Speaking from among the bones opens with the irrepressible (almost) twelve year old Flavia de Luce staring up at the blood-stained head of John the Baptist in the stained glass window of Saint Tancred’s church, waiting as her sister, Ophelia, practices at the church organ, the previous organist, Mr. Collicutt, disappeared weeks earlier.
Set in rural post-war Britain, villages with quintessential English names of Bishop’s Lacey, Nether-Wolsey and Malden Fenwick – reminiscent of hamlets long lost to the incursions of the North Sea. Flavia is the precocious youngest daughter of Colonel de Luce, (one time prisoner of the Japanese at the fall of Singapore), she is an amateur sleuth who gets around the villages on a trusty old bicycle she calls Gladys, but her real passion is chemistry - especially poisons - making the laboratory of her great-uncle Tarquin in the family’s ancestral home of Buckshaw, her own. With the church organ making strange sounds, Ophelia shows her the switch that opens up the interior of all the pipes and Flavia makes a startling discovery…
A wooden statue crying tears of blood, the tomb of a saint, lead-poisoning, grave wax (adipocere), a missing diamond, the saving of a Buff Orpington hen named Esmerelda, villagers with secrets, a frustrated local constabulary – with her youthful exuberance Flavia is blithely unaware of the tragedies surrounding her, even among her own family, as her pursues the clues to solve a murder, committed in the grounds of the church.
The interior was a cool, dim, tinted twilight, and was filled with that vague and unnerving vibration that churches have when they are empty, as if the souls of those in the crypts below are singing – or perhaps cursing – at a pitch too high or too low for the rest of us to hear…
Wonderful descriptions and characters, a few threads left hanging, this would appeal to readers who enjoy Ben Aaronovitch’s works. No wizards here though.
Speaking from among the bones opens with the irrepressible (almost) twelve year old Flavia de Luce staring up at the blood-stained head of John the Baptist in the stained glass window of Saint Tancred’s church, waiting as her sister, Ophelia, practices at the church organ, the previous organist, Mr. Collicutt, disappeared weeks earlier.
Set in rural post-war Britain, villages with quintessential English names of Bishop’s Lacey, Nether-Wolsey and Malden Fenwick – reminiscent of hamlets long lost to the incursions of the North Sea. Flavia is the precocious youngest daughter of Colonel de Luce, (one time prisoner of the Japanese at the fall of Singapore), she is an amateur sleuth who gets around the villages on a trusty old bicycle she calls Gladys, but her real passion is chemistry - especially poisons - making the laboratory of her great-uncle Tarquin in the family’s ancestral home of Buckshaw, her own. With the church organ making strange sounds, Ophelia shows her the switch that opens up the interior of all the pipes and Flavia makes a startling discovery…
A wooden statue crying tears of blood, the tomb of a saint, lead-poisoning, grave wax (adipocere), a missing diamond, the saving of a Buff Orpington hen named Esmerelda, villagers with secrets, a frustrated local constabulary – with her youthful exuberance Flavia is blithely unaware of the tragedies surrounding her, even among her own family, as her pursues the clues to solve a murder, committed in the grounds of the church.
The interior was a cool, dim, tinted twilight, and was filled with that vague and unnerving vibration that churches have when they are empty, as if the souls of those in the crypts below are singing – or perhaps cursing – at a pitch too high or too low for the rest of us to hear…
Wonderful descriptions and characters, a few threads left hanging, this would appeal to readers who enjoy Ben Aaronovitch’s works. No wizards here though.
February 9, 2017
The best! A couple of my favorite quotes from this book:
“Was sorrow, in the end, a private thing? A closed container? Something that, like a bucket of water, could be borne only on a single pair of shoulders?"
“I was learning that the best conversations consisted of keeping quiet and listening, and speaking, when one spoke at all, in words of a single syllable.”
"I was the eighth dwarf. Sneaky."
“Could it be that goodness waxes and wanes like the moon, and that only evil is constant?”
“There's an unwritten law of the universe which assures that the thing you seek will always be found in the last place you look. It applies to everything in life from lost socks to misplaced poisons.”
“It was one of those glorious days in March when the air was so fresh that you worshipped every whiff of it; that each breath of the intoxicating stuff created such new universes in your lungs and brain you were certain you were about to explode with sheer joy; one of those blustery days of scudding clouds and piddling showers and gum boots and wind-blown brollies that made you know you were truly alive.”
I honestly can think of no other character in fiction I appreciate, even adore as much as Flavia de Luce. Long live Flavia, and long live this series! Truly outstanding in every way! I savored this one from start to finish. Start this series with "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie."
“Was sorrow, in the end, a private thing? A closed container? Something that, like a bucket of water, could be borne only on a single pair of shoulders?"
“I was learning that the best conversations consisted of keeping quiet and listening, and speaking, when one spoke at all, in words of a single syllable.”
"I was the eighth dwarf. Sneaky."
“Could it be that goodness waxes and wanes like the moon, and that only evil is constant?”
“There's an unwritten law of the universe which assures that the thing you seek will always be found in the last place you look. It applies to everything in life from lost socks to misplaced poisons.”
“It was one of those glorious days in March when the air was so fresh that you worshipped every whiff of it; that each breath of the intoxicating stuff created such new universes in your lungs and brain you were certain you were about to explode with sheer joy; one of those blustery days of scudding clouds and piddling showers and gum boots and wind-blown brollies that made you know you were truly alive.”
I honestly can think of no other character in fiction I appreciate, even adore as much as Flavia de Luce. Long live Flavia, and long live this series! Truly outstanding in every way! I savored this one from start to finish. Start this series with "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie."
March 28, 2015
I do like this series — and tear through the books — when I get round to reading it, but I don’t particularly feel a pressure to keep up. There’s just something too precious about Flavia, and indeed the whole portrayal of idyllic British country life after the Second World War. My usual pet peeves with this series are firmly in place, in that sense.
But it is nice to just relax into it and enjoy the family’s weirdnesses, the unusual set up for the mystery, the intrepid Famous Five feel you get from Flavia — and the fact that hey, she’s a young girl who is great at chemistry, who deserves and demands respect from the people around her for what she can do. Sometimes she overshoots (and, ah, I think I do recognise myself in that; I was quite a mature kid, but also very aware of it and keen for people to know, which then veers toward being immature again), but mostly she’s quite right that she deserves some respect. I do enjoy her little crush on the inspector, too.
The last line is clearly set up for Things To Change, and I’m quite looking forward to that. There’s a formula now to these books; I hope the next book breaks it, at least somewhat.
Review originally on my blog here.
But it is nice to just relax into it and enjoy the family’s weirdnesses, the unusual set up for the mystery, the intrepid Famous Five feel you get from Flavia — and the fact that hey, she’s a young girl who is great at chemistry, who deserves and demands respect from the people around her for what she can do. Sometimes she overshoots (and, ah, I think I do recognise myself in that; I was quite a mature kid, but also very aware of it and keen for people to know, which then veers toward being immature again), but mostly she’s quite right that she deserves some respect. I do enjoy her little crush on the inspector, too.
The last line is clearly set up for Things To Change, and I’m quite looking forward to that. There’s a formula now to these books; I hope the next book breaks it, at least somewhat.
Review originally on my blog here.
February 29, 2020
Flavia de Luce is one of my favorite juvenile characters in literature, ranking right up there with Scout Finch. Like Scout, Flavia is motherless; however, Flavia has two older sisters who torment her unlike Scout and Jem who are relatively close. Flavia's father is also rather absent, mourning the loss of his wife Harriet and maybe the family mansion Buckshaw. Atticus Finch, though absent for work at times, is as involved in his children's lives as he can be.
Flavia is precocious and wise beyond her years. Her love of chemistry and solving crimes gets her mixed up in all kinds of situations in Bishop's Lacey--#5 is no different. Flavia yet again discovers and dead body in a crypt at the church and more or less solves the crime before the police. As before, she nearly gets herself in serious trouble along the way. (I was taking deep breaths and turning pages quickly there for a bit.) And man can Flavia talk her way out of situations too. She speaks with more skill and aplomb than most adults.
The revelation at the end--literally the last line--was a doozy! I will be moving on to The Dead in their Vaulted Arches (#6) as soon as I can finish up a couple other books and get it from the library.
Flavia is precocious and wise beyond her years. Her love of chemistry and solving crimes gets her mixed up in all kinds of situations in Bishop's Lacey--#5 is no different. Flavia yet again discovers and dead body in a crypt at the church and more or less solves the crime before the police. As before, she nearly gets herself in serious trouble along the way. (I was taking deep breaths and turning pages quickly there for a bit.) And man can Flavia talk her way out of situations too. She speaks with more skill and aplomb than most adults.
The revelation at the end--literally the last line--was a doozy! I will be moving on to The Dead in their Vaulted Arches (#6) as soon as I can finish up a couple other books and get it from the library.
May 25, 2017
This is another terrific book in this series. Flavia de Luce is an endearing character – mentally and emotionally precocious, yet still with many little-girl flaws. She pretty much has no fear, doesn’t care if she gets herself (or her bike, or the house) dirty; to her, life is all one big experiment. It is one of the things that is so charming about her – she can outwit and out-think many of the adults in her life, yet her strong curiosity, the need to know things and to figure them out (along with a completely unselfconscious pride in doing so) leads her into places and situations that only a child could venture – and extricate themselves from – relatively unscathed. Loved this book and I recommend it for a fun, recreational read.
April 3, 2023
I’ve mentioned before my passion for poisons and my special fondness for cyanide. But, to be perfectly fair, I must admit that I also have something of a soft spot for strychnine
The five-hundredth anniversary of St. Tancred’s death is approaching, and Bishop's Lacey is preparing to open the crypt and exhume their patron saint. Of course Flavia has to be there! She is the one who discovers that the crypt contains the remains not of St. Tancred, but of the church organist who disappeared some weeks prior.
“Who discovered the body?” the Inspector asked, which seemed to me a reasonable place to begin.
“Er…Flavia here,” the vicar told him, placing a protective hand on my shoulder. “That is, Miss de Luce.”
“I might have known,” the Inspector said.
The five-hundredth anniversary of St. Tancred’s death is approaching, and Bishop's Lacey is preparing to open the crypt and exhume their patron saint. Of course Flavia has to be there! She is the one who discovers that the crypt contains the remains not of St. Tancred, but of the church organist who disappeared some weeks prior.
“Who discovered the body?” the Inspector asked, which seemed to me a reasonable place to begin.
“Er…Flavia here,” the vicar told him, placing a protective hand on my shoulder. “That is, Miss de Luce.”
“I might have known,” the Inspector said.
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