Mord är ingen barnlek

Flavia de Luce #2

by Alan Bradley, Ylva Stålmarck (translator)

Det är 1950-tal på ett tämligen förfallet gods på Englands landsbygd. Där bor den brådmogna Flavia de Luce, med en hjärna skarp som en knivsegg. Hon älskar det kemilaboratorium hon fått ärva efter sin döda mor. Speciellt fascinerad är hon av gifterna som kommer väl till pass i de raffinerade hämndaktioner hon vill iscensätta när hennes två äldre systrar gör livet surt för henne.

En dag kommer en berömd dockteater till byn. Den leds av Rupert Porson, rikskänd tv-celebritet. Man upplåter byns kyrka åt teatern, men det vill sig inte bättre än att Porson bränns till döds i ett elektriskt haveri mitt under en föreställning. Flavia förstår genast att det inte rör sig om en olyckshändelse. Med sina barnsliga men förslagna frågor får hon människor att berätta om länge gömda hemligheter.

Hur kommer det sig att en gammal tysk krigsfånge var närvarande både nu och när man hittade en femårig pojke hängd för många år sedan? Vad har byns kyrkoherde för koppling till händelserna? Och den tokiga kvinnan som bor i skogen – hon vet något.

Mord är ingen barnlek är den andra av sju deckare med Flavia som huvudperson. BBC planerar en tv-serie baserade på böckerna med samma manusförfattare som skrev Barnmorskan i East End.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Young Adult, Crime, Mystery Thriller

336 pages, Hardcover

First published March 9, 2010

About the author

Librarian 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.

Reviews

[Jeffrey Keeten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't really explain it, but I really like this series. I don't read books like this and yet here I am with book two under my belt and looking forward to book three. I actually liked this book better than the first book The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. I was talked into reading the first book, and prejudged the book which it took 3/4 of the book to convince me that I really was having a good time. With book two I picked it up already convinced I would like it and I wasn't disappointed.

Flavia de Luce our 11 year old heroine is pretty much left to her own devices. Her mother died young. Her father buries himself in his stamp collection leaving Flavia at best barely supervised. Her sisters Daphne and Ophelia known with a bit of venom as Daffy and Feely are in an on going conflict with Flavia. They despise Flavia and the feeling is mutual.

The problem for the sisters is Flavia has more than an interest in poisons bordering on an obsession. Flavia is over the space of the first two books in a battle with herself over whether she should just get it over with and poison her sisters.

Flavia, with the use of her trusty bike Gladys, ranges all over the countryside. It is no wonder that if there is any intrigue afoot in the county Flavia will find herself in the middle of it. She is precocious, manipulative, intelligent, and curious to the point of lunacy.

One of my favorite moments in the book is when Flavia mixes sun dried pigeon poop with egg yolk to create an antidote for cyanide. WHOA MACGYVER MOMENT.

If you are looking for a fun bit of English countryside with an Agatha Christie investigation and a good dose of hilarity inducing sibling rivalry this book will fit the bill.

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are cute, cute, cute books! I don't buy it, a kid being this kind of smart, but I don't care. The plot's a little on the thin side, but I don't care. The fun of these books is the delightful fantasy of Eng-er-land post-WWII seen through the eyes of eleven-year-old Flavia, daughter of decayed privilege.

The murdered man, a puppeteer/drug dealer, *richly* deserved killing, which always makes a mystery more fun for me. His relict, of sorts, is of course a suspect, but her Delicate Condition (which Flavia suspects, and confirms by a chemical test that I'd never heard of before) ends up eliminating her...and shortly after she is in the clear, she buggers off somewhere...but I suspect that she'll be back.

The murderer, when identified, made me smile. I was so hoping the guilty party would be who it turned out to be, since I took an instant and complete aversion to that person. Not always a reliable indicator of guilt, but in this case...! Yippee!

So why read this? Because it's fun. Because it's frothy. Because it's summer, and because it's worth a few hours of your time to escape your ordinary world for the exciting world of Flavia de Luce.

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I see I'm not the only one unthrilled by this second book. There are no spoilers in what follows, but if you loved the first one and are excited for this one, read no further. Or if you do, don't complain to me that I killed your joy.

This story meandered way too much to keep my interest, and I thought the plot was dreadfully thin. Lots of window dressing and trying too hard to be cute. It felt very much like a 70-something-year-old man trying to sound like an 11-year-old girl. And of course, that's exactly what it is, but it wasn't so noticeable in The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.
You have to read nearly half the book before the actual mystery is introduced, and then the story continues to wander hither and yon. It had its moments, but didn't add up to much when the tale was finished.
Furthermore, the entire thing was so larded down with inapt similes that it was at times unbearable to continue. Am I the only one who noticed this? I couldn't decide whether to hurl the book against the wall---or just plain HURL!!

I thought the first book was far more charming and entertaining. I didn't hate The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag, but I won't be continuing with the series.

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty decent sequel.
The same cozy funny murder mystery with the same adorable characters and very English atmosphere.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flavia returns! Oh, delicious young poisoner Flavia de Luce, cousin to Wednesday Addams, Sherlock Holmes as an 11 year-old girl. A delight.

[PattyMacDotComma · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5★
“’Good Lord!’ she said. Someone told me about a family that lived in a great rambling old mansion not far from here: an eccentric colonel and a family of girls running wild like a lot of red Indians. You’re not one of them, are you?’

She saw instantly by the look on my face that I was.

‘Oh, you poor child!’ she said. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ... I mean . . .’

‘It’s quite all right,’ I told her. ‘It’s far worse than that actually, but I don’t like to talk about it.’”

Young Flavia de Luce is a child-sleuth with a passion and a talent for chemistry. You wouldn’t want to cross her out in the woods, because she might decide to poison you. On the other hand, if by chance you were on the brink of succumbing to some poison, she could probably produce an antidote from whatever plants and substances she could find nearby.

This takes place in England in the 1950s. She’s ten-going-on-eleven, motherless and, yes, wild. Wild as in free as the wind and young enough that nobody suspects her of doing anything seriously wrong. She’s more likely to be considered a nuisance.

She has a fair knowledge of history, a strong sense of justice, and a delightful sense of humour. She’s quite wry for one so young.

“I have to admit, though, that Cynthia was a great organizer, but then, so were the men with whips who got the pyramids built.”

Flavia is in fairly constant battle with her two older sisters, Ophelia (Feely) and Daphne (Daffy).

“I’d show that bloody swine Feely a thing or two. I’d have her so tied up in knots they’d have to hire a sailor to undo her for the funeral.”

When Flavia meets up with a roving puppeteer and his assistant and discovers they are broke and their van needs repairs, she decides to help. It turns out Rupert Porsons is a much-loved television star, so she convinces them to put on a show locally to make some money to pay for van repairs.

The local vicar arranges for them to camp in the field of a local farm, so Flavia shows them the way. But the place seems deserted.

“In my experience, whenever you arrived at a farm, someone always came out of the barn to greet you, wiping his oily hands on a rag and calling to a woman with a basket of eggs to bake some scones and put the tea on. At the very least, there should have been a barking dog.”

No dog, but there is a tall tower with a dovecote on top. Flavia has heard a sound (she claims to have extraordinary hearing), so she investigates. Before she does, she tells us the sad tale of the small son of the farm having been found hanged some years ago, which sent his mother mad.

She identifies the keening as that of the bereft woman. As she climbs the rickety ladder, she can just see Mrs. Ingleby and hear her singing peculiar songs. Of course she investigates!

“But while I was still trying to calculate how quickly I could scramble back down the wooden frame and make a run for it, the woman spoke: ‘Come up, Flavia,’ she said. ‘Come up and join in my little requiem.’

Requiem? I thought. Do I really want to scramble up into a brick cell with a woman who is at best more than a little inebriated, and at worst a homicidal maniac?

I hauled myself up into the gloom.”

The plot sprawls across many characters and thickens wonderfully in unexpected ways. Flavia, meanwhile, is juggling her father, her sisters, her visiting aunt (who takes over), as well as the police when they become involved after a sudden, dramatic death.

I love the sense of place and the action. Flavia and Gladys, her trusty bike, fly around the countryside.

“Although there was a sliver of gold in the eastern sky, the sun was not yet up as I barreled along the road to Bishop’s Lacey. Gladys’s tires were humming that busy, waspish sound they make when she’s especially content. Low fog floated in the fields on either side of the ditches, and I pretended that I was the ghost of Cathy Earnshaw flying to Heathcliff (except for the bicycle) across the Yorkshire moors. Now and then, a skeletal hand would reach out of the bramble hedges to snatch at my red woolen sweater, but Gladys and I were too fast for them.”

It's a complex plot with wonderful characters.

“In her beige taffeta blouse, mahogany-colored skirt, and brown oxfords, she looked like nothing so much as an over-wound grandfather clock.”

Aunt Felicity fares better.

“Aunt Felicity. In spite of the heat, she was wearing a long, light-colored motoring coat and a great solar topee, which was tied under her chin with a broad blue ribbon. Various bits protruded from her person in all directions: hatpins, umbrella handles, rolled-up magazines, newspapers, shooting sticks, and so forth. She looked like a walking bird’s nest, or, rather, more like an ambulatory haystack.”

I just love Flavia (and Gladys) and her bold experiments. Great series. Perfectly suitable for kids, I’d say, though there’s nothing childish about the writing.

[Adina ( catching up..very slowly) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag is the 2nd book in the Flavia De Luce series. I liked the novel less than the first one as I could not connect with the characters in the beginning and I was a little bit annoyed by Flavia. That changed soon enough and the book became entertaining, as I was expecting.

For those who do not know this series, it is about a 12 years old girl living in an old English mansion with her father and two sisters after the 2nd World War. Flavia is very curios, attentive to details and has a passion which is not so normal for young girls, namely chemistry, and specializes in poisons. Her character treats make her a perfect crime investigator.

[Raquel Estebaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Segunda novela de la serie Flavia de Luce, ambientada en una pequeña localidad inglesa después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y protagonizada por Flavia, una brillante niña de 11 años que vive en una decadente mansión con un padre frío y desapegado y dos hermanas mayores que la tratan de manera bastante detestable

Una novela muy entretenida, con una protagonista muy inteligente, precoz y divertida con increíbles conocimientos de química y venenos y cuyos mayores intereses son la investigación científica y resolver misterios.

Que Flavia exhibe demasiados conocimientos para su edad? Puede, pero da gusto ver el mundo a través de sus ojos y he pasado un rato fantástico leyendo sus aventuras.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag picks up a little more than a month after The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie leaves off, so it was good to read them consecutively. It's summer in Bishop's Lacey, the little village outside of which eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce lives with her father and two older sisters in the old family manor, Buckshaw. Flavia's relaxing in the churchyard when she sees that she has company: it turns out that the van of a famous puppeteer, Rupert Porson, has broken down, and he and his assistant are stranded. The vicar convinces them to put on a show while they wait for the mechanic to fix the van, and Flavia's roped into helping them set up and settle in: they've been given permission to camp in the field of a neighboring farm. The farm belongs to a couple whose young son was found hanged in the woods five years earlier, and they've become reclusive since then: Flavia has a more-than-a-little creepy encounter with the woman of the house, which makes you wonder what other creepiness has happened on/near this farm, and what other creepiness is still in store.

As with the last Flavia de Luce mystery, in this one the stranger who arrives in town dies soon after—and turns out not to be a stranger at all. And once again, Flavia has a role in unraveling how the "stranger" is connected to Bishop's Lacey, and why he's ended up dead.

I am (still) fond of Flavia and her boldness and cleverness; passages like the below crack me up:

"You are unreliable, Flavia," he said. "Utterly unreliable."
Of course I was! It was one of the things I loved most about myself.
Eleven-year-olds are supposed to be unreliable. We're past the age of being poppets: the age where people bend over and poke us in the tum with their fingers and make idiotic noises that sound like "boof-boof"—just the thought of which is enough to make me bring up my Bovril. And yet we're still not at the age where anyone ever mistakes us for a grown-up. The fact is, we're invisible—except when we choose not to be. (p 112)

I like the little world of Bishop's Lacey, and I feel like Bradley's writing is better in this book than the last one—or maybe I was just paying better attention—I really enjoyed the descriptions of, say, the cool damp forest and all its plant life, or the wonder of looking down from above at a well-constructed puppet theater, the magic of it. And, like with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, I like the conventions of the mystery, the way different characters, many with a motive, are introduced, and the way you stay guessing. I read this book over the course of a few days when I was sick with a nasty cold, and it felt like perfect curled-up-with-a-blanket reading.

[Dan Lutts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suppose you're at a puppet show and the puppeteer falls from the rafters, dead. It's not an accident. He's been murdered. What would you do? Well, if you're feisty, eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, who has a passion for poisons, you'd solve the mystery and find the murderer.

And that exactly what Flavia does in Alan Bradley's second Flavia de Luce mastery, The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag. Puppeteer Rupert Porson–a famous BBC personality–arrives in Bishop's Lacey, along with his downtrodden assistant, Niallia, to put on a puppet show. Rupert, who's not a very nice guy, is electrocuted in the middle of his performance. The murderer tries to make their crime look like an accident. Flavia investigates the murder, often going behind the backs of the actual investigators. There are plenty of suspects who might have their own reasons for wanting to see Rupert dead. And Flavia plans to investigate them all. Of course, she isn't adverse to getting herself into sticky situations along the way.

For the longest time, my wife, Lisa, had been pestering me to read the first Flavia de Luce book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. I finally gave in and–to my surprise and delight–loved the book.

One of the most appealing aspects of the Flavia series is author Alan Bradley's wonderful use of images, similes, and metaphors. They're original and colorful and add to the novels' delightfulness.

I did learn that the Flavia de Luce series has been picked up by Canada's CTV in Toronto for development. So Flavia might appear on TV. Lisa's first comment was: "I hope they don't ruin it." I guess time will tell.

[Jennie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Look, I like Flavia De Luce - I do. But Alan Bradley needs to make up his mind about whether this girl is eleven or thirty; she can't be both. I can't tell you how much it bothers me to have an eleven-year-old thinking things like "As if they had been sucked in through my pores by osmosis, I knew even as they swept over me that I was hearing the bitter words of an old man to a love far younger than himself." How can she know that? Nothing about her home life suggests she could possibly know these things, and "Daffy read that book to us that one time" is used far too often as a justification for her worldliness. Flavia decides out of the blue to conduct a pregnancy test on one character, apparently just because the character happens to be involved with another character, then doesn't know what goes on during an "affair" two hundred pages later. This doesn't make sense! Precocious/genius is fine, but be consistent.

Aside from that, I didn't really care for the mystery. It was too meandering, full of far too many coincidences, and the big reveal fell flat for me.

I'll probably read more, but Bradley really does need to get Flavia's character sorted out.

[Cynnamon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book better than expected, but for a variety of reasons I am not a real fan.

-----------------------------

Mir hat der hier vorgestellte Kriminalfall mit dem elektrokutierten Puppenspieler gut gefallen. Auch die Lösung war komplex und ganz in der Tradition klassischer englischer Kriminalromane.

Aus verschiedenen Gründen konnte ich mich aber nicht vollständig begeistern.

Dies hängt vorwiegend mit der Protagonistin Flavia zusammen.
Eine knapp elfjährige exzentrischte Wissenschaftlerin aus schwierigen Familienverhältnissen glaubwürdig darzustellen dürfte extrem schwierig sein und ist auch hier dem Autor nicht wirklich gelungen.
Ich mochte Flavia, aber wäre sie eine Hexe oder eine Elfe wäre sie nicht weniger real.
Ich gehe davon aus, dass diese Buchreihe für Kinder gedacht ist und mache die entsprechenden Abstriche bei Plot und Sprache. Dennoch spricht und denkt Flavia nicht im Entferntesten wie ein Kind, auch nicht wie ein Hochbegabtes.
Außerdem fallen mir immer wieder sprachliche Eigenheiten auf, die einfach gar nicht in die 1940er passen.

Die wissenschaftlichen Bestandteile haben mir gut gefallen. Ich habe sie zugegebnermaßen aber nicht auf Richtigkeit überprüft.

Ich meckere hier auf hohem Niveau und das Buch hat mir tatsächlich wesentlich besser gefallen, als ich es erwartet hatte. Dennoch meine ich dass hier der Hybrid zwischen Kinder- und Ewachsenenbuch nicht so wirklich gelungen ist.

Daher: 3 wohlverdiente Sterne

Ich möchte hier noch einmal darauf verweisen, dass 3 Sterne nach der GR Terminologie überdurchschnittlich ist und bedeutet, dass mir das Buch gut gefallen hat.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series, especially the feisty 11 year old Flavia deLuce at the centre of it all. England in the 1950s must have been a golden time for childhood. Flavia is left totally alone to roam the countryside on her bike, visit whoever she wants and poke her nose in wherever she wants. Of course things might be different if her mother hadn't died at her birth and it was left to her distant father and two hateful sisters (who Flavia may end up poisoning before the series ends) to bring her up. As long as she turns up for meals no one seems to wonder about what she is up to. It's no wonder then that Flavia is an accomplished amateur sleuth, aided by her powers of observation (she'd give Sherlock a run for his money), high intelligence, complete lack of fear and downright nosiness. Her obsession with poisons and vast knowledge of chemistry also makes her exceptionally good at picking up the forensic clues that the police miss.

I know a lot of readers think Flavia is too smart by far to be only 11 but I can remember at that age being obsessed with astronomy and the space race and reading everything I could about it so we shouldn't underestimate what a super bright kid like Flavia could get up to left to her own devices. Having access to her Uncle Tar's chemistry lab and books would have been a goldmine to her.

This is a stronger plot than the first book in the series involving a puppeteer, some illegal substances and the death of a small boy some years previously. Very entertaining!

[Magdalena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful! That's is precisely what this book is. Just a delightful story with the precocious Flavia de Luce. This time is she trying to find out who killed the famous puppeteer Rupert Porson and she does her usual way, by being curious, listening to gossip and putting two and two together. And, thinking of ways of killing people with poisons..especially her sisters.

Flavia de Luce is such a wonderful characters, she will either be a great detective when she grows up or a very deadly poisoner. Her love for chemistry shows through the book and she is especially fond of poisons. But of course, she is still just eleven and even though she is clever there are moments when she doesn't understand things, grow up things like secret relations between grown-ups and I love Dogger when he tries to explain that it's when two people are really good friends. And, I feel for her when her two older sister bullies her. It's not easy with a father who rather spends his time with his stamps, a dead mother, and two older sisters that whenever opportunity shows up tries to tell her that their parents never wanted her. And, in this book her aunt Felicity shows up, but I think that Flavia, in the end, came to appreciate her visiting, especially after they had a talk alone.

The first book in this series was good, but I enjoyed the story in this book even more and it was so many suspects in the story that I didn't figure out how and when was behind it all until the very end. I really enjoyed the part in the end when she explained it all to the police. Hilarious. They should hire her.

[C. (Don't blank click my reviews, comment please! · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loathe the adjective “precocious” and usually, fictional youths dubbed that way. Not for me are Elizabeth Peters’ Walter Ramses, nor Alan Bradley’s Flavia De Luce. Book #1 would total our interaction, had I not the economy to buy second-hand books in bulk. I already had “The Weed That Strings The Hangman’s Bag” hardcover too, ergo it received a chance. What a wonderful surprise to see it doubly improved from the début story and that I enjoyed this mystery!

I know why this is so. I liked most of the visiting personages. This mystery was emotional and drew on a controversial past. Flavia learned new characters traits of her Mother from her Aunt; the sort of side trip that is always poignant to me. Fortunately, I had my own dear Mom until last year. And Flavia, who had imagined herself superior to everyone else, resumes her series as an approachable little girl. Her Dad gives her reasonable flack and she avoids it as a child would. No matter that she has sleuthing motives, when the bishop enlists her for a few tasks. She complies respectfully. Kindly, she befriends a touring actress whom even she could see had been abused. That awful boyfriend was a famous puppeteer.

The duo puts on two plays. These so splendidly come across the pages, readers can picture the awe of their hand-painted props and the talent of their performances. I wish I could behold the hilarity that Alan conveyed. I liked Flavia better, for grinning like a kid.

A variety of plots, with some roots in wartime of a decade prior, are for readers to be shown, not glean. Stories should indeed, carry us. Serious issues are abuse, loss of a child, and mental anguish. Compassion becomes Flavia. I granted this 2010 novel double the stars.

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the first book a little more. I think the mystery was better crafted in the first book. However, it was still quite a mystery. This one was quite sad due to the subject matter. I think that was another reason it didn't sit as well with me. Flavia is her usual self. Very precocious and highly astute and observant. She makes a formidable detective. Much in the style of the highly esteemed Miss Marple. One that people will often overlook because they seem unassuming and not the type who could pull the lid off all the dirty secrets hiding beneath the surface.

Flavia's sisters are so very mean to her. Her father seems to be oblivious to this. They regularly taunt her about being unwanted and adopted, and that their mother didn't like her. I think they are jealous because she is more like their mother than they are. Flavia has some dark and rather gruesome hobbies, and she's a bit petulant at times, though not in a way that is offputting. I think her obsession with poisons became a way to deal with the loss of her mother and the de facto rejection by her family (more out of her father's preoccupation and her older sisters' treatment of her).

Small town English life in the 50s is fascinating. As with any small town, lots of dirty little secrets. Adults doing adult things with bad consequences. Some of it goes over Flavia's head, but not most. The casual cruelty of humanity is very much on display, even through the eyes of a 12 year old.

I very much enjoy the audiobook versions of this series. The narrator is the same as the first, and she captures Flavia well.

A well crafted mystery that will leave readers with a sense of unease about everything that happens. I am looking forward to more Flavia mysteries.

[Berengaria · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars (Can't give Flavia any fewer!)

It's the 1950s and in the English village of Bishop's Lacey, the clapped out car of Mr Porson's famous puppet theatre (of BBC "Magical Kingdom" fame) wheezes to a halt...and is immediately discovered by Flavia de Luce, keen chemist and the most precocious 10-year old (almost 11!!) on Earth.

Soon Mr Porson is shockingly murdered during the second of his vicar-induced guest performances of "Jack and the Beanstalk" and Flavia-- with a tiny bit of help from the local constabulary -- sets out to find his murderer among the traumatised (and gossiping) villagers.

Sound fun? It is. (And it's not for kids, this is an adult mystery)​

The writing harkens back to early 20th century comedy novels, the mystery is solidly build and firmly embedded in the times and mores of 1950s England, and Flavia herself is the morbidly charming half-imp, half-Wunderkind (child genius) we all wish we'd been at that age. A cross between a well-mannered little angel and a Dr Crippen-in-training.

For those who have read and enjoyed the first instalment of the series, the second delivers more of the same delights and at the same level of quality. Highly recommended!

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I liked this second book even better than I did the first book in the series, even though I didn’t get to experience the same novelty of Flavia as a character.

I love Flavia and Flavia’s narration. She’s such a hoot. It helps to have a very warped sense of humor to enjoy this mystery series, and I am the proud possessor of a warped sense of humor, which allows me to enjoy all sorts of humor.

I knew too much about the mystery too soon, sort of, but the whole joy of this series is Flavia as a character and her highly entertaining and hilarious narration. And, giving credit to the secondary part of the book, the mystery, it was more complex than I’d thought; I definitely didn’t guess everything correctly.

Books 3 and 4 are already out and I do plan to continue with this series, though unfortunately not right away.

This book is a highly amusing comfort read for me, as was the first book in the series.

4 ½ stars

Honestly, I'm tempted to reconsider and give this and first book five stars each. Thinking about it.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is growing on me. Flavia is such an engaging, quirky character as are the rest of her household. The mystery to be solved was a good one. The idea of an eleven year old running rings round the police force and inspector works well.and although she's so feisty and independent, we still see how affected she is by her mother's death as well as the horrible things her sisters say to her. I loved the family's first experience with the one eyed monster too ( the TV)- an historically accurate snippet.

[Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of me (my quieter voice) was saying, Give it up. Don’t meddle. Go home and be with your family. But another part was more insistent: The library isn’t open until Thursday, it seemed to whisper. No one will see you.
“But the lock,” I said aloud. “The place is locked.”
Since when did a locked door ever stop you? replied the voice.

Nothing can stop Flavia de Luce in her pursuit of knowledge. The adults should be rightfully terrified of her, especially when they have something to hide from the world, like a secret pregnancy, an illicit patch of cannabis in the middle of nowhere, and most especially: murder most foul.
Flavia is attracted to crime like a bear to honey.

“Come along, Flavia, dear. I’m sure we’ll find something suited to your special talents.”
Something suited to my special talents? Somehow I doubted it – unless the subject was criminal poisoning, which was my chief delight.

Putting a novel about a dangerous child obsessed with poisons on my very special Christmas reading list for a second year might seem counter-intuitive but, as with the first episode in the Alan Bradley series, the end result was completely satisfactory, both in terms of laughs delivered and detective acumen.

You are unreliable, Flavia,” he said. “Utterly unreliable.”
Of course I was! It was one of the things I loved most about myself.
Eleven-years-olds are supposed to be unreliable.

Given almost free reins to roam the countryside by a single father obsessed in his turn by philately, and often driven away from the manor by her sarcastic older sisters, Flavia encounters in this episode a pair of itinerant entertainers, Roland and Nialla, who will soon be ready to present to the village a puppeteer show of the classic story “Jack and the Beanstalk”

Without getting too specific about plot developments, somebody thinks the gathering of people for the show is a good opportunity to commit murder. But they didn’t take into account the presence of young sleuth Flavia on the premises. Something they will very soon learn to regret.
With her home chemical laboratory ready to be fired up, her trusty bicycle to drive her around and her wits firing from all cylinders, Flavia is once again ready to impress the local police with her intelligence and wit.

Had inspector Hewitt been the sort of man whose mouth was prone to falling open when astonished, he’d have been gaping like a gargoyle.

What more can I say without spoiling the identity of the criminal and the relevant clues in the case? First of all, pay attention to the lines of the opening poem by Sir Walter Raleigh, “The Wood, the Weed, the Wag” . All three elements are an integral part of the story, and I really liked how Bradley makes use of literary references in the construction of his novels.

In a similar vein, I appreciate the historical and cultural context that gives depth and authenticity to the novels. With the action set in 1950 (‘five years after the great war’), we are offered good tidbits about the early days of the BBC, the coming of the first television set into the manor, the tradition of the Punch and Judy shows and about something other than poisons that still has me baffled yet delights Flavia : horehound sticks

Would calcium hypochlorite, I wondered, by any other name smell as sweet? Heated with acetone to a temperature of somewhere between 400 and 500 degrees Fahrenheit – or until the haloform reaction occurs – a quite decent chloroform may afterwards be extracted from the resulting acetate salts by simple distillation. This part of it was, as they say, a piece of cake.
“Yarooh!” I shouted, as I poured the results into a brown bottle and shoved home the cork.

Chemistry continues to be the ingredient that ties everything together, employed both as an investigative tool, for recreation and for reprisals against her older sisters teasing. In parallel with poisons, Flavia often manifests an endearing love for literature, although this is usually displayed in a critical manner.

As I walked back to Buckshaw, I thought how similar my life was to the lives of those swarming clerics in Anthony Trollope who seemed to spend their days buzzing from cloister to vicarage and from village to the bishop’s palace like black clockwork beetles scuttling to and fro in a green maze.

Probably, it’s not really Flavia but the author who lets his love of reading shine through the text, but I’m ok with it, since I think the best writers are those who are also voracious readers themselves.

She consumed books like a whale eats krill.

Finally, the thing that will keep me glued on to the series in the future is the personality of the child prodigy Flavia and her unique, fun method of delivery:

Beneath its dark frame, on trestles, was a coffin.
I crept towards it on tiptoe, my ears tuned for the slightest sound.
I ran my fingers along the highly polished woodwork, the way one might caress a piano lid before lifting it to reveal the keys. I put my thumbs under the join and felt it lift slightly.
I was in luck! The lid was not screwed on. I lifted it and looked inside. [...]
How exciting it was to reflect upon the fact that, within minutes of death, the organs of the body, lacking oxygen, begin to digest themselves!

Recommended, Christmas reading list or year round. Whenever!

[Ana Cristina Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

En la tradición de las novelas de Agatha Christie, que se desarrollan en pequeños lugares de la campiña inglesa y con detective aficionado como protagonista, Alan Bradley nos presenta la serie de Flavia de Luce.

Lo mejor de la serie es la ambientación en la Inglaterra rural de los años 50 y también la protagonista, que es una niña de 11 años muy poco convencional, interesada en los experimentos químicos y la ciencia de los venenos. Vive con su padre y sus dos hermanas en una mansión decadente pero su refugio es el laboratorio, lleno de libros antiguos heredados de su abuelo.

Me recuerda un poco al cómic de Nimona, una niña que desafía todos los estereotipos de género y que es, sobre todo, tremendamente divertida.

Quizá es exagerado poner 4 estrellas, ya que el misterio es bastante convencional, pero me lo he pasado muy bien, tanto con este libro como con el primero de la serie, 'Flavia de los extraños talentos'.

[Brooke — brooklynnnnereads · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

This was an okay read. If you are looking for a mystery that is not scary but is also not necessarily a 'cozy' mystery, maybe this one would be a good pick.

I feel like Flavia's character with her humour, sarcasm, and skepticism is the best part of the novel. She kind of reminds me of a more mature Harriet the Spy.

The rest of the novel; however, is pretty dry. I waited for resolution in the story but in no way was I on the edge of my seat in anticipation. The pacing of this novel is definitely slow going and the story unfolds slowly.

I will read the rest of the series but like the pacing of this novel, it will be slow and melancholic.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could only barely make it through one Harry Potter novel even though they are very imaginative and popular. Yet I am addicted to Flavia de Luce books as much as Flavia is addicted to chemistry, solving mysteries and devouring horehound sticks. Flavia has a hilarious and sweet view of her world and she make you want to be a part of it.


Eleven year old Flavia lives in Buckshaw, an old estate on the edge of Bishop's Lacey. She is know by all the locals as that "de Luce girl" flying about town on her bike, Gladys. Her dead mother had all the family money but she failed to make a will so her father may lose their home. Flavia's older sisters Ophelia and Daphne constantly taunt her by telling her she was adopted or that her mother did not love her, which almost brings poor Flavia to tears. But she puts her chemistry skills to use for revenge by mildly poison them with sulfur dioxide in the chocolates suitor Ned left for Felly. The family cook, Mrs. Mullet with her poor culinary skills nearly poisons the entire family daily with her English cooking.

In this second book in the series, it is 1950 and a popular BBC puppeteer and womanizer, Rupert Porson, master of Snotty the Squirrel, comes to town to give a puppet show. Porson, assisted by the lovely Nialla, put on a performance of Jack and the Beanstalk that becomes unforgettable for all the wrong reasons when Porson is electrocuted in mid performance. Leave it to Flavia to get to the bottom of this mystery and the five yr old mystery of the boy Robin found hanged in the woods. With her knack for giving hilarious descriptions for how to kill someone with poisons and what to use as an antidote. Her ability to snoop in places she does not belong and when caught, she comes up with wonderfully inventive excuses for being where she should not be. Long live Flavia!

[Razvan Banciu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting how a male author aged more than 70 succeeds into transferring his mind and words to a little girl aged 11.
The atmosphere of rural England in the 1950s is very well rendered, there is some sense of humor, some quotes, but also a few static or macabre passages which spoil the content.
So, take a try at this one and don't have too many expectations...

[Banu Yıldıran Genç · Rating 3 out of 5]

şükürler olsun ki flavia de luce polisiyelerinin ikincisine kavuştuk. ilk maceranın hemen ardından bizim flavia’mız yine başını derde sokuyor merakıyla.
bu kez ailesiyle çok da didişmeden, başına kötü bir şey gelmeden çözülüyor neyse ki her şey. üçüncü sayfa haberlerine çıkabilecek denli sansasyonel ama zamanında gizlenmiş bir olayı ortaya çıkarıyor.
polisiye olarak bakarsak 10 -11 yaşında bir kızın çözmesi epey abartı, hatta bence yaptığı deneyler de öyle. epey zeki bir kız tamam ama bu kez bana iyice abartılmış geldi. yine de seviyorum o ayrı. ama ilişkiye girmek ne demek anlamayan bir çocuğun bir kadının gizli hamileliğini keşfedip empati kurmasından bahsediyoruz.
neyse dediğim gibi klasik brit polisiyelerine göre epey geveze, hatta deney kısmında benim bile gözlerimi devirecek denli sıkıldığım ama genel olarak 3 kız kardeş, baba ve kasaba ekseninde sevdiğim bir seri. bu kez 1950’de savaş esirleri meselesini didiklemesi ve babanın alman nefretinin törpülenmesi hoştu özellikle.
algan sezgintüredi ve dipnotları 10 numara.

[Lorraine M. Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book because I fell in like with the protagonist Flavia de Luce in "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie". (And yes, I do sometimes select a book to read by its cover which is the main reason I picked up "The Sweetness...It had a crow on the cover and I am a huge corvoid fan!).

I just learned that there is a new Flavia book out and an totally looking forward to reading it.

Anyways, how can you not like a writer who pens:

"If you remember nothing else, remember this: Inspiration from outside one's self is like the heat in an oven. It makes passable Bath buns. But inspiration from within is like a volcano: It changes the face of the world."

(from "The Weed that..." pg 203)

and then there is:

"Seen from the air, the male mind must look rather like the canals of Europe, with ideas being towed along well-worn towpaths by heavy-footed dray horses. There is never any doubt that they will, despite wind and weather, reach their destinations by following a simple series of connected lines.

But the female mind, ....seems more of a vast and teeming swamp, but a swamp that knows in an instant whenever a stranger--even miles away--has so much as dipped a single toe into her waters. People who talk about this phenomenon, most of whom know nothing whatsoever about it, call it 'woman's intuition'".

(from "The Weed that..." pg 308-309)

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than the first one, "The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag" was so lovely!!!

These books are so unique because what Alan Bradley does is takes his readers through layers of imagination. When I read his books I literally see everything and I'm transported to a different time. He is so great at writing characters and setting its so fun and fantastic! This book had a charming plot even though it was about murder. The puppeteer idea was very storybook and had me hooked from the very beginning.

Little Flavia is one of the best written characters in any book I've read and I can't wait to read more!!! This series is starting to become one of my favorites of all time and one I'm hoping to pass on and on....

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm enjoying this series without loving it; it's the epitome of the 3.5 star series for me, much like Alexander McCall Smith's Scotland Street series. The cast of characters is growing on me, and I like the way there are some bigger story arcs developing (why do Flavia's sisters hate her so much? what happened to Harriet?). Some of the same issues as in the first book that probably won't improve - an English setting that doesn't seem quite right to me (Mrs. Mullet's way of speaking, for example, seems like a gross caricature), observations that don't seem like they would likely have come out of an eleven year old. Undeniably fun, though.

[Elyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I skipped the other 2 books I have out from the library to dive right into this! One of my favorite lines in this book, "Take myself, for instance: I am often thought of as being remarkably bright, and yet my brains, more often than not, are busily devising new and interesting ways of bringing my enemies to sudden, gagging, writhing, agonizing death." Oh Flavia! Such a funny, smart-ass. And she's only 11! Another delightful murder mystery in which Flavia de Luce is miles ahead of the police. Very enjoyable.

[christene_littlelibrary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag is another wonderful story of Flavia De Luce as she solved puzzle behind the death of a well known puppeteer, Rupert Porson. Flavia as curious as she is met Rupert Porson and his friends as they were arranging a puppet show in Buckshow. But as they were watching one of the show, the puppeteer fell to his death. She was intrigued and eager to look for evidence that the puppeteer was murdered and not by accidental death. As she was investigating the said death, she then stumbled to the death of a child named Robin five years ago by suicide hanging on a tree. Flavia then connect some events and conclude that there is a connection between the two deaths and again proudly score against Inspector Hewitt.

I love Flavia De Luce and her deductions. She is quite a magnet to deaths and murders. I liked how her mind works and how she asked help if she seems to not understand things. Also how Dogger, the silent helper can answer almost anything. Now I'm curious about his past. 4/5