This is Flavia de Luce mystery #3. The first one (it won so many awards!) is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. I have not yet read the second one. Fortunately, that made absolutely no difference to my enjoyment of this third book in the Flavia series.
I was paying particular attention to Flavia in this book to see if she seemed like an 11-year-old or not. One of the complaints of my book club about the first Flavia book was that she did NOT seem like a child. It didn't bother me in the first book, though, and again it didn't bother me in this one. I admit she is a bit precocious. She knows A LOT about chemistry. She has a good memory. She's glib and smooth and all too plausible for an 11-year-old, I guess. But there's no other age for her that really seems more logical! She definitely doesn't sound like a boy and she definitely doesn't sound like a teenager. Hm.
In this book we get a little more insight into the heart of Flavia de Luce. Her father seems more human. Her sisters seem less human, but it seems that maybe someday those relationships might improve? I really don't like her sisters. Why are they so mean? Flavia seems to get along with the men in her life much better than she does with any of the women. In fact, most of the women characters are one-dimensional. The men are much more fleshed out.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this book. I like Flavia. I like Alan Bradley's mysteries. It was an interesting and fun read.
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