The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery

by Bradley, Alan
ISBN: 9780385343497
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Used - Trade Paperback - 9780385343497

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Overview

WINNER OF THE AGATHA - ARTHUR ELLIS - DILYS - DEBUT DAGGER AWARDS

"Wonderfully entertaining . . . sure to be one of the most loved mysteries of the year . . . Flavia is] a delightful, intrepid, acid-tongued new heroine."--Chicago Sun-Times

It is the summer of 1950-and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath.

For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. "I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn't. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life."

BONUS: This edition contains a The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie discussion guide and an excerpt from Alan Bradley's The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag.

  • Format: TradePaperback
  • Author: Bradley, Alan
  • ISBN: 9780385343497
  • Condition: Used
  • Dimensions: 7.71 x 0.88
  • Number Of Pages: 416
  • Publication Year: 2010

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  • Flavia out wits town detectives every time

    Brittany D. - 7 months ago

    Flavia de Luce is a young girl who lives in a 1950s quiet English village with her two older sisters and philatelist father. This book sets Flavia off on her adventures as she becomes the town's resident detective, despite the real detectives in town telling her to keep out of trouble. With the help of her chemistry set in her cold side of the house, she manages to solve this first mystery and goes on to solve many more throughout the series. Bradley's writing keeps the plot twisting making this one book you won't want to set down, and the rest of the series follows in suit.

    HPB Staff Review

  • Chemistry meets Suspense meets Young Adult!

    Victoria F. - 4 years ago

    In 1950's Great Britain, philatelic enthusiasts (the postal stamp obsessed) gather far and wide to see the King's Ulster Avenger: an orange portrait of Queen Victoria that had been part of a greater conspiracy. Only two are in existence and this one is the only known stamp to be in possession of any collector. Alas, the tale begins with the shocking discovery that someone has swiped the prized jewel right out from under the King's nose! Enter: Flavia de Luce, eleven-year-old chemist wonder whose specialty is poisons...and antidotes too so don't worry. Flavia's father is under suspicion for the murder of a stranger found in his backyard and it's up to her to prove his innocence. Using the merits of science and her incredible sense of hearing, Flavia travels all over the backwaters of England and ultimately discovers her father's mysterious past, her own capabilities, and the criminal behind it all. In the first of many, Alan Bradley invites us back to a time of stamp collecting and bicycle riding to rediscover the wonders of girlhood and science.

    HPB Staff Review

  • Pies, poison, philatelists, and plucky prodigies come together in a peculiarly perfect plot

    Theo S. - 6 years 6 months ago

    Flavia De Luce is a normal 11-year-old living in the 1950s British hamlet of Bishop's Lacey--save for a family torn apart by her mum's death when she was too young to remember leaving her with two absolute hellions of older sisters and a father who is apathetic at best, a genius-level knowledge of chemistry (especially the toxic kind) far beyond her years, and a stranger giving up the ghost in the cabbage patch of the De Luces' worn-out old mansion. Okay, maybe she isn't quite normal. Abnormality aside, Flavia is a fantastic, flawed narrator in a world you can't help but get sucked into and a plot that grabs onto you and won't let go. She guides you through her reasoning as she figures out what exactly happened (and her uncanny ability to parse together clues that never quite gets unrealistic, despite pushing the boundaries of what you might believe an 11-year-old, no matter how talented, is capable of). You won't want to put this one down.

    HPB Staff Review