The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag, and now A Red Herring Without Mustard are three of my favorite books. They are all written by Alan Bradley, who is now one of my favorite authors. Why, you may be asking, is he so special? What does he have that the thousands of authors out there do not? Well, I will tell you: Flavia de Luce.
Flavia de Luce is our protagonist. She is 11 years old. She is a brilliant chemist. (For real!) Her best friend is a bicycle named Gladys. Flavia lives with her stamp collecting father and two older sisters at Buckshaw, the family's ancestral estate, a place that has definitely seen better days, as have their family dynamics. Much to the dismay of the Bishop's Lacey police, Flavia uses all of her considerable intelligence to meddle, uh, help with their investigations. Her age is her advantage, as most people don't consider an 11 year old girl a threat. Boy, are they wrong!
SO, if you like a good mystery and a GREAT detective, give Alan Bradley's books a try. Flavia and her family are slightly off kilter, but aren't we all, just a little? Therein lies their charm...
"...a cup of ale without a wench, why, alas, 'tis like an egg without salt or a red herring without mustard."
Thomas Lodge and Robert Greene A Looking Glasse, for London and Englande (1592)
Life without Flavia would indeed be like an egg without salt! I hope you enjoy her as much as I do.
Mary Kay
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