Tuesday, October 2, 2012

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie | Alan Bradley

This book took me by surprise, as the main narrator is a precocious 11 year old girl called Flavia.
Nothing much in that, except it's a murder mystery and Flavia goes about trying to solve the murder of a stranger in their veggie patch.
It took a while to get used to the tone, but all in all it was a really nice read. Not overly challenging with respect to the actual who-dunnit, but full of interesting asides and quirks of life in the Big House as interpreted by Flavia. It's a little like a Gothic thriller, only not that scary.
Big house, three girls growing up under the shadow of a dead mother and a distant father. So far, so English Manor house. Flavia's love of chemistry and fully equipped lab in the attic of the house give us plenty of interesting facts about all sorts of weird and wonderful plants, chemicals and poisons, which are her passion.
Eventually the mystery is solved, relationships move along. This is a good read, even if not a thriller or a blood n guts murder. Quirky and amusing.

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