Cyndi J. (cyndij) reviewed on 9/28/2013 + 1032 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Flavia de Luce: an exceptionally bright, smart-aleck yet vulnerable 11-year-old with a passion for chemistry. She's one of the most engaging characters I've ever read. Living in a slowly decaying mansion in England, with her emotionally distant father (he's still grieving for her mother, lost in Tibet many years ago) and her two tormenting sisters, she sticks her nose into local murders to the exasperation of the police.
I have no idea how Flavia would compare to a real 11-year old but I don't care. She's wonderful, so bright about chemistry and the clues to catch a murder but then believing the outrageous things her sisters tell her about her mother. Some of her ideas about adult motives will make you howl with laughter.
This book is the second in the series, and while you could start with it, I think the new reader ought to start at the beginning. But no matter, you'll soon be caught up in Flavia's world.

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