Monday, September 21, 2009

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley


Category: Historical, Cozy Mystery
Published: 2009, 374 pgs.
Review: 4.5/5 stars

I picked this book up by chance at the library because I thought I had seen that one of my friends on Goodreads had read it and it had also won some kind of award. What a delightful surprise it was. It's 1950 and Flavia de Luce is an 11 year old who lives with her two older sisters and her father on a large but run-down estate in England. Flavia is such a fun character. She has an unusual obsession with chemistry and in particular, poisons. Even though this is not a highly suspenseful mystery and it took a little while to get going, I still loved it. Flavia is a quirky and hilarious amateur sleuth. I was so excited to discover at the end of the book that the author is writing a series of Flavia mysteries. I highly recommend this book to cozy mystery lovers.

Here are a couple of quotes that show Flavia's personality:

"As I stood outside in Cow Lane, it occurred to me that Heaven must be a place where the library is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. No ... eight days a week."

"Anyone who knew the word slattern was worth cultivating as a friend."


"It is not unknown for fathers with a brace of daughters to reel off their names in order of birth when summoning the youngest, and I had long ago become accustomed to being called 'Ophelia Daphne Flavia, d*** it."

Rating: 1.2.2 Content includes a little violence since this is a murder mystery and some barnyard swear words. (A friend of mine used that term "barnyard language" recently. I think it's a great description and will be using it in the future. Thanks Julie C.)

6 comments:

Tricia said...

The book looks so cute. I love the term 'barnyard language'! I'm going to have to add that to my repertoire!

Suey said...

I've been wondering if this one was good or not. I've seen it around, but haven't heard many details about it. Thanks for the review. I'll read it someday! :)

Shelley said...

I'll have to give this one a try!

Jeanette said...

I read this one a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I'll read more books in the series as they come out.

Cami Checketts said...

Sounds like a fun book. Thanks for the review,
Cami

Wendy Lady said...

I wasn't sure that I'd really get into this when I started, but ended up liking it a lot!