Thursday, March 4, 2010

33 - The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag; Alan Bradley

 

Flavia de Luce, the lonely, independent, brilliant, almost eleven-year-old with a passion for poisons and chemistry is back in the second installment of Alan Bradley's, "Flavia de Luce Mystery", The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag.

As in Flavia's debut: The Sweetness At the Bottom of the Pie , the period is the 1950s in the English village of Bishop's Lacey. At the old mansion house of Buckshaw, lonely Flavia, is still being taunted by her two older sisters. She passes time tinkering in the laboratory she inherited from her mother who died when she was very little, and an eccentric great uncle. Just as she is thinking her crime solving days might be over, Flavia finds herself gathering clues for two deaths, one involving the famous puppeteer Rupert Porson, who met his untimely death during a St. Tancred's church production of Jack and the Beanstalk, as well as young Robin Inglesby's hanging death several years before.

Flavia and her family are in the audience, and they are sure the puppeteer's death was no accident. So once again, Flavia, notebook in hand, along with her trusty bicycle Gladys, are off gathering clues from the eccentric members of the community, performing chemical tests in her laboratory, to assist Inspector Hewitt with his murder investigation once again., and readers will find that there are plenty of suspects or motives, to keep you turning the pages.

MY THOUGHTS - I really enjoy the way Alan Bradley writes. He has created an endearing character in Flavia.  The story is told from the perspective of the child who is just so, precocious.  I loved this junior sleuth and her keen eye for detail. Although this is book #2 of the series (you can read my earlier review here) , there is no need to read book #1 before reading this one.  You can pretty much pick up all there is to know about Flavia and her family by jumping in with this installment. Fans of finely tuned cozy mysteries should really enjoy this book and series. RECOMMENDED - (4.5/5 stars)

17 comments:

  1. I've never heard of this one, but I really like your summary and your thoughts on it. It sounds like a wonderful read, and I think I'll have to read this someday! :)

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  2. I can't wait to get my copy of this next week and I'm sure I will read it as soon as it's in my hands!

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  3. Sounds like I need to 'meet' Flavia soon.. and it's nice to know I can start with either book. We'll see which one crosses my path first.

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  4. I haven't even started this series, but I'm glad to see the second book lives up to the first, because I really want to.

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  5. I have only just bought The Sweetness At The Bottom of the Pie to read, but they both sound good.

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  6. I can't wait! So glad her trusty bike is back for another run!

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  7. Glad that this series is pretty interesting. I am yet to read it, but would love to try it.

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  8. I feel I missed the boat on this series, not having read the first one yet! I want to, though- it sounds fun and, er, I admit I really like the covers in such fun colors. And the titles!

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  9. I loved The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie! I definitely need to find this one soon. Flavia was a very unique sleuth and I adored her.

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  10. Loved the first one. I'm currently listening to this one in my car - so I'll probably finish it in May :) Thanks for the review.

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  11. I'm looking forward to read this one. I love that shade of purple on the cover.

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  12. I've got to get started on this series!

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  13. Looking forward to starting this one right away - I received it this week but was waiting for enough time to sit down & read properly - this weekend :)

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  14. I can't wait to read this one! I'm going to go request it from the library now!

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  15. I'm #1 on the hold list for this one so I can't wait for that email to arrive for me to pick it up!! Glad to see that you enjoyed it too!

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  16. I have been wanting to read the first in this series for awhile, so it's good to hear that you liked this one so much. I think Flavia sounds like a very interesting character. Great review!

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  17. I have this on my TBR, but I want to read SWEETNESS first. I have it loaded on my iPod ... I guess that means it's time to start exercising!

    Glad to see your thumbs-up review.

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