It's the beginning of a lazy summer in 1950 at the sleepy English
village of Bishop's Lacey. Up at the great house of Buckshaw, aspiring
chemist Flavia de Luce passes the time tinkering in the laboratory she's
inherited from her deceased mother and an eccentric great uncle. When
Flavia discovers a murdered stranger in the cucumber patch outside her
bedroom window early one morning, she decides to leave aside her flasks
and Bunsen burners to solve the crime herself, much to the chagrin of
the local authorities. But who can blame her? What else does an
eleven-year-old science prodigy have to do when left to her own devices?
With her widowed father and two older sisters far too preoccupied with
their own pursuits and passions—stamp collecting, adventure novels, and
boys respectively—Flavia takes off on her trusty bicycle Gladys to catch
a murderer. In Alan Bradley's critically acclaimed debut mystery, The
Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, adult readers will be totally
charmed by this fearless, funny, and unflappable kid sleuth. But don't
be fooled: this carefully plotted detective novel (the first in a new
series) features plenty of unexpected twists and turns and loads of
tasty period detail. As the pages fly by, you'll be rooting for this
curious combination of Harriet the Spy and Sherlock Holmes. Go ahead,
take a bite. --Lauren Nemroff
