A Red Herring Without Mustard

Dear Flavia De Luce,
It's not you, it's me. I was charmed at first by your precocious but naive approach to crime-solving, not to mention your chemical knowledge and derring-do. But I'm not good at series and so, even having spaced reading the three books apart by nearly a decade, the things that I once found charming now strike me as twee and a little redundant. Don't get me wrong: I'm thrilled that trimethylaminuria was the final clue to solve a murder and I'm in to Christian separatist sects but the story overall failed to catch my interest. OK, I lied, it's not entirely me: I thought that the story dragged and some clues were a little to on the noise (like the omnipresent fishy odor). But overall, I'm just not built for series that are all a little same-y. So Flavia, I still really adore your pluck and scientific detective work, but I'm not going forward with the series.

Love,
Me.

Full review, as always, at SFF Book Review.

I love Flavia de Luce. This was my least favorite of her adventures so far, but mostly due to the fact that I had a hard time connecting the clues and figuring out what the hell this was all about. I loved following Flavia throughout her investigation as she meets new characters and finds out new truths about the inhabitants of her hometown.

The overlying theme from the first books was missing here and that's why the book lost a lot of charm for me. However, with a heroine such as Flavia, it is hard to produce a bad book. This is still a 6,5/10 points for me.

The precocious young Flavia de Luce continues her detective adventures in [b:A Red Herring Without Mustard 8517008 A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia de Luce, #3) Alan Bradley https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388266441s/8517008.jpg 8586372]. Each of the Flavia de Luce mysteries seems to have a focus around which the story and often the mystery turns. In the first book it was stamps, in the second puppets, and in this one it is the smell of fish. I suppose you could say, there is definitely something fishy about this story.There is of course a mysteriously dead body for Flavia to puzzle out. But, there are several other related mysteries involving crimes old and new. And, there are a couple of (if you will pardon me) red herrings to add spice to the tale. All in all, another satisfying cozy by Mr. Bradley.

I am so glad there are more books to come. It has been a while since I have felt as interested by a series and would perhaps compare this one to A Series of Unfortunate Events because of how the main character is a child but the content is just as interesting for adults (if not more appropriate for them too). Flavia de Luce is a fascinating character, and I look forward to reading more about her and her (mis)adventures.

It begins with fortunes told, to attempted murder of said fortune teller, to a body hanging from a water fountain.

There is certainly no shortage of danger, and with evil afoot it is Flavia's duty to bring said evil doers to justice. Will she be able to gather the evidence and solve the crimes before the police can put a stop to her meddling?

Book 3 continues the mystery solving fun with the ever charming and tenacious Flavia de Luce. She may be 11yrs old but do not underestimate the power of her scientific mind nor her dogged pursuit of the truth. She is intelligent, courageous and loveable. What a fun series so far. I can't wait to see what she gets wrapped up in next.