The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

I read this in tandem with [b:The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements 7247854 The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements Sam Kean http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1276468318s/7247854.jpg 8246153]. What a great combination. The adjective that comes to mind when I think of this is cozy. It reminded me of my own childhood, filled with fingerprinting kits, lust for chemistry sets and Sherlock Holmes books. Flavia is a spunky heroine, who is posed between the confidence that children have as a consequence of not yet knowing enough to feel insecure and the equally inaccurate easy dismissal of children by adults. This tension is expertly woven by Bradley, especially in the ideas of reference that Flavia has - her serious concerns that the adults around her consider her the prime suspect in the central murder (an idea both laughable to an adult, and familiar to anyone who was ever a preteen.)Yes, at times, the mystery is a bit weak and predictable, but a well written child protaganist in a book for adults is much more unusual than a good mystery.

Flavia de Luce is a fantastic narrator! I've been wanting to read this book for ages and finally found it on the shelf at the library. I finished it this morning and picked up the second book in the trilogy this afternoon (also at the library). I found the plot and setting wonderful and elaborate. The details really make this story!

I started out really enjoying this, and then it tapered off a bit. It was still enjoyable, and I'm still going to give the next one a go, but I'm not as enthralled as everyone else seems to be. Flavia started fairly believable, but got less so as it went on (I'm all for precocious children narrators, but...). The mystery lagged a bit as it went on, too. Still, a fun read and I did get a glimpse of what people like so much, I just found it wanting a bit.

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book as much as this one. Flavia is now one of my new favorite heroines. She's so smart and sassy, and I couldn't get enough of her. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this book. I found myself smiling more often than not while reading, probably because Flavia's inner narrative is so fantastically funny (as is what comes out of her mouth). If you're looking for a thrilling and terrifying whodunit with surprising twists and turns, this isn't it. Though the mystery is good, you'll probably figure it out long before Flavia does. Some negative reviews say Flavia is too intelligent to be believable, and I yet I found many instances in the story where it was clear how young and naive she really is, despite having a good vocabulary and being a chemistry whiz. This story is more about who Flavia is, what she thinks she knows about people, and how she navigates her small world. It's done so well.

I liked the interest of the protagonist in chemistry. You don't see many girls with such a passionate interest and talent in chemistry written about. I like that Flavia is different from your average girl.

As a mystery, I have read better. I have read worse. There are memorable pieces and scenes. I liked it well enough, but I won't go back and read other books in the series. However, I am not a good series reader either.

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

When a dead bird shows up on her doorstep with a postage stamp impaled on its beak, Flavia's first mystery begins. Of course, finding the dead man in the cucumber garden is also quite exciting. As a self-taught 11-year-old chemist, Flavia is no stranger to challenges, but stringing together these two events certainly puts her to the test. And she is determined to solve the case before the police do.

Flavia reminded me of a young Sherlock Holmes. And her love of chemistry was intriguing. I've read a few reviews that say Flavia's knowledge was unbelievable. True she is an 11-year-old chemist, but she isn't perfect. She's memorized information from books, and experiments on items she steals from her sisters. Throughout her investigations, she makes childish assumptions that are wrong, but to her seem perfectly logical at the time. But Flavia was the only part of Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie that drew me into the story.

While Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a mystery, there is very little actual mystery at all. The most disheartening part of the story is when Flavia spends almost half the book searching for answers, only to have her father explain everything to her in a monologue. I wanted to see Flavia unearthing more facts for herself, and being able to confirm her suspicions without having an adult tell her whether she was right or wrong. She didn't start diving full on into the investigation until the book was almost over.

The scene-setting was also borderline historical fiction at times. The history of buildings and minor characters filled the pages with information that did not pertain to the story. This drew away from the feeling of a mystery, and Flavia was swept up in telling the reader facts about her town that were unnecessary. There is also a large portion about the history of postage stamps. If you are a collector of stamps or a fan of historical fiction you would most likely enjoy this novel. If you are searching for a riveting mystery, this may not be the book for you.

I gotta confess I did pick out this book solely based on its cover.
But I did not regret it!

It's an amazing read, funny, morbid and clever, and you couldn't ask for a better heroine in Flavia (what a great name!)

Also, it has some of the best sentences I've read lately:
“If poisons were ponies, I'd put my money on cyanide.”

There were so many things about the first Flavia De Luce book that delighted me – Flavia is a precocious girl in 50s English countryside in a rundown estate. She describes finding a dead man in the cucumber patch as “the most exciting thing that had ever happened” to her. What's not to love.

Towards the end of the novel though, I felt that the conclusion was a touch unsatisfactory. Not bad, just a little underwhelming. I do plan on reading the next books in the series so I wasn't wholly disappointed but I felt it ended with a bit of a fizzle rather than with the same crisp, bubbly pop that it started.

Я давно не читала детективов, написанных НЕ Агатой Кристи и Джоном Диксоном Карром, тем более - детских детективов. Надо сказать, опыт получился неплохой - несмотря, на первые тяжелые 100 страниц. Конечно, убийцу я вычислила почти сразу - все-таки, не Агата Кристи) Но в целом читать интересно, история небанальна и вполне читабельна. Хорошая история для всех, и вовсе не только для детей.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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This is going to be one of those quick ones where I mostly quote myself:

Our 11-year-old hero (no, this is not a kid's book [not that there's anything inappropriate for anyone who's made it through Rowling here]) is a budding, self-taught, chemist with a curious mind and a stubborn streak a mile wide. Her family life is a mess – but in a charming, amusing, English countryside way – but our plucky gal has managed to get through it pretty much intact and for the better.

So when she discovers a body on her lawn, yet the police shoo her away from the crime scene and dismiss her, she starts her own investigation. She's helped early on by a fact or two the police didn't obtain from her, and some that she kept to herself out of spite. Her father's arrest for the murder just adds fuel to her fire and becomes determined not only to solve the case before the police but to make them eat a good-sized helping of crow.

Probably not much of a spoiler to say that's exactly what she does, because the book's not about that foregone conclusion, but in watching Flavia do that while making less-than-flattering observations about her older sisters.

Full review over at the SFF Book Review

Who would have thought I would develop such a regard for 11-year-old, pigtailed crime solvers with a passion for chemistry? But Flavia de Luce and her utterly charming and funny voice have captured my heart. I normally don't even read crime fiction and it wasn't the plot or the mystery that kept me going with this book (and, indeed, its successor) but the character of Flavia. Her eccentric family, her small town with all its inhabitants and her sense of humor have all convinced me that these little, light adventures are worth reading. Even when not on holiday.

Perfect story and a good and funny main character, I love Flavia and her sense of humour and sarcasm. As it takes place in 1950 on English small town and abbey, it is really good and fun to read, I also appreciate that the story and plot goes also back to the history, something which is often done by Agatha Christie as well. The book on its own would receive 4* from me, but the fifth one goes to Martha Issová for her perfect Czech audiobook version.

Flavia De Luce, one of the single best character names I have ever had the pleasure to run across! I LOVED this book, adored it really. I am never sure when starting a book where the main character is a child if I will really be able to “get into it”, but Flavia is just such a charming and captivating character that you can't help but to be pulled into her world, a world full of entertaining characters and a fabulous little mystery. The author, who is a 70 year old Canadian, and won the Dagger award for “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie” has finished “The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag,” the second book in the series about Flavia and it is set to be released in 2010. I for one, cannot wait!