the sweetness at the bottom of the pie, by alan bradley

ems, i can't remember if you've read this - i think you have - but thought it'd make a fun first post either way.

if you only read one book about murder this year, it should be 'the sweetness at the bottom of the pie' (or, to be fair, either of the other two titles in the "flavia de luce" series, i'm not fussy which you choose).

in fact, i could leave it at that:  you should read it, the end.  but i won't.  (because sometimes more really is better.)

in alan bradley's buckshaw, a rambling manor in 1950s england, we meet the family de luce, as revealed through the eyes of eleven-year-old flavia.  flavia is, to be clear, an extraordinary eleven-year-old.  a budding chemist with a passion for poisons, she has an eerily adult voice and a thoroughly unflappable view of the world.  still, bradley has managed to capture the spirit of a little girl.  she seeks petty revenge on her older sisters, is befuddled by her widowed father's moods, and viciously dislikes the housekeeper's cooking.  flavia is both a laboratory-dwelling, poison-distilling chemist and an amusing girl who, like many children, sees the world much more clearly than the adults that inhabit her realm.

and then, of course, there is the murder-most-foul.  who doesn't like a story where a dead bird appears on the doorstep with a mysterious postage stamp affixed to its beak?  how can you not be thrilled when a body appears in the cucumber patch?

and while i'd love to talk about how cleverly it all comes together - and it does - i'm afraid you just have to trust me on this one: you don't want to be spoiled.  it's worth reading, if only for the fact that you may never again read a mystery that revolves around stamp-collecting and chemistry.

ems, i think my next post will review the news of the world scandal... the twitterverse is feeding my obsession, i can't get enough!