The Sweetness at the Bottom of the pie

Locations
Call Number: Large Print Mystery / Bradley, C. Alan
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown Large Print 4-week checkout	Large Print Mystery / Bradley, C. Alan	4-week checkout	On Shelf

Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce is an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison. In the summer of 1950, a series of inexplicable events strikes Buckshaw, the decaying English mansion that her family calls home. A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp pinned to its beak. Later, Flavia finds a man dying in the cucumber patch. For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. (Bestseller)

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Pre-Teen Solves the Crime submitted by Jen Chapin-Smith on July 13, 2013, 11:53pm Adults and youth alike will enjoy this first in a series of mysteries featuring Flavia de Luce, a young genius living with her father and two older sisters in the fictional English town of Bishop's Lacey. The girls' mother had died, leaving their father too sad to handle raising or even much educating his children, who are left to their own devices. Flavia has decided to teach herself chemistry and she particularly enjoys making poisons.
When she discovers a corpse in her garden, Flavia begins her career as a young detective. The police don't appreciate her meddling, but [SPOILER ALERT], she solves the crime in the end nonetheless.
I very much appreciated having a young female character demonstrate so much intelligence and bravery, something I find lacking in many novels for children. Readers should know, however, that as it is set in the 1950s, the Flavia series does demonstrate the prejudices of the era, including sexism and xenophobia.