The series is set in the 1950s in the small English village of Bishop’s Lacey where Flavia lives with her father and two sisters, Ophelia and Daphne, at the family’s ancestral home, Buckshaw. Flavia’s intelligence, her passion for chemistry (particularly poisons), and the fact that she is still only eleven years old makes her one of the most fascinating and unusual detectives in fiction. It is finely written, amusingly acerbic, full of personality and pathos, and leaves us wanting book six rather desperately! An excellent entry in this series.Speaking from Among the Bones is Alan Bradley’s fifth novel featuring the wonderful Flavia de Luce. These things give Flavia an edge of anxiety that she doesn't necessarily recognize in herself, but which add depth to her character.įlavia de Luce was a delight to read about right from the beginning, and book five has topped its predecessors, in my opinion.

The family is on the verge of losing Buckshaw, and eldest sister Feely is shortly to be married and leave the family circle altogether. She is becoming ever so slightly more self-aware as her world is changing around her. Yet Flavia is still the heart of the story, and in this one seems to have more heart, somehow. There was a great deal of action in this book, with many characters to follow. This sets off a whirlwind search for clues and patterns, with Flavia encountering two other amateur sleuths on the case (both adults), finding people who mistake her for her long-lost mother Harriet, deliberating on the history and existence of holy relics, ruminating about her place in her family and the wider world, crawling through the muck of mysterious graveyard tunnels, falling into mortal danger, and creating new chemical tests to prove her theories. And occupying the long-closed tomb of the church's patron saint, St Tancred. In this volume, Flavia is instrumental in discovering the whereabouts of the missing church organist, Mr. There is so much character development, a clever mystery, some détente between sisters - and one heck of a cliffhanger ending as well. This is the latest in the Flavia de Luce series, and it was such a satisfying read! I have enjoyed all the books in this series, but this one was extra special. Speaking from among the bones / Alan Bradley