This here is the third book in the Flavia de Luce series. I've always had a weird relationship with this series. The first time I read book 1 (Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie), I didn't like it much. In fact I think I got rid of my copy. I didn't hate it, it just didn't call to me. Even then I recognized it as a solidly built mystery. I just find the protagonist detective (Flavia) irritating.
Much, much later on I was looking for a mystery option for my mystery class and it was the book that my students chose. So, that means I had to read it at least two more times - once to prep for the class and once with the kids. Maybe it was some sort of literary Stockholm syndrome but I actually liked it tremendously more on the second and third reads. Even so, I'm not sure I would have continued reading the series if three other things hadn't happened.
First, I have a wonderfully attentive husband. When he realized I was enjoying my reread, he searched out and bought the other 9 books in the series for me. Which is cool and it came in handy because . . . second, one of my students was so taken with the series that he asked me for the next book in the series and then the next and so forth. This was a kid who didn't really read fiction recreationally, so it was kind of a big deal.
Still heady from that success, I realized that my mother-in-law might like the series. . . and she did. This then lead to my father and father-in-law giving the series a whirl. So I own the other 9 books but they were so in demand by people that I turned on to the series that I lost momentum. By the time I read book 2, I remembered why my first try on book 1 was so lukewarm.
Despite that, I had every intention of reading them except the perversity of the randomized system left them unpicked on my lists for months. That is until last month when book 3 finally came up on the randomizer.
It really felt to me that Bradley hit his stride with book three. Flavia is a little more self aware and a lot less irritating. Additionally, the town of Bishop's Lacey really starts to come alive and feel like a cohesive backdrop instead of a murky pool of side characters.
I've always suspected that the challenge of writing a mystery series is in keeping the relationships between the core characters from going stale. I can't tell if having a prepubescent protagonist would make that easier or harder, but it does create a lot of friction because if you are a kid, just about everyone thinks they know better.
That tension keeps the action moving on the mystery while Flavia makes as many mistakes as she does discoveries.
It's safe to say this is my favorite of the three I've read so far and I'm excited to work in book 4.
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