Friday Focus--Flavia de Luce, Budding Sleuth

Speaking From Among the Bones is Alan Bradley's fifth book in the Flavia de Luce mystery series.  In this latest adventure, murder visits Bishop's Lacey yet again when church organist Crispin Collicutt is found dead atop the tomb of St. Tancred as the English village prepares to celebrate their patron saint's 500th anniversary.  

Enter the fearless Flavia, a budding sleuth and chemist, whose specialty is poisons.  Wise beyond her years, eleven year old Flavia runs rings around the police investigators once more, while outwitting the suspects and piecing together cryptic clues to solve the crime.  Why is Mr. Collicutt's corpse wearing a gas mask and clutching a glass tube?  And is a missing diamond known as the Heart of Lucifer that was buried in the saint's grave related to the organist's death?  Flavia gets to the bottom of the matter, narrowly escaping with her life.

Bradley's combination of eccentric, loveable characters and interesting scientific and historical facts sprinkled throughout the pages make this series a delightful read.  Speaking From Among the Bones is more than just a murder mystery, however.  Added suspense is woven into the plot as the de Luce family is faced with the prospect of losing their beloved ancestral home, Buckshaw, due to unpaid taxes.  While the murder mystery is neatly tied up, Bradley throws readers a mysterious curve about the family's fate on the very last page of the novel.  What does the future hold for Flavia, her sisters Daphne (Daffy) and Opehlia (Feely), and their father, Colonel de Luce?  I can barely wait for book six to find out!

 Catherine

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Friday Focus--Flavia de Luce, Budding Sleuth was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without express written consent.

FTC Disclosure:  I borrowed this book from my local library.  No remuneration was received for this review.