What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust by Alan Bradley

Flavia de Luce is back! And this time, it's someone close to her who's been accused of murder. In fact, the opening scene is Inspector Hewitt interrogating Mrs. Mullet. It turns out, a man she's been cooking for, General (a minor government employee by his own words), has died. The coroner is saying it's mushroom poisoning. But Flavia is on the case.

What she uncovers is actually deeper than a mistaken mushroom picking. In fact, what she discovers is going to upend her world. 

I go back and forth between enjoying these books. Flavia believes that she knows all and that she is always right about everything? Are there people in the world like that? Yes. Do I mind reading books about people like that? No. As long as they seem like they are growing in some way. Flavia... does not. Also, Undine is so annoying. That may be because Bradley is a deft writer who makes you feel his characters emotions but I do not like her even when Flavia does.

Three stars

This book came out September 3, 2024

Flavia de Luce #11

Follows The Golden Tresses of the Dead

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinion
s are my own

The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley

The last Flavia De Luce book felt a bit flat but this one was a return to form.
Flavia and Dogger have opened a detective agency and have their first customer. But she ends up dead. And it seems that her death may be connected to the object found in Ophelia's wedding cake. Add in two missionaries and you have connected mysteries.
Undine is starting to get more involved but she is feeling an awful lot like a plot moppet. And I'm not sure that this book was fairly clued though it felt like it was supposed to be.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out January 19

Follows The Grave's a Fine and Quiet Place

Followed by What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust 
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley

The Grave's a Fine and Private Place by Alan Bradley

Still reeling from the death of her father, Flavia de Luce and her sisters are hoping to be distracted by a float with Dodger down the river. She is certainly distracted by the dead body that they find floating
in the river. It is a young man dressed in Shakespearean garb. Apparently, his name was Orlando and he was a ballet dancer. It is through his death that she makes the acquaintance of Hob who is the local caretaker's son who becomes an ally in Flavia's search for the truth.
You can very much tell that this is a male voice writing a female child. The way he has Flavia plotting her moves (we get an overly detailed description of Flavia's every thought) is very much an example of how men think women (even those in their "tender" teen years) act.  It was a little off-putting but even more than that, it caused the story to drag in places. Overall, a nice addition to the Flavia canon.

Three and a half stars
This book came out January 30
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Follows As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust

Followed by The Golden Tresses of the Dead

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley

Image linked from Goodreads

While I generally stick to romances on this blog, I actually tend to read across many different genres. This book, is part of a series featuring a young girl in 1950's England. I would most definitely read the whole series in order.
I think Bradley might be trying to avoid the Cabot Cove effect (i.e. how do so many bodies keep turning up in such a tiny village)
The book opens with Flavia boating across the ocean toward Miss Bodycote's academy in Toronto, the alma mater of her mother. She is being escorted by the school's chairman who has not really taken to her, nor she to him. When Flavia is dumped at the academy, she finds it cold and lonely. She's woken up to another girl attacking her. When that girl hides up the chimney, she dislodges a body which immediately sends Flavia onto another adventure.
We meet a lot of new people in this book. A LOT. I think that I may have confused some of them sometimes but I didn't let that worry me too much. This book didn't capture my imagination like the last one in this series but it didn't completely turn me off either. It leaves me, like the last book, wondering where Flavia is going to go from here.

Followed by The Grave's a Fine and Private Place