"What, after all, would life be without puzzling death?"
It's Christmastime and Buckshaw is abuzz with excitement. A film crew has arrived at the de Luce family home to shoot a movie starring the famous Phyllis Wyvern. While there, Phyllis agrees to give a benefit performance at Buckshaw for the local villagers; the whole town comes to Buckshaw to see her play Juliet one last time. As always, eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce is right in the middle of everything, from pestering the film crew (and her sisters!), to concocting her own homemade fireworks, to setting a trap on Christmas Eve to catch Father Christmas. All her plans change when one of their visitors turns up dead. Everyone is suspect. With a blizzard outside and a murderer within, it's up to Flavia (and Inspector Hewitt) to figure out who did it.
What a perfect December mystery. I think Alan Bradley's I Am Half-Sick of Shadows is my favorite Flavia de Luce novel so far. Flavia is as delightfully incorrigible as ever. Her plans to trap Father Christmas and prove his existence made me laugh, and I loved how she puzzled out the who and why of this Christmas murder. This is definitely a fun yuletime read.
Happy Reading!
The first Flavia de Luce mystery:
I've read the first five Flavia books and I think this one was probably my favourite. It's a perfect Christmas story too. You've reminded me that I really need to get round to reading the sixth book soon!
ReplyDeleteI like knowing I still have two more Flavia books to look forward to reading...they're such fun books. I don't want them to come to an end.
DeleteThis sounds great -- Flavia's pretty darn delightful.
ReplyDeleteI love her! She's such a uniquely fun character.
DeleteI read the first two books, but have a lot to catch up on! Next trip to the library, I will be sure to check on what is available. I don't want to read this one until I catch up, but this one sounds so good!
ReplyDeleteIt is! My favorite so far.
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