As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust
A Flavia de Luce Novel
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4.5 • 164 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Flavia de Luce—“part Harriet the Spy, part Violet Baudelaire from Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” (The New York Times Book Review)—takes her remarkable sleuthing prowess to the unexpectedly unsavory world of Canadian boarding schools in this captivating mystery.
BONUS: This edition includes “The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse: A Flavia de Luce Story.”
Banished! is how twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce laments her predicament, when her father and Aunt Felicity ship her off to Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy, the boarding school that her mother, Harriet, once attended across the sea in Canada. The sun has not yet risen on Flavia’s first day in captivity when a gift lands at her feet. Flavia being Flavia, a budding chemist and sleuth, that gift is a charred and mummified body, which tumbles out of a bedroom chimney. Now, while attending classes, making friends (and enemies), and assessing the school’s stern headmistress and faculty (one of whom is an acquitted murderess), Flavia is on the hunt for the victim’s identity and time of death, as well as suspects, motives, and means. Rumors swirl that Miss Bodycote’s is haunted, and that several girls have disappeared without a trace. When it comes to solving multiple mysteries, Flavia is up to the task—but her true destiny has yet to be revealed.
Praise for As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust
“Flavia de Luce [is] perhaps contemporary crime fiction’s most original character—to say she is Pippi Longstocking with a Ph.D. in chemistry (speciality: poisons) barely begins to describe her.”—Maclean’s
“Another treat for readers of all ages . . . [As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust] maintains the high standards Bradley set from the start.”—Booklist
“Exceptional . . . [The] intriguing setup only gets better, and Bradley makes Miss Bodycote’s a suitably Gothic setting for Flavia’s sleuthing. Through it all, her morbid narrative voice continues to charm.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Even after all these years, Flavia de Luce is still the world’s greatest adolescent British chemist/busybody/sleuth.”—The Seattle Times
“Plot twists come faster than Canadian snowfall. . . . Bradley’s sense of observation is as keen as gung-ho scientist Flavia’s. . . . The results so far are seven sparkling Flavia de Luce mysteries.”—Library Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1951, Bradley's exceptional seventh series whodunit (after 2014's The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches) takes Flavia de Luce, a preteen with an interest in poisons, from her family home in Bishop's Lacey, England, to Canada, where she is to attend her late mother's alma mater, Miss Bodycote's Female Academy. On Flavia's very first night there, a fellow student, P.A. Collingwood, bursts into her room and reveals that three other girls have disappeared. When the head of school, Miss Fawlthorne (aka the Hangman's Mistress), knocks at Flavia's door, Collingwood flees up the chimney, dislodging a mummified corpse and detaching its skull. This intriguing setup only gets better, and Bradley makes Miss Bodycote's a suitably Gothic setting for Flavia's sleuthing. Through it all, her morbid narrative voice continues to charm (e.g., "If you're anything like me, you adore rot. It is pleasant to reflect on the fact that decay and decomposition are what make the world go round").
Customer Reviews
Excellent
Loved each page.
Flavia for the win
I always love reading about Flavia’s adventures and am looking forward to finishing the this sweet series. This book shook things up with Flavia taking her across the ocean to a boarding school. The plot was a fun ride but the number of newly introduced characters was a little overwhelming.
Another Entertaining Flavia Installment
This is another delightful installment in the Flavia de Luce Series. I enjoyed reading Flavia's adventures in this one when she is sent to boarding school in Toronto, Canada. Poor Flavia does not want to be sent away from her family, but aside from acting as her normal murder-solving sleuth, she also learns some things about her deceased mother. I thought this one was fun and entertaining, as is usual for Flavia's adventures. I'm already looking forward to the next book. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in return for an honest review.