The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Novel

Flavia, the protagonist from the mystery The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, made me laugh, made me want to study Chemistry, and made me keep reading until the caper was solved. I really fell in love with little Flavia. Feisty, smart, fun- this little girl has two sisters she's constantly trying to poke, pinch, and prod and a father she is constantly trying to delight and charm. The family lives in her deceased mother's family's estate in 1940's Britain. Day by day, Flavia is entertained mostly by the chemistry lab in the family mansion, but all of that changes one day when she stumbles upon a dead man in the garden of the estate. Flavia is part Scout, part Sherlock Holmes, and part Marie Lavoisier (don't worry, I didn't know who that was until I read this book either), and she pulls you right into her mind, her home, and her life- a land where emotions though rare sneak out, observations are detailed, complete, and funny, and the story, like the mystery at the center of it, only gets better and better. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is definitely a challenge book (those of you who have had me as a teacher will know what I mean) because I think it's intended audience is grown-ups. However, this delightful tale will be enjoyed by all ages, and the writing is simply too brilliant and too fun to not be shared by everyone of all ages.

I read a synopsis of this book from the Goodreads website and it sparked my curiosity, mainly because the plot didn’t seem like your run-of-the-mill storyline. I wasn’t let down when I purchased the book. Flavia De Luce is an eleven year old girl with pigtails who lives in England during the 1950’s with her detached Father, Colonial De Luce, and her two obnoxious sisters, Ophelia and Daphne. When a body is discovered in the De Luce’s cucumber patch, Flavia takes it upon herself to solve the mystery of the deceased’s death. I won’t give the rest of the story away, but I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I really enjoyed the author’s writing style. The characters were well developed and each had very interesting personalities. Flavia, although quite a bit too smart and educated for an eleven year old, is absolutely hilarious. There were several times when I laughed out loud, which is extremely rare for me while reading a book. I highly recommend this book for any age group.

I spotted this little charmer at Elliot Bay Books in Seattle, WA. As I've rediscovered mysteries, I thought "what the heck." This is the story of Flavia De Luce and her hunt to solve the mystery of the dead man in her cucumber patch located in a small English village in 1950. "Quaint" sums up the story for me. I'm impressed that the voice of Flavia was written by a man -- how he captured the voice of a 9 year-old girl is beyond me. There were many twists and turns, so it did keep one interested. Granted, Flav is a little precocious, and sometimes tedious, but in the end, the whole thing was jolly good fun.