The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

This first novel by Canadian Alan Bradley is about 11 year old Flavia de Luce. She lives with her Father and 2 sisters in an old English mansion and the story is set in the summer of 1950. Flavia is a budding chemist with a particular interest in poison. She doesn’t have just a child’s chemistry set though, no she has a working lab where she mixes concoctions and tests them on her unwitting sisters.

Flavia literally stumbles upon a body in the garden one night after overhearing an argument between her Father and a stranger. Thus begins Flavia’s quest to discover the murderer. This will use all of her considerable mind and powers of persuasion. During this quest she will learn about herself and her family.

This book is a kind of Anne of Green Gables meets Nancy Drew. Flavia is bright and articulate endowed with an active imagination. She is also curious and prone to getting in trouble. All in all this is a delightful book and hints at a series in which Flavia encounters more crimes to solve. Although the main character is a child this really isn’t a children’s book although I think teenagers would enjoy it. Oh yes, the mystery does indeed involve pie.