Usually not a fan of books with 11 or 12 year old narrators, but enjoyed this.A mild and amusing mystery with an entertaining and imperfect tween narrator ( )

Clever, engaging, and parts are laugh out loud funny. A little bit dark in parts, but nothing too dire (and believe me, I am a weeny!). ( )

Really enjoyed this mystery set in 1950 and told from the viewpoint of an eleven year old girl, Flavia de Luce. Flavia is the youngest of three sisters whose father is often withdrawn and absorbed in his stamp collection, and whose mother was killed in a climbing accident soon after Flavia was born. Intelligent, imaginative and precocious, she is a keen amateur chemist with a special interest in poisons. Flavia views the adults around her with a shrewd clear eyed understanding and is extremely adept at manipulating them when necessary, but is at the mercy of her cruel older sisters. Her one ally is the manservant at her family's stately home, Dogger, who has psychological issues due to wartime experiences, but is also very astute.

This is the second in a series which consists of seven books with an eighth due out this September. On the strength of this, I will definitely read the others. ( )

Not quite as good as the 1st one. ( )

Again, as with the first book in the series, whilst I enjoyed this murder mystery written from the view of the 11 year old prodigy Flavia de Luce, I found the self consciously "English" eccentricity a little too overdone, almost as if we were in a post WWII theme park version of the UK. The anglophile POW was just a step too far for me. All in all a pleasant read but I won't be seeking out the rest of the series. ( )