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Flavia's discovery of an old Gypsy woman who's been attacked in her wagon sends the girl off on an investigation that will reveal more of Buckshaw's secrets as well as new information about Harriet, the mother Flavia never knew.Tags
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The de Luce's rambling English Mansion, Buckshaw, plays host to a number of dead bodies, plus the beating of a Gypsy fortune teller. Eleven year-old Flavia takes it upon herself to solve the case before Inspector Hewitt (straining her relations with him in the process). In addition to the wit and humor Flavia brings, we get gypsies, secret passages, small town gossip, sibling rivalries, revenge, and more.
4.5 stars because:
-Supporting characters continue to get fleshed out. We learn a little bit more about Dogger, Harriet, her father, sisters, etc.
-With a plot involving gypsies, it would've been easy for Bradley to stray into mysticism or offensive sterotypes. Instead, he intertwines their presence into the plot well and makes people's show more prejudices part of the story.
-Flavia continues to shine. Her chemistry expertise, creative revenge tactics, and sleuthing continue to be top notch. But in this installment, we also see a more vulnerable side of her, as she reacts to her father's monetary problems and ponders her mother's death.
Note: While this is the third Flavia de Luce book, the author does a good job of providing necessary background information. Start at the beginning because all three books are great. But if you happen to come upon this one first, don't worry. show less
4.5 stars because:
-Supporting characters continue to get fleshed out. We learn a little bit more about Dogger, Harriet, her father, sisters, etc.
-With a plot involving gypsies, it would've been easy for Bradley to stray into mysticism or offensive sterotypes. Instead, he intertwines their presence into the plot well and makes people's show more prejudices part of the story.
-Flavia continues to shine. Her chemistry expertise, creative revenge tactics, and sleuthing continue to be top notch. But in this installment, we also see a more vulnerable side of her, as she reacts to her father's monetary problems and ponders her mother's death.
Note: While this is the third Flavia de Luce book, the author does a good job of providing necessary background information. Start at the beginning because all three books are great. But if you happen to come upon this one first, don't worry. show less
Rating: 4.125* of five
The Book Report: Flavia de Luce of Buckshaw, Bishops Lacey, is in it up to her neck again in this third outing of Alan Bradley's wildly popular series. This time she burns down a gypsy woman's fortune-telling tent, takes the woman home over her father's presumed objections, and then finds the lady bludgeoned almost to death in her caravan.
Next up is a meeting with the gypsy's semi-estanged granddaughter, deliciously yclept Porcelain, whose surprise presence in the crime-scene caravan causes Flavia to be assaulted and, subsequently, to invite the woman home with her. While escorting the younger gypsy into Buckshaw, her rambling, underheated Stately Home, Flavia espies a for-sure corpse dangling from Poseidon's show more trident. (That's one of Buckshaw's fountains, not the real Poseidon, of course.) It proves to be local ne'er-do-well and remittance man Brookie Harewood, last seen slouching about in Flavia's drawing room! Will the wonders never cease!
No, in fact, they won't, and Bradley spins a net for every red herring imaginable as Flavia encounters forgers, thieves, religious dissenters called Hobblers who baptize babies a la grecque show less
The Book Report: Flavia de Luce of Buckshaw, Bishops Lacey, is in it up to her neck again in this third outing of Alan Bradley's wildly popular series. This time she burns down a gypsy woman's fortune-telling tent, takes the woman home over her father's presumed objections, and then finds the lady bludgeoned almost to death in her caravan.
Next up is a meeting with the gypsy's semi-estanged granddaughter, deliciously yclept Porcelain, whose surprise presence in the crime-scene caravan causes Flavia to be assaulted and, subsequently, to invite the woman home with her. While escorting the younger gypsy into Buckshaw, her rambling, underheated Stately Home, Flavia espies a for-sure corpse dangling from Poseidon's show more trident. (That's one of Buckshaw's fountains, not the real Poseidon, of course.) It proves to be local ne'er-do-well and remittance man Brookie Harewood, last seen slouching about in Flavia's drawing room! Will the wonders never cease!
No, in fact, they won't, and Bradley spins a net for every red herring imaginable as Flavia encounters forgers, thieves, religious dissenters called Hobblers who baptize babies a la grecque show less
"A Red Herring Without Mustard" is a third strong offering in the Flavia De Luce series.
Like it's predecessors, "The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie" and "The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag" it follows eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce as she uses chemistry, her insatiable curiosity and her almost sociopathic determination to solve the crimes associated with the dead bodies that turn up with frightening regularity at her Father's country house before the police can.
In this case, Flavia is one a hunt that includes a gipsy fortune-teller, an unscrupulous remittance man, the remnants of a local Dissenter sect and some truly eccentric water features.
The plots are twisty enough to be satisfying and honest enough not to be annoying but show more the true power of the book continues to come from seeing the world through the eyes of the inimitable and irrepressible Flavia De Luce.
Flavia has always been a recklessly brave, brilliantly but disturbingly analytical loner with a grief-stricken father, abusive older sisters, and hole in her life where her mother should be. Her only positive relationships seem to be with Dogger, the war-damaged family retainer, Gladys, her bicycle on whom she projects a personality and the local Police Inspector with whom she enters into a mutually respectful rivalry.
What I like most about this book was that I saw Flavia grow. She and her father reach a deeply-felt but barely expressed mutual respect. She learns more about her mother and starts to feel some of her mother's spirit in herself. Her relationship with her sisters remains twisted and sometimes hateful but Flavia is aware of the mutual love beneath the sandpaper surface. Flavia also makes a friend, albeit a rather enigmatic, sometimes violent and often absent friend who is socially completely inappropriate but that is perhaps how it should be.
I find myself caring more for Flavia with each book. We see her whole world through her eyes and sometimes what we see touches home. I understand exactly the feeling Flavia refers to when she says:
"ALONE AT LAST!
Whenever I’m with other people, part of me shrinks a little. Only when I am alone can I fully enjoy my own company."
The way she and Dogger deal with each other shows a great deal of compassion and affection. It tells us a lot about Flavia's character and her experience of intimacy that she likes sitting with Dogger because he supports her without demanding more information from her than she is willing to give. She says,
"The very best people are like that. They don’t entangle you like flypaper."
Flavia's new friend, Porcelain gives Flavia someone to talk to and a chance to understand how she is seen by others. I liked Porcelain's comments on familial love. She says,
“Love’s not some big river that flows on and on forever, and if you believe it is, you’re a bloody fool. It can be dammed up until nothing’s left but a trickle …”
I would read the books just to spend time with Flavia Alan Bradley delivers more than a fan-fest. His plots are strong. All of his characters feel real and form a richly detailed ensemble cast. His sense of period and of Englishness never seems to stumble, which is all the more impressive given that he is a contemporary Canadian writing about 1950s English rural gentry.
I've already ordered the next book in the series. show less
Like it's predecessors, "The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie" and "The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag" it follows eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce as she uses chemistry, her insatiable curiosity and her almost sociopathic determination to solve the crimes associated with the dead bodies that turn up with frightening regularity at her Father's country house before the police can.
In this case, Flavia is one a hunt that includes a gipsy fortune-teller, an unscrupulous remittance man, the remnants of a local Dissenter sect and some truly eccentric water features.
The plots are twisty enough to be satisfying and honest enough not to be annoying but show more the true power of the book continues to come from seeing the world through the eyes of the inimitable and irrepressible Flavia De Luce.
Flavia has always been a recklessly brave, brilliantly but disturbingly analytical loner with a grief-stricken father, abusive older sisters, and hole in her life where her mother should be. Her only positive relationships seem to be with Dogger, the war-damaged family retainer, Gladys, her bicycle on whom she projects a personality and the local Police Inspector with whom she enters into a mutually respectful rivalry.
What I like most about this book was that I saw Flavia grow. She and her father reach a deeply-felt but barely expressed mutual respect. She learns more about her mother and starts to feel some of her mother's spirit in herself. Her relationship with her sisters remains twisted and sometimes hateful but Flavia is aware of the mutual love beneath the sandpaper surface. Flavia also makes a friend, albeit a rather enigmatic, sometimes violent and often absent friend who is socially completely inappropriate but that is perhaps how it should be.
I find myself caring more for Flavia with each book. We see her whole world through her eyes and sometimes what we see touches home. I understand exactly the feeling Flavia refers to when she says:
"ALONE AT LAST!
Whenever I’m with other people, part of me shrinks a little. Only when I am alone can I fully enjoy my own company."
The way she and Dogger deal with each other shows a great deal of compassion and affection. It tells us a lot about Flavia's character and her experience of intimacy that she likes sitting with Dogger because he supports her without demanding more information from her than she is willing to give. She says,
"The very best people are like that. They don’t entangle you like flypaper."
Flavia's new friend, Porcelain gives Flavia someone to talk to and a chance to understand how she is seen by others. I liked Porcelain's comments on familial love. She says,
“Love’s not some big river that flows on and on forever, and if you believe it is, you’re a bloody fool. It can be dammed up until nothing’s left but a trickle …”
I would read the books just to spend time with Flavia Alan Bradley delivers more than a fan-fest. His plots are strong. All of his characters feel real and form a richly detailed ensemble cast. His sense of period and of Englishness never seems to stumble, which is all the more impressive given that he is a contemporary Canadian writing about 1950s English rural gentry.
I've already ordered the next book in the series. show less
I don't know which literary heroine I idolize more, Lisbeth Salander or Flavia De Leuce. Lizbeth can destroy you with her ability to physically attack and maim you, after she hacks into every aspect of your life to unveil your most damaging hidden secrets. Flavia could probably poison you using herbs commonly found in your kitchen, mixed with some toothpaste and a dollup of baking soda. Neither would think twice or feel remorse for her actions. Both are brilliant and fearless. Flavia might win the contest , however, since she is only 10 years old. Nonetheless, in "A Red Herring Without Mustard" Flavia is back in action to solve yet another series of crimes and murders, that not suprisingly, have occurred in her back yard. I thought this show more story was as wonderfully charming as the first book and better than the second, as the characters were more interesting and more time was spent on Flavia's thoughts. Flavia's reactions and insights are unexpected and delightful, as she continues to surprise the reader by alternating between her developmentally typical naivete (as when her sisters convince her she was stolen by pixies) and her uncanny powers of deduction and sophisicated knowledge of chemistry. This was a delightful read that I was sorry to see come to an end. I can only wait in inpatient anticipation of the next Flavia novel!! show less
In this third book of the series, Flavia gets her fortune told by a gypsy at the village fete and promptly sets the old woman's tent on fire. Trying to make it up to her, Flavia invites the gypsy to set up her caravan on the grounds of Buckshaw, Flavia's ancestral home. When Flavia goes back to check on her, she finds that the woman has been beaten nearly to death, and so Flavia, the eleven year-old genius, is once again at the center of a crime, which embarrasses her family and aggravates Inspector Hewitt.
Spending time with Flavia is so fun, whether she's asking nosy questions, experimenting in her laboratory or getting even with her older sisters.
Spending time with Flavia is so fun, whether she's asking nosy questions, experimenting in her laboratory or getting even with her older sisters.
If you are contemplating reading "A Red Herring Without Mustard" you probably already adore Flavia de Luce, a precocious 12-year old amateur sleuth. If you feel wishy-washy about the girl, don't expect her to undergo a major personality transformation in this book, Flavia remains the same smart, naive, sneaky, lying chemist/detective as she was in "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" and "The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag." And I wouldn't have her any other way.
As such series go, whenever a sleuth emerges, her/his residence immediately becomes a criminal hot zone. Same goes for such a tiny village as Bishop's Lacey. It's been only 2 months since the events of "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie," and here Flavia comes show more across a few more major crimes. First, after attending a local fete and accidentally setting a Gypsy fortune-teller's tent on fire, Flavia feels obligated to help out the said Gypsy woman and offers her to spend the night on her property. Too bad, she finds this woman beaten into pulp the next day and barely manages to save her life. And second, just hours later she comes across the dead body of a local riffraff fellow in her own yard. Of course, Flavia can't leave these crimes to the police. She lies, she conceals evidence, she breaks into places and, naturally, she uncovers the truth!
It is Flavia who carries this entire series. I am not sure the mysteries themselves are all that complex, but what makes these books so darn entertaining is the narrator herself. She is funny, she is cheeky, she is simultaneously innocent and cunning, basically, she is one the most charismatic narrator I've ever come across. If you love Flavia de Luce, there is absolutely no way this book will disappoint you. show less
As such series go, whenever a sleuth emerges, her/his residence immediately becomes a criminal hot zone. Same goes for such a tiny village as Bishop's Lacey. It's been only 2 months since the events of "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie," and here Flavia comes show more across a few more major crimes. First, after attending a local fete and accidentally setting a Gypsy fortune-teller's tent on fire, Flavia feels obligated to help out the said Gypsy woman and offers her to spend the night on her property. Too bad, she finds this woman beaten into pulp the next day and barely manages to save her life. And second, just hours later she comes across the dead body of a local riffraff fellow in her own yard. Of course, Flavia can't leave these crimes to the police. She lies, she conceals evidence, she breaks into places and, naturally, she uncovers the truth!
It is Flavia who carries this entire series. I am not sure the mysteries themselves are all that complex, but what makes these books so darn entertaining is the narrator herself. She is funny, she is cheeky, she is simultaneously innocent and cunning, basically, she is one the most charismatic narrator I've ever come across. If you love Flavia de Luce, there is absolutely no way this book will disappoint you. show less
This, the third volume in the Flavia de Luce mystery series, might be the best yet as far as the mystery part is concerned. With a tangle of deaths, a multiplicity of suspects, a myriad of secret doors, a couple of gypsies, and a fair amount of tea and biscuits, it certainly kept one jumping. The character aspects were also a bit deeper this round, though I found that the particular developments made me a little sad. In this book, rather than giggling madly at Flavia's antics and asides all the time, we start to see a little more of the damage she has suffered from the family dynamics and tragedy (both recent and past) to which she has been exposed. In many ways, this is a shade more serious than I remember the previous installments show more being, but for me that makes the narrative richer. Flavia is still quite herself, cheekily pursuing her own criminal and chemical investigations with attitude. I adore these books and started reading the next as soon as I finished this one, so that should tell you something. show less
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Author Information
21 Works 27,953 Members
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Awards and Honors
Series
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Red Herring Without Mustard
- Original title
- A Red Herring Without Mustard
- Original publication date
- 2011-02-08
- People/Characters
- Flavia de Luce; Ophelia de Luce; Daphne de Luce; Haviland de Luce; Arthur Wellesley Dogger; Mrs. Mullet (show all 24); Ned Cropper; Dr. Darby; Inspector Hewitt; Denwyn Richardson; Fenella Faa; Porcelain Lee; Brookie Harewood; Colin Prout; Dieter Schrantz; Tilda Mountjoy; Vanetta Harewood; Reginald Pettibone; Edward Sampson; Dr. Kissing; Timofey Bull; Margaret Bull; Tom Bull; Gry
- Important places
- Bishop's Lacey, England, UK; Buckshaw, Bishop's Lacey, England, UK
- Epigraph
- ...a cup of ale without a wench, why, alas, 'tis like an egg without salt or a red herring without mustard.
- A Looking Glasse, for London and Englande, by Thomas Lodge and Robert Greene (1592) - Dedication
- For John and Janet Harland
- First words
- "You frighten me," the Gypsy said.
- Quotations
- It was Ophelia, the older of my two sisters. Feely was seventeen, and ranked herself right up there with the Blessed Virgin Mary, although the chief difference between them, I'm willing to bet, is that the BVM doesn't spend t... (show all)wenty-three hours a day peering at herself in a looking glass while picking away at her face with a pair of tweezers.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Father knows it's there and I know it's there, and for now, that's all that counts.
- Original language
- English
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Mystery, Historical Fiction, Teen, Young Adult
- DDC/MDS
- 813.6 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 2000-
- LCC
- PR9199.4 .B7324 .R43 — Language and Literature English English Literature English literature: Provincial, local, etc.
- BISAC
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