The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse

Flavia de Luce is in her beloved chemistry lab when she receives a desperate note demanding her help to solve a murder. She can think of no better way to spend a Sunday, so she hops on her bicycle and pedals over to her father's old school. The sender of the note leads her to a bathroom where, sitting in a tub, is a naked dead man who-- except for his face-- looks as though he's made of copper. To Flavia, this is definitely a splendid way to spend the day, and she gets right to work to solve the mystery.

When I read Alan Bradley's first Flavia de Luce mystery, I wasn't sure I'd want to spend any time in the company of this little girl. She was just a little too passionate about chemistry and poisons. I could just see myself being invited show more over for tea and trying to come up with logical reasons not to eat or drink anything. However, Flavia is now my favorite eleven-year-old. I was hooked on this story the moment Gladys' tires began to hiss on the wet pavement. (Who's Gladys? Flavia's trusty bicycle.) By the time Flavia bemoaned the fact that modern detectives now have to spend time coming up with catchy titles for their investigations, I was lost. At the age of eleven, Flavia can out-Sherlock the great consulting detective himself, and I can't help but wonder what she's going to be like when she turns twenty-one.

"The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse" highlights Flavia's love of chemistry and her knack of observing the small, telling details that everyone else misses. It's a lot of fun to read, and marks a milestone for her-- but you'll have to read the story for yourself to find out what that milestone is! Never read a Flavia de Luce mystery before? This short story is an excellent way to "test the water." show less

Flavia receives a mysterious note asking for help at the local boy's school. When she arrives she finds a dead man in the bath tub having been copper plated by his killer. Of course our intrepid heroine easily explains how this happened and shortly discovers who is responsible. A charming story about murder and chemistry.

Flavia receives a note begging her to come at once to solve a murder. Of course she can’t resist and heads off immediately to the Anson House boy’s school. This is her very first paid case and it reads like a Sherlock Holmes short story. It's also the opposite of As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust because it’s set at a boy’s school. She flexes her mental muscles and lets her curiosity lead the way. It gives us a look at the career she could one they have as a private investigator or police detective she wants.

BOTTOM LINE: Short and sweet, but a wonderful glimpse at Flavia when she’s in pure business mode. It's just a quick novella but if you love the Flavia series it's worth reading.
“’This is probably no place for a show more girl.’
‘Girl be blowed!’ I snapped. ‘I’m here as a brain, not as a female.’”

“I’ve always been amazed by the ease with which a stranger’s life can be reconstructed by simply snooping through their belongings. Art and imagination combine to tell a tale that’s more complete than even a fat printed biography could ever hope to equal.”

**I’d like to add a quick note about the cover. The whole series is designed by Joe Montgomery and they are gorgeous! Each one is a bright pop of color with a sinister illustration, just perfect. show less

"Murder! Come at once. Anson House, Greyminster, Staircase No. 3."
Thus our eleven year old heroine is summoned to the local boys school, only to confronted by a copper plated body in the third floor bath. It is hard to to love this intrepid amateur sleuth, with her irreverent manner and firm grasp of all things chemical. This is a spare but entrancing little short story. Just the ticket to tide one over awaiting the next installment of the larger series.

Intrepid 11-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce is at her best when called on to investigate the death of the housemaster at a boy’s school, seemingly due to murder. The case is made to order for the precocious chemist.

I read all the Flavia de Luce novels shortly after their publication, but I had missed this short story until now. What a pleasure it was to revisit this favorite series.

"It is no longer enough simply to solve crimes: We modern private detectives must also be able to come up with catchy names for our cases."

Flavia is called to Greyminster, the nearby school her father attended, to investigate a murder. Curiously, however, the body is found in the bathtub - and is covered in copper! This is a sweet little story - just enough to tide us over while we wait for the next installment - that once again has Flavia in her element: chemistry. Released only as an ebook - not my favorite format - but one can't complain too much when one can hardly get enough of the junior sleuth!

Flavia de Luce gets a lot of love in the book forums where I hang out online, and so I thought it might be fun to try the newest short story as a kind of introduction until I could get the first of the series from the library. Alas, I think I did myself (and possibly Flavia) a disservice in reading this later entry in the series before she and I had been properly introduced. I found it all less charming than I expected to. Flavia's expertise can't be denied, but her personality seemed a lot less winning than I would have expected given the enthusiasm with which her fans talk about her.

Flavia is called to investigate a murder in a local boy's school. When she arrives, she finds the victim lying in an empty bathtub, covered in copper. show more He's been electroplated. She's been called there by one of the boys who had a huge row with the man a short time earlier, and who is afraid he's going to be charged for the murder. He wants Flavia to clear his name before the police are called.

The mystery is clever enough, I suppose, but it feels curiously flat. We never get much of a feel for the situation, or the people in it, and Flavia comes across as a walking encyclopedia of odd facts rather than a fully rounded character. If this was the only thing I'd read about her and didn't know what an enthusiastic following she had, I probably would never bother to pick up another of the books.

But fair is fair, and so many people swear by her that I am going to begin at the beginning and hope that this short story is just a fluke, and that Flavia de Luce really is as winning as I've been told. show less