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NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERFrom award-winning author Alan Bradley comes the next cozy British mystery starring intrepid young sleuth Flavia de Luce, hailed by USA Today as “one of the most remarkable creations in recent literature.”
Eleven-year-old amateur detective and ardent chemist Flavia de Luce is used to digging up clues, whether they’re found among the potions in her laboratory or between the pages of her insufferable show more sisters’ diaries. What she is not accustomed to is digging up bodies. Upon the five-hundredth anniversary of St. Tancred’s death, the English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey is busily preparing to open its patron saint’s tomb. Nobody is more excited to peek inside the crypt than Flavia, yet what she finds will halt the proceedings dead in their tracks: the body of Mr. Collicutt, the church organist, his face grotesquely and inexplicably masked. Who held a vendetta against Mr. Collicutt, and why would they hide him in such a sacred resting place? The irrepressible Flavia decides to find out. And what she unearths will prove there’s never such thing as an open-and-shut case.
BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Alan Bradley’s The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches.
Acclaim for Speaking from Among the Bones
“[Alan] Bradley scores another success. . . . This series is a grown-up version of Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and all those mysteries you fell in love with as a child.”—The San Diego Union-Tribune
“The precocious and irrepressible Flavia . . . continues to delight.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Fiendishly brilliant . . . Bradley has created an utterly charming cast of characters . . . as quirky as any British mystery fan could hope for.”—Bookreporter
“Delightful and entertaining.”—San Jose Mercury News. show less
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LongDogMom Another historical with a young female genius...in this case the much younger (and somewhat neglected) sister of Sherlock Holmes. Has a lot of Flavia's spunk and determination to prove her worth although written for a younger audience.
41
BookshelfMonstrosity Although I Capture the Castle is a coming-of-age story, not a mystery, both witty novels are narrated by precocious girls who, left to their own devices by their eccentric families, pursue adventures within the confines of quiet English villages.
21
Member Reviews
Spring has arrived in Bishops Lacey, along with Easter preparations at the village church. Since the church organist has mysteriously disappeared, Flavia de Luce's oldest sister, Ophelia (“Feely”) will have the honor of playing for the Easter services. Also in the works is the exhumation of St. Tancred, who is buried in the crypt. Naturally, Flavia manages to be at hand at the opening of the saint's tomb and the discovery of something that doesn't belong there. Meanwhile, the de Luce family's financial situation is getting worse. Will Flavia's father figure out a way to hold on to the family estate, or will the family be forced to leave Buckshaw forever?
This entry in the series leans more toward adventure novel, or perhaps treasure show more hunt, than detective fiction. Flavia is easily distracted from her investigations. However, her exploits and her encounters with various personalities in the village and its surrounding areas are entertaining enough to carry the plot. At this point in the series, my feelings for Flavia are much like Flavia's feelings for Inspector Hewitt's wife, Antigone. It's a privilege just to be in her presence. I'm already eagerly anticipating Flavia's next outing. Maybe I'll even brush up on my high school chemistry to pass the time while I wait for the release of book six!
This review is based on an electronic advanced reading copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley. show less
This entry in the series leans more toward adventure novel, or perhaps treasure show more hunt, than detective fiction. Flavia is easily distracted from her investigations. However, her exploits and her encounters with various personalities in the village and its surrounding areas are entertaining enough to carry the plot. At this point in the series, my feelings for Flavia are much like Flavia's feelings for Inspector Hewitt's wife, Antigone. It's a privilege just to be in her presence. I'm already eagerly anticipating Flavia's next outing. Maybe I'll even brush up on my high school chemistry to pass the time while I wait for the release of book six!
This review is based on an electronic advanced reading copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley. show less
This fifth offering from Alan Bradley featuring the young (and homicidally inclined) Flavia de Luce is a wonderful addition to the series. Though the fourth book focused more on Flavia's development than the murder, this book skillfully blends the two into a masterpiece of a mystery.
It certainly seems Bishop's Lacey is a magnet for murder, but as usual Flavia is on the spot to do a bit of detecting. The mystery this time arond is much more nuanced, and allows for a suitably nuanced picture of Flavia to emerge as well. As she goes about solving the murder with panache, she is also coping with a much more complicated mystery- the mystery of growing up.
From start to finish this book pulled me along with Flavia and her band of misfit show more friends and relatives. The murder mystery is tight, Flavia's development is both realistically and empathetically presented, and the cliffhanger of an ending a delightful shock.
This is a must read for anyone following the series, and the series is a must read for anyone who loves a good mystery. Now I'm hanging on the edge of my seat, waiting for #6! show less
It certainly seems Bishop's Lacey is a magnet for murder, but as usual Flavia is on the spot to do a bit of detecting. The mystery this time arond is much more nuanced, and allows for a suitably nuanced picture of Flavia to emerge as well. As she goes about solving the murder with panache, she is also coping with a much more complicated mystery- the mystery of growing up.
From start to finish this book pulled me along with Flavia and her band of misfit show more friends and relatives. The murder mystery is tight, Flavia's development is both realistically and empathetically presented, and the cliffhanger of an ending a delightful shock.
This is a must read for anyone following the series, and the series is a must read for anyone who loves a good mystery. Now I'm hanging on the edge of my seat, waiting for #6! show less
Another romp with precocious Flavia de Luce...... she's worried about her father and what will happen to the family pile, Buckshaw, but since her father won't sell a book that would save them all (a bit unbelievably selfish, if you ask me) because he and his lost wife signed it together... (Romeo and Juliet no less) she's feeling helpless..... but not really..... approaching (finally) twelve years, she's feeling differently, more empathetic and more able to hold her tongue here and there, more aware of complicated situations surrounding her. The local organist has been murdered in a nasty way and hidden in a crypt, and of course Flavia is on the scene and getting in the Inspector's hair - well - getting ahead of the Inspector in a most show more annoying manner and there is a lost diamond..... I liked this one better because Flavia is maturing visibly and while it was all wildly improbable as always, she never was in quite as much danger. I love Dogger. Just love him. And Jayne Entwhistle (who you would love or hate) I happen to love as Flavia. I won't spoil the end, but it's a shocker! On to get the next one! **** show less
Rating: 3.9* of five
The Book Description: Eleven-year-old amateur detective and ardent chemist Flavia de Luce is used to digging up clues, whether they’re found among the potions in her laboratory or between the pages of her insufferable sisters’ diaries. What she is not accustomed to is digging up bodies. Upon the five-hundredth anniversary of St. Tancred’s death, the English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey is busily preparing to open its patron saint’s tomb. Nobody is more excited to peek inside the crypt than Flavia, yet what she finds will halt the proceedings dead in their tracks: the body of Mr. Collicutt, the church organist, his face grotesquely and inexplicably masked. Who held a vendetta against Mr. Collicutt, and why show more would they hide him in such a sacred resting place? The irrepressible Flavia decides to find out. And what she unearths will prove there’s never such thing as an open-and-shut case.
My Review: The ending threw me a curve.
The middle was a busy muddle.
The beginning was a laugh a minute.
And I enjoyed it all. I didn't know who the murderer was, and when revealed I was a bit surprised I hadn't thought of that. I was mildly ticked that, at the ending of the book after the murderer was disposed of, a loose end wasn't tucked tidily away but rather left to be part of the cliffhanger resolution. If Mr. Bradley should happen to pass into his Eternal Reward before the next book is completed and edited, I shall engage every root woman and witch doctor and psychic and spiritualist I can locate to hound the rotter into spirit-writing it.
So, since I'm usually a tartar about judging cozies, demanding the characters and the plot mesh, why am I still reading these somewhat ramshackle novels? After all, the murderer's identity isn't at all well set up, and the red herrings are ummm far-fetched, and the propulsive event is barely, barely set up and then ignored.
Yeah, well, cozies are about characters and about a species of ma'at maintenance, and these novels deliver all the pleasures of those qualities in spades, doubled. Bradley's quite improbable little genius Flavia de Luce is a pill of the first water, a know-it-all, and a little girl on the edge of some enormous growings-up that all of us who've passed through adolescence can empathize with. Her passive, defeated father, her cruel sisters, her delightful world of Buckshaw with its fully equipped chemistry lab and its decaying splendor, and the people of Bishop's Lacey, all mix together into an immersive Barsetshire-esque experience of enfolding charm and warmth.
This is the fifth book, don't begin here if you're picking up a new series as too much will be a spoiler for some payoff surprises in earlier books. But should you pick up the series at all? Hmmm. Don't, if you're a puzzle-solver; don't, if you have to have a sleuth whose abilities and access are believable; do, if you're after the aforementioned immersive experience.
But, if you do read the book, I defy you not to laugh at the fate of the Heart of Lucifer. show less
The Book Description: Eleven-year-old amateur detective and ardent chemist Flavia de Luce is used to digging up clues, whether they’re found among the potions in her laboratory or between the pages of her insufferable sisters’ diaries. What she is not accustomed to is digging up bodies. Upon the five-hundredth anniversary of St. Tancred’s death, the English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey is busily preparing to open its patron saint’s tomb. Nobody is more excited to peek inside the crypt than Flavia, yet what she finds will halt the proceedings dead in their tracks: the body of Mr. Collicutt, the church organist, his face grotesquely and inexplicably masked. Who held a vendetta against Mr. Collicutt, and why show more would they hide him in such a sacred resting place? The irrepressible Flavia decides to find out. And what she unearths will prove there’s never such thing as an open-and-shut case.
My Review: The ending threw me a curve.
The middle was a busy muddle.
The beginning was a laugh a minute.
And I enjoyed it all. I didn't know who the murderer was, and when revealed I was a bit surprised I hadn't thought of that. I was mildly ticked that, at the ending of the book after the murderer was disposed of, a loose end wasn't tucked tidily away but rather left to be part of the cliffhanger resolution. If Mr. Bradley should happen to pass into his Eternal Reward before the next book is completed and edited, I shall engage every root woman and witch doctor and psychic and spiritualist I can locate to hound the rotter into spirit-writing it.
So, since I'm usually a tartar about judging cozies, demanding the characters and the plot mesh, why am I still reading these somewhat ramshackle novels? After all, the murderer's identity isn't at all well set up, and the red herrings are ummm far-fetched, and the propulsive event is barely, barely set up and then ignored.
Yeah, well, cozies are about characters and about a species of ma'at maintenance, and these novels deliver all the pleasures of those qualities in spades, doubled. Bradley's quite improbable little genius Flavia de Luce is a pill of the first water, a know-it-all, and a little girl on the edge of some enormous growings-up that all of us who've passed through adolescence can empathize with. Her passive, defeated father, her cruel sisters, her delightful world of Buckshaw with its fully equipped chemistry lab and its decaying splendor, and the people of Bishop's Lacey, all mix together into an immersive Barsetshire-esque experience of enfolding charm and warmth.
This is the fifth book, don't begin here if you're picking up a new series as too much will be a spoiler for some payoff surprises in earlier books. But should you pick up the series at all? Hmmm. Don't, if you're a puzzle-solver; don't, if you have to have a sleuth whose abilities and access are believable; do, if you're after the aforementioned immersive experience.
But, if you do read the book, I defy you not to laugh at the fate of the Heart of Lucifer. show less
In this fifth Flavia de Luce adventure, the entire town of Bishop's Lacey is agog at the forthcoming exhumation of St. Tancred from the village church. Of course, Flavia is determined to be present when the saint's body is uncovered. But in her eagerness to be on the scene when the exhumation takes place, Flavia discovers another body in the church: that of the organist, whose corpse has been hidden in St. Tancred's crypt. As Flavia investigates the organist's death, she also stumbles upon several other mysteries. For example, what is wrong with the local magistrate's son, and why is he kept in a locked room? Where do the tunnels underneath St. Tancred's churchyard lead? Is Feely actually getting married, and if so, to whom? And of show more course, will the de Luces have to leave their beloved yet crumbling home at Buckshaw?
Five books in, this series is still going strong. I always enjoy Flavia's adventures, and I think she's becoming a bit more human (and less serial-killer-esque) with each new book. I wonder if Alan Bradley will ever let her grow up, or if she'll always stay a precocious pre-teen. I'm kind of torn about which scenario I'd rather see...but regardless, Flavia is a whole lot of fun to watch as she copes with the pressures of adult life that intrude on her childhood. While corpses and detection are still a game to her, she is remarkably sensitive about her family's complex emotions as their life at Buckshaw is threatened. I like that her familial relationships seem to be moving forward (albeit at a glacial pace) and that she may now have some competition as a detective in Adam Sowerby, a newcomer who specializes in botany and "inquiries." There are enough interesting teasers here that I'm really looking forward to the next book! show less
Five books in, this series is still going strong. I always enjoy Flavia's adventures, and I think she's becoming a bit more human (and less serial-killer-esque) with each new book. I wonder if Alan Bradley will ever let her grow up, or if she'll always stay a precocious pre-teen. I'm kind of torn about which scenario I'd rather see...but regardless, Flavia is a whole lot of fun to watch as she copes with the pressures of adult life that intrude on her childhood. While corpses and detection are still a game to her, she is remarkably sensitive about her family's complex emotions as their life at Buckshaw is threatened. I like that her familial relationships seem to be moving forward (albeit at a glacial pace) and that she may now have some competition as a detective in Adam Sowerby, a newcomer who specializes in botany and "inquiries." There are enough interesting teasers here that I'm really looking forward to the next book! show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.In this fifth installment of the Flavia de Luce series, the focus is on the Church of St. Tancred, whose bones are being unearthed from their crypt in honour of the 500th anniversary of his death. However, when the diggers open the tomb, they find a much more recently deceased man: the organist, Mr Collicutt, who for some reason is also wearing a gas mask. Flavia can never resist a juicy mystery, of course, so she sets out to investigate.
This was easily my favourite of the series since the first book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Even though relatively little time has passed since then (maybe a year), Flavia has matured greatly while still retaining her typical precocious charm. She alternates between plotting vengeance show more against her sisters and coming to terms with how alike the three of them are, as well as understanding more about her father. At one point Flavia returns from some late-night sleuthing and finds her father sitting up at the kitchen table, and the conversation that ensues is very moving---even remembering this scene is enough to require me to remove several large chunks of dust from my eye. (Oh, Haviland!) This book was filled with such moments, where Flavia realizes she has to start sorting out her place in the world and deal with sudden new perspectives on people and things she thought she knew.
As for the mystery itself, it had a sufficiently gruesome air; I enjoyed the aspect of the saint's bones and other relics. Overall a more substantial mystery than the previous installment (I Am Half-sick of Shadows). And while the mystery was wrapped up nicely, the family storyline ended with such a surprising statement that I kind of wish I'd waited for the sixth book to be released! Regardless, I can still grudgingly admire the technique, even while impatiently waiting for the next installment of Flavia's adventures. Very much recommended if you've been following the series. show less
This was easily my favourite of the series since the first book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Even though relatively little time has passed since then (maybe a year), Flavia has matured greatly while still retaining her typical precocious charm. She alternates between plotting vengeance show more against her sisters and coming to terms with how alike the three of them are, as well as understanding more about her father. At one point Flavia returns from some late-night sleuthing and finds her father sitting up at the kitchen table, and the conversation that ensues is very moving---even remembering this scene is enough to require me to remove several large chunks of dust from my eye. (Oh, Haviland!) This book was filled with such moments, where Flavia realizes she has to start sorting out her place in the world and deal with sudden new perspectives on people and things she thought she knew.
As for the mystery itself, it had a sufficiently gruesome air; I enjoyed the aspect of the saint's bones and other relics. Overall a more substantial mystery than the previous installment (I Am Half-sick of Shadows). And while the mystery was wrapped up nicely, the family storyline ended with such a surprising statement that I kind of wish I'd waited for the sixth book to be released! Regardless, I can still grudgingly admire the technique, even while impatiently waiting for the next installment of Flavia's adventures. Very much recommended if you've been following the series. show less
Summary: It's almost Easter in Bishop's Lacey, and the town is preparing for the excavation of the tomb of its patron saint, Saint Tancred. Eleven-year-old (almost twelve!) Flavia de Luce, amateur sleuth and expert poisoner, is certainly interested about the proceedings, although she has other things on her mind. Her father's fortunes have dwindled to the point where the family is in danger of losing Buckshaw, their family estate. Her father is more withdrawn then ever, and her two older sisters vacillate between their typical torment of Flavia and strange episodes of sisterly bonding that are, if anything, even more distressing. But their family woes are pushed out of Flavia's head when she discovers a body in the saint's tomb: not show more that of the saint, but that of the church's organist. The police are handling it, but Flavia's determined to get to the bottom of things herself, even if it means dealing with some strange characters and delving deep into village history - not to mention the use of good old fashioned chemistry - to solve the murder.
Review: The Flavia de Luce books are always reliably entertaining, and I think this may be my favorite of the series so far. It's got everything I love about the series, in just the right balance. Flavia is as plucky and irrepressible as ever, although she oftentimes seems (and sounds, in her internal monologue) older than 11-going-on-12. (Maybe it's an effect of all of the corpses she keeps finding - this book makes 5 in less than a year. I've ranted about that before, but in this book, Flavia herself acknowledges that it's kind of strange, and thinks that maybe she's a tad morbid.) In any case, she's a great character in her own rights, but made better by all of the supporting characters around her. Her interactions with her sisters have always been my favorite parts of these books, and watching their relationships grow and evolve with their changing circumstances has been a treat. Bradley also deftly weaves in hints and details about the backstory of some of the tertiary characters, which really helps bring the village of Bishop's Lacey to life as a place inhabited by real people (albeit with a higher per capita murder rate than I suspect was typical of most 1950s British towns).
I also thought the mystery in this book was really well done. Although my primary reason for reading these books is always Flavia, I like the mystery to be worth the space it takes up as well. I was a little disappointed by I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, since I thought the mystery got somewhat short shrift, but in Speaking from Among the Bones, the murder is right up front, the clues are plentiful if not always obvious, the investigations involve plenty of Flavia sneaking around and talking her way out of trouble, there are plenty of good red herrings, and the whole thing was just very well paced and satisfying. The only little thing I could complain about was that the chemistry has fallen a bit from its former prominence earlier in the series. It's still there, it's just no longer the focus... but there are more than enough good things going on in this book that I didn't miss it (too much). 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: Flavia's a hoot, and while each book is fairly well self-contained, the "background story" - that of Flavia and her family and the town - is a slow build over the series, and is in my opinion one of the best things about the books, so they really should be read in order. But I'd recommend the series as a whole to cozy mystery fans and anyone who likes smart, sassy heroines who aren't above occasionally poisoning their sisters' lipsticks. show less
Review: The Flavia de Luce books are always reliably entertaining, and I think this may be my favorite of the series so far. It's got everything I love about the series, in just the right balance. Flavia is as plucky and irrepressible as ever, although she oftentimes seems (and sounds, in her internal monologue) older than 11-going-on-12. (Maybe it's an effect of all of the corpses she keeps finding - this book makes 5 in less than a year. I've ranted about that before, but in this book, Flavia herself acknowledges that it's kind of strange, and thinks that maybe she's a tad morbid.) In any case, she's a great character in her own rights, but made better by all of the supporting characters around her. Her interactions with her sisters have always been my favorite parts of these books, and watching their relationships grow and evolve with their changing circumstances has been a treat. Bradley also deftly weaves in hints and details about the backstory of some of the tertiary characters, which really helps bring the village of Bishop's Lacey to life as a place inhabited by real people (albeit with a higher per capita murder rate than I suspect was typical of most 1950s British towns).
I also thought the mystery in this book was really well done. Although my primary reason for reading these books is always Flavia, I like the mystery to be worth the space it takes up as well. I was a little disappointed by I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, since I thought the mystery got somewhat short shrift, but in Speaking from Among the Bones, the murder is right up front, the clues are plentiful if not always obvious, the investigations involve plenty of Flavia sneaking around and talking her way out of trouble, there are plenty of good red herrings, and the whole thing was just very well paced and satisfying. The only little thing I could complain about was that the chemistry has fallen a bit from its former prominence earlier in the series. It's still there, it's just no longer the focus... but there are more than enough good things going on in this book that I didn't miss it (too much). 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: Flavia's a hoot, and while each book is fairly well self-contained, the "background story" - that of Flavia and her family and the town - is a slow build over the series, and is in my opinion one of the best things about the books, so they really should be read in order. But I'd recommend the series as a whole to cozy mystery fans and anyone who likes smart, sassy heroines who aren't above occasionally poisoning their sisters' lipsticks. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Members
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Author Information
21 Works 27,953 Members
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
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Series
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Speaking From Among the Bones
- Original title
- Speaking From Among the Bones
- Original publication date
- 2013-01-29
- People/Characters
- Flavia de Luce; Daphne de Luce; Ophelia de Luce; Haviland de Luce; Arthur Wellesley Dogger; Inspector Hewitt (show all 32); Quentin Ridley-Smith; Miss Tanty; Adam Tradescant Sowerby; Crispin Savoy Collicutt; Marmaduke Parr; Alberta Moon; Ned Cropper; Carl Pendracka; Dieter Schrantz; Giulia Tofana; Cynthia Richardson; Louis-Camille Maillard; Denwyn Richardson; Vivien Joyous Ridley-Smith; Hannah Ridley-Smith; Margaret Mullet; Jeremy Pole; Tarquin de Luci; Albert Haskins; Martin Benson; Antigone Hewitt; Denwyn Richardson; Constable Linnet; Patsy Pickery; Cassandra Cottlestone; Sheila Foster
- Important places
- Buckshaw, Bishop's Lacey, England, UK; Bishop's Lacey, England, UK
- Epigraph
- Now from yon black and funeral yew,
That bathes the charnel-house with dew,
Methinks I hear a voice begin;
(Ye ravens, cease your croaking din;
Ye tolling clocks, no time resound
O'er the long lake and midnight... (show all) ground)
It sends a peal of hollow groans,
Thus speaking from among the bones.
Thomas Parnell,
A Night-Piece on Death (1721) - Dedication
- For Shirley
- First words
- Blood dripped from the neck of the severed head and fell in a drizzle of red raindrops, clotting into a ruby pool upon the black and white tiles.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Your mother has been found."
- 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 .S63 — Language and Literature English English Literature English literature: Provincial, local, etc.
- BISAC
Statistics
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- 2,119
- Popularity
- 9,635
- Reviews
- 194
- Rating
- (4.10)
- Languages
- 7 — Czech, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Italian, Polish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 37
- ASINs
- 16
