Ordinarily, I do not read murder mysteries. I like science fiction and fantasy predominantly because that’s what I like to write, but I do read a lot of other stuff as well. A friend of mine gave me a murder mystery to read. She said with was terrific, and that it was also funny. I read it and loved it!

It is known as the Flavia De Luce series by Alan Bradley, a 70 year old Canadian writer. The setting is post WWII England in 1950 in a small English village with an assortment of very interesting and engaging characters. The protagonist is a precocious eleven year old girl named Flavia De Luce who lives with her widowed father, a retired RAF officer, and two older teenaged sisters who haze her constantly. Flavia has a savant-like knowledge of chemistry, and is especially keen about poisons, and is a keen observer.  A murder occurs in the village, and the cops are flummoxed however, Flavia pussyfoots around innocently and nearly invisible as no one pays any attention to an eleven year old girl. It is written in first person from Flavia’s POV, and her utterances and observations are often hilarious.  There are 10 books in all, four have been published and six are on the way. The first book is entitled, “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie."  Flavia is a cross between Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes.

Here’s a link:  http://www.flaviadeluce.com/

Last edited by Erndog (02-16-2012 14:00:08)