By far my favorite Christmas mystery read so far this year is I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, the fourth and most recent installment in the Flavia De Luce mystery series written by Canadian author Alan Bradley. The first Flavia De Luce mystery, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (2009), won many mystery awards, but this book manages to stand on its own, making it a perfect opportunity to discover the series.
Flavia De Luce is an eleven-year-old girl growing up in 1950 Britain, a country which is still economically and emotionally recovering from the devastation of World War II. Flavia’s family has it’s own devastating tragedy, however, in the disappearance of Flavia’s aviatrix mountain-climbing mother, who disappeared when Flavia was still a baby. Flavia’s remaining family members are wrapped up in their own problems and preoccupations, however, leaving little time for Flavia: Flavia’s father still pines for his missing wife and his sole solace is stamp collecting, while Ophelia, the eldest sister, cares only for her looks and for flirting with boys, and Daphne, the middle sister, only cares about books. Dogger, the family’s man-of-all-work and a former soldier suffering from PTSD, is Flavia’s one real friend.
Flavia, however, is brilliant, curious, and adventurous, not to mention, not one for taking an insult sitting down, all of which comes in handy as she applies herself to her calling of becoming a world-class poisoner. Flavia’s preoccupation with poison fuels a brilliance for chemistry and, tucked away in the Victorian laboratory of Buckshaw, the deteriorating family country house, Flavia concocts everything from Ovaltine to her secret substance for snaring Santa Claus.
Everything that Flavia loves and values is therefore in danger when Flavia’s father announces that the family is entirely broke and, in order to take in some money, he has rented Buckshaw to a film crew.
While at first Flavia feels that the film crew is going to ruin Christmas, Flavia’s single chance during the year to experience a day of family togetherness, a murder soon occurs which provides Flavia with the opportunity to indulge her fascination with all things dark and murderous.
Flavia is one of the most original and complex characters to come along in fiction of any genre in recent years. She is brilliant, independent, funny, and highly observant as she attempts to make sense of the adult world, which is far less logical than chemistry. Bradley’s prose is sharp and witty but also enjoyable to both young adult and adult readers.
While I Am Half-Sick of Shadows manages to be completely contemporary, it also evokes the traditional British country house mystery, and fans of the Lord Peter Wimsey books in particular may enjoy the series, which often employs references to that series, particularly in the first book (Flavia’s mother, Harriet, I suspect, is named after Harriet Vane).
(Doubleday, 2011)
I loved this book and the series. I liked how there was a thawing if for a bit at the end of the book of the sisters to Flavia.