Delacorte, 2009.
Flavia, the eleven-year-old chemist, sleuth, and narrator of Bradley’s book begs for comparison with her American age-mate Harriet of “Harriet the Spy.” She’s young, she’s impulsive, she’s smart. Like Harriet, she is also a good eavesdropper, a good liar when necessary, and an astute observer of human nature. Flavia also has a fairly distant father, and no mother. Instead of Harriet’s housekeeper, Ole Golly, there is Mrs Mullet who comes in half days, and Dogger, who has served as her father’s valet, then chauffeur, and now, as his nerves, damaged in the War, have completely gone to hell, as the family gardener.
Unlike Harriet, Flavia has a real mystery on her hands when she stumbles upon a hand sticking out of the garden bed. The only family member seemingly with a head on her shoulders, Flavia calls for the constable, and then sets out to stay one step ahead of him in solving the mystery.
A five star read, with a sequel in the works.
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