What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust

July 15, 2024
The enchanting 12th installment of Bradley’s Flavia de Luce series (after The Gold Tresses of the Dead) finds the precocious adolescent sleuth attempting to prove her family cook innocent of murder. Eight years after WWII, England is still suffering privations that have led many—including the de Luces’ trusted cook, Mrs. Mullet—to forage in the forest for food. When former hangman Major Greyleigh is found murdered, the local inspector turns his suspicions to Mullet, who fed Greyleigh an omelet made with foraged mushrooms moments before he died. Flavia, however, knows there must be some misunderstanding, and she rallies to Mullet’s defense with the help of her gardener and her troublesome younger cousin, whose boorish personality is nearly offset by her willingness to help Flavia bend the rules when necessary. Flavia’s investigation sees her teasing out information from the village postmistress, a scrapbooking neighbor, and the church gossip circle. She also tricks her way onto a U.S. Army base, where she confirms her family’s involvement with a shadowy group of assassins and discovers a secret that may break her heart. Flavia’s characteristic quirky humor and unorthodox thinking are on full display, and the ending finds her taking a well-earned step forward in her maturity. This series is as fresh as ever. Agent: Denise Bukowski, Bukowski Agency.

August 1, 2024
Rejoice, fans of fiction's youngest franchise detective: Flavia de Luce is back after a five-year hiatus, and she hasn't aged a bit. Flavia's never been more alone. Her beloved father, Col. Haviland de Luce, has died, leaving her an orphan; her sister Ophelia is off on the grand tour with her bridegroom; and her sister Daffy (Daphne to the uninitiated) is bound for Oxford. Flavia would be entirely on her own if it weren't for her father's war comrade Arthur W. Dogger, now a gardener who's accepted 11-year-old Flavia as a full partner in his detective agency; her orphaned cousin, Undine; and Margaret Mullet, the cook at Buckshaw, the de Luce home in Bishop's Lacey. And Flavia may be about to lose this last companion, because when her neighbor, retired civil servant Maj. Tommy Greyleigh, suddenly dies, Insp. Hewitt thinks that Mrs. Mullet fed him a dish of poisonous mushrooms. Since Flavia knows more about poisons than anyone else alive in 1952, she eagerly jumps to the defense of Mrs. Mullet, who's questioned and released. But that's not enough for Flavia, who's become convinced that Maj. Greyleigh was assassinated on the orders of Asterion, a shadowy figure in that equally shadowy intelligence force, the Nide, where Flavia's father and her aunt Felicity once reportedly worked. No one remotely associated with the Nide, or with the nearby American service base at Leathcote, will utter a word about the dread Asterion, so it's up to Flavia to smash every taboo in her quest for truth, justice, and diversion. Nobody could possibly unite intelligence work, mythological monsters, and village gossip as adroitly as Bradley's heroine.

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August 1, 2024

After Flavia de Luce's father died, she inherited the family home, Buckshaw, and is now responsible for her obnoxious younger cousin Undine. She's excited to take on a new murder investigation but not at all happy that the chief suspect is Mrs. Mullet, the family's longtime cook. Mrs. Mullet also cleans and cooks breakfast for Major Greyleigh, a neighbor and retired hangman. Greyleigh has been found dead, and the police suspect poisoned mushrooms. Mrs. Mullet picked mushrooms and served them that morning. Flavia's always loyal to the staff, though, and she knows Mrs. Mullet wouldn't kill anyone. Together with Dogger, her partner in Arthur Dogger & Associates, Discreet Enquiries, Flavia listens to gossip and charges around on her trusty bike. The insufferable Undine uncovers too many clues to please Flavia, but it's Flavia herself who discovers shocking secrets about her parents and aunt at the nearby American military base. VERDICT Flavia's fans will rejoice at her return five years after The Golden Tresses of the Dead, but less-devoted readers will be confused by the scattershot methods of the young chemist and amateur sleuth. Primarily for series fans.--Lesa Holstine

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2024
Flavia de Luce is in top form in the eleventh book of Bradley's beloved series, following The Golden Tresses of the Dead (2019), and set shortly after WWII in the English countryside. Flavia is still the most precocious (and only) adolescent detective in the tiny town of Bishop's Lacey, still a frighteningly accomplished chemist, and still making her biting observations. But her father's recent death has made Flavia an orphan and left her in the haphazard care of her sister Daffy and the estate staff. When beloved housekeeper Mrs. Mullet is suspected of murder after serving a dish of poisonous mushrooms to their reclusive neighbor, Major Greyleigh, a retired public hangman, Flavia investigates. A labyrinthine series of clues leads her to a shocking personal discovery that completely changes her world--and opens up interesting possibilities for future investigations. The return of Undine, her "pestilent little cousin," is a bonus, as is the continued presence of Dogger, the estate's gardener and Flavia's faithful partner in crime. Bradley gives his loyal readers a story that will more than satisfy their expectations while also inviting new readers to discover an endlessly entertaining amateur young sleuth who has much to teach her elders.

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