Miss Flavia de Luce is still on the loose

Intrepid eleven-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce is determined to solve the mysteries that present themselves. Sometimes that requires manipulating a few adults: "When God has given you a great brain and long eyelashes, they may be the only weapons you have at your disposal." Naturally, she uses them.

This time, the death is a drowning. Flavia is not home at Buckshaw, but on holiday with her elder sisters. Predictably, Daffy (Daphne) and Feely (Ophelia) switch back and forth between moody and mean. Fortunately, Dogger is available to take her where she needs to go in the late Harriet's Rolls Royce, and to conjure up a few chemical tests in a hotel room as well. All in a good cause.

Once again, Flavia sails too close to the wind. Her snooping leads to her discovery and capture in a coffin maker's workshop. Fearing she's had the biscuit, she mentally prepares to die, hoping to be reincarnated as a famous chemist. Fortunately, with the help of friends and relatives near at hand, the situation proves less desperate than expected.

Kelowna author Alan Bradley is pleased to see the Flavia de Luce series doing much better than he'd ever expected.