It’s Christmastime, and the precocious Flavia de Luce—an eleven-year-old sleuth with a passion for chemistry and a penchant for crime-solving—is tucked away in her laboratory, whipping up a concoction to ensnare Saint Nick. But she is soon distracted when a film crew arrives at Buckshaw, the de Luces’ decaying English estate, to shoot a movie starring the famed Phyllis Wyvern. Amid a raging blizzard, the entire village of Bishop’s Lacey gathers at Buckshaw to watch Wyvern perform, yet nobody is prepared for the evening’s shocking conclusion: a body found, past midnight, strangled to death with a length of film. But who among the assembled guests would stage such a chilling scene? As the storm worsens and the list of suspects grows, Flavia must use every ounce of sly wit at her disposal to ferret out a killer hidden in plain sight.
I Am Half-Sick of Shadows: A Flavia de Luce Novel
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Acclaim for Alan Bradley’s beloved Flavia de Luce novels, winners of the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award, Barry Award, Agatha Award, Macavity Award, Dilys Winn Award, and Arthur Ellis Award
“If ever there was a sleuth who’s bold, brilliant, and yes, adorable, it’s Flavia de Luce.”—USA Today
“Delightful . . . [Flavia is] a combination of Eloise and Sherlock Holmes. . . . Fearless, cheeky, wildly precocious.”—The Boston Globe, on The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
“Utterly beguiling . . . wicked wit . . . The real delight here is [Flavia’s] droll voice and the eccentric cast.”—People (four stars), on The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag
“Outstanding . . . [a] marvelous blend of whimsy and mystery.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review), on A Red Herring Without Mustard
“If ever there was a sleuth who’s bold, brilliant, and yes, adorable, it’s Flavia de Luce.”—USA Today
“Delightful . . . [Flavia is] a combination of Eloise and Sherlock Holmes. . . . Fearless, cheeky, wildly precocious.”—The Boston Globe, on The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
“Utterly beguiling . . . wicked wit . . . The real delight here is [Flavia’s] droll voice and the eccentric cast.”—People (four stars), on The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag
“Outstanding . . . [a] marvelous blend of whimsy and mystery.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review), on A Red Herring Without Mustard
About the Author
Alan Bradley is the internationally bestselling author of many short stories, children’s stories, newspaper columns, and the memoir The Shoebox Bible. His first Flavia de Luce novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, received the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award, the Dilys Winn Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Agatha Award, the Macavity Award, and the Barry Award, and was nominated for the Anthony Award. His second and third Flavia de Luce novels are The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag and the New York Times bestselling A Red Herring Without Mustard. Bradley lives in Malta with his wife and two calculating cats.
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More About the Author
Alan Bradley received the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger Award for The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, his first novel, which went on to win the Agatha Award, the Barry Award, the Dilys Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Macavity Award and the Spotted Owl Award. He is the author of many short stories, children's stories, newspaper columns, and the memoir The Shoebox Bible. He co-authored Ms. Holmes of Baker Street with the late William A.S. Sarjeant. Bradley lives in Malta with his wife and two calculating cats, and is currently working on the next Flavia de Luce mystery, I Am Half-Sick of Shadows (Nov. 2011).
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
56 of 60 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
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Buckshaw, the huge house of the de Luce family, is mostly shut up. There is very little money to maintain the house and Colonel de Luce has had to agree to allow a movie crew to use the house as a film set just to make enough money to fend off bankruptcy a little longer. Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce regrets that the crew's use of the great hall means the family won't be able to put up the usual Christmas tree and decorations, but she plans to compensate for the loss with the entertainment of secretly observing the visitors.
As always, Flavia is also deeply occupied with various experiments in her fully-equipped chemistry laboratory, originally outfitted by her uncle Tar. At the moment, her chief experiment is a fairly simple one. She has whipped up a super-sticky birdlime to coat Buckshaw's chimneys. This is intended to prove her hypothesis, much derided by her elder sisters Ophelia and Daphne, that Father Christmas exists. If he does exist, Flavia expects to find him adhered to the chimney on Christmas Eve and to join all of the house and surrounding countryside in admiration of the stupendous fireworks display Flavia has planned with all the firepower she has managed to cook up in her lab.
Before all that, though, there is another exciting event. The vicar has persuaded lead actors Phyllis Wyvern and Desmond Duncan to help raise funds for the church roof project by enacting the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet in the great hall to an audience from the nearby village of Bishop's Lacey. During the thrilling show, a blizzard rages on outside, snowing in the villagers. That means we have a normally nearly-empty Buckshaw now full to the rafters with the family, the film crew and half the village. A perfect setup for a murder, which obligingly occurs.
Of course it's Flavia who discovers the body, and she is determined to crack the case, despite the usual dire warnings from Inspector Hewitt to stay strictly away from the murder scene and refrain from conducting her own investigation. Flavia's sleuthing results in a dramatic Christmas Eve resolution in which the case is solved and Flavia's chemistry experiments play out in wildly unanticipated ways.
If you're not familiar with Flavia de Luce, she's a little like Eloise: endlessly curious, irrepressible, no fashion plate, and a constant trial to her relations and acquaintances, but endearing in spite of it all. I also think of her in some ways as the anti-Harry Potter. Supremely confident in her intellectual powers and chemistry expertise, where Harry is self-doubting and hopeless at potions (at least until he finds that book . . . ). But they have some things in common, too. Both have suffered a parental loss that affects them deeply; Harry being an orphan and Flavia having lost her mother and living with a distant, heartbroken father. Both are tormented by other children; Harry by his cousin and by Draco Malfoy, and Flavia by her sisters. And, most important, both are featured players in a series of books enjoyed by adults.
I enjoyed reading this fourth installment in the Flavia de Luce series. Alan Bradley is skilled at characterization and setting his scenes. In this entry in the series, he subtly advances the background plot of Flavia's mother's loss and Flavia's difficult relationship with her sisters. He's not as strong at mystery plotting. In the end, his whodunnits tend to resolve themselves more than to be solved through hard evidence and deduction. But the charm of the books generally overcomes this weakness. Anyone who enjoys a lighter mystery should give the series a try. It's not necessary to read the series in order, but if you would prefer to do that, here they are:
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Novel
A Red Herring Without Mustard: A Flavia de Luce Novel
I Am Half-Sick of Shadows: A Flavia de Luce Novel
As always, Flavia is also deeply occupied with various experiments in her fully-equipped chemistry laboratory, originally outfitted by her uncle Tar. At the moment, her chief experiment is a fairly simple one. She has whipped up a super-sticky birdlime to coat Buckshaw's chimneys. This is intended to prove her hypothesis, much derided by her elder sisters Ophelia and Daphne, that Father Christmas exists. If he does exist, Flavia expects to find him adhered to the chimney on Christmas Eve and to join all of the house and surrounding countryside in admiration of the stupendous fireworks display Flavia has planned with all the firepower she has managed to cook up in her lab.
Before all that, though, there is another exciting event. The vicar has persuaded lead actors Phyllis Wyvern and Desmond Duncan to help raise funds for the church roof project by enacting the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet in the great hall to an audience from the nearby village of Bishop's Lacey. During the thrilling show, a blizzard rages on outside, snowing in the villagers. That means we have a normally nearly-empty Buckshaw now full to the rafters with the family, the film crew and half the village. A perfect setup for a murder, which obligingly occurs.
Of course it's Flavia who discovers the body, and she is determined to crack the case, despite the usual dire warnings from Inspector Hewitt to stay strictly away from the murder scene and refrain from conducting her own investigation. Flavia's sleuthing results in a dramatic Christmas Eve resolution in which the case is solved and Flavia's chemistry experiments play out in wildly unanticipated ways.
If you're not familiar with Flavia de Luce, she's a little like Eloise: endlessly curious, irrepressible, no fashion plate, and a constant trial to her relations and acquaintances, but endearing in spite of it all. I also think of her in some ways as the anti-Harry Potter. Supremely confident in her intellectual powers and chemistry expertise, where Harry is self-doubting and hopeless at potions (at least until he finds that book . . . ). But they have some things in common, too. Both have suffered a parental loss that affects them deeply; Harry being an orphan and Flavia having lost her mother and living with a distant, heartbroken father. Both are tormented by other children; Harry by his cousin and by Draco Malfoy, and Flavia by her sisters. And, most important, both are featured players in a series of books enjoyed by adults.
I enjoyed reading this fourth installment in the Flavia de Luce series. Alan Bradley is skilled at characterization and setting his scenes. In this entry in the series, he subtly advances the background plot of Flavia's mother's loss and Flavia's difficult relationship with her sisters. He's not as strong at mystery plotting. In the end, his whodunnits tend to resolve themselves more than to be solved through hard evidence and deduction. But the charm of the books generally overcomes this weakness. Anyone who enjoys a lighter mystery should give the series a try. It's not necessary to read the series in order, but if you would prefer to do that, here they are:
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Novel
A Red Herring Without Mustard: A Flavia de Luce Novel
I Am Half-Sick of Shadows: A Flavia de Luce Novel
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Chance Lee
Format:Hardcover
I liked this one, but not as much as the others in the series. It took a while to get going.
The entire book is set in Buckshaw, Flavia's epic estate. This incredible mansion would be a fine enough setting, but I missed Flavia zipping around Bishop's Lacey on her trusty bicycle, Gladys. At the half-way point, the residents Bishop's Lacey comes to Buckshaw for a show. Ah-ha, Flavia doesn't need to travel to Bishop's Lacey; Bishop's Lacey will come to her! This is when I finally became invested in the book, only to be a little disappointed when the quirky residents are under-utilized. I've wanted Flavia to have another chat with the town's little gossip maven, Maximillion Brock, ever since her debut novel.
Many of the new and returning characters are also haphazardly sprinkled about. Two or three of movie crew seem to exist purely to lurk around and be shady suspects, and a returning character from The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag makes an appearance that serves absolutely no narrative purpose.
Flavia does spend a bit of the novel pre-occupied with capturing Saint Nicholas. Her brilliant scheme to trap him--of course involving an ingenious chemical mixture--reminds us that despite her brilliant scientific and deduction skills, Flavia is still an eleven-year-old girl.
There are some funny and tender moments, but this holiday Flavia is more of a delightful stocking stuffer than a filling Christmas feast.
The entire book is set in Buckshaw, Flavia's epic estate. This incredible mansion would be a fine enough setting, but I missed Flavia zipping around Bishop's Lacey on her trusty bicycle, Gladys. At the half-way point, the residents Bishop's Lacey comes to Buckshaw for a show. Ah-ha, Flavia doesn't need to travel to Bishop's Lacey; Bishop's Lacey will come to her! This is when I finally became invested in the book, only to be a little disappointed when the quirky residents are under-utilized. I've wanted Flavia to have another chat with the town's little gossip maven, Maximillion Brock, ever since her debut novel.
Many of the new and returning characters are also haphazardly sprinkled about. Two or three of movie crew seem to exist purely to lurk around and be shady suspects, and a returning character from The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag makes an appearance that serves absolutely no narrative purpose.
Flavia does spend a bit of the novel pre-occupied with capturing Saint Nicholas. Her brilliant scheme to trap him--of course involving an ingenious chemical mixture--reminds us that despite her brilliant scientific and deduction skills, Flavia is still an eleven-year-old girl.
There are some funny and tender moments, but this holiday Flavia is more of a delightful stocking stuffer than a filling Christmas feast.
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
There is plenty to love in this installment of Flavia de Luce's adventures, especially if you are her existing fan. "I Am Half-Sick of Shadows" is a Christmas story, with a great infusion of some new blood, which is a must for any series focusing on such a tiny place as Bishop's Lacey. Flavia's father is forced to rent out Buckshaw to a movie company to film its new feature. When the star of the movie is found murdered, Flavia is on full alert. Now she has two Christmas cases on her hands - the murder and her project to confirm the existence of Santa. Whatever you liked about the previous books in the series, is all there - the humor, the charm, the interesting characters, the mischief.
However, I feel that in their zeal to deliver "I Am Half-Sick of Shadows" just in time for Christmas, Bradley and his gang of editors and agents forgot to pay attention to the quality of this novel. To put it bluntly, it is half-baked. Besides the wonky motives of the killer, far-fetching backstories of some characters, multiple pointless cameo appearances of characters from previous books and half-hearted at best red herrings, this book lacks simple continuity. The part that especially stood out for me (unless, of course, I misunderstood it) was when a certain character in one chapter is sent out in a snowstorm to fetch a couple of people, in the next chapter is sitting in the Buckshaw's living room chatting and in the next is just coming from outside with the couple (if you are curious, I am talking about Sergeant Graves in chapters 13-15). How is it possible that an editor of this book didn't notice this discrepancy, if even I, a person absolutely unobservant, did? As usual in such cases, I am pretty sure nobody had read this manuscript before rushing it into print.
In spite of its many obvious flaws, the book was still entertaining and funny. I just hope the next one is edited and constructed better.
However, I feel that in their zeal to deliver "I Am Half-Sick of Shadows" just in time for Christmas, Bradley and his gang of editors and agents forgot to pay attention to the quality of this novel. To put it bluntly, it is half-baked. Besides the wonky motives of the killer, far-fetching backstories of some characters, multiple pointless cameo appearances of characters from previous books and half-hearted at best red herrings, this book lacks simple continuity. The part that especially stood out for me (unless, of course, I misunderstood it) was when a certain character in one chapter is sent out in a snowstorm to fetch a couple of people, in the next chapter is sitting in the Buckshaw's living room chatting and in the next is just coming from outside with the couple (if you are curious, I am talking about Sergeant Graves in chapters 13-15). How is it possible that an editor of this book didn't notice this discrepancy, if even I, a person absolutely unobservant, did? As usual in such cases, I am pretty sure nobody had read this manuscript before rushing it into print.
In spite of its many obvious flaws, the book was still entertaining and funny. I just hope the next one is edited and constructed better.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Genius
I am 23 years old, a writer and English literature major, and I absolutely loved this entire series. Read more
Published 6 days ago by Susan Schwend
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Love Flavia!!
The series just keeps getting better and better. Despite the fact that the murder in this book didn't happen until the book was almost halfway done, I didn't mind. Read more
Published 20 days ago by Susan G. Arnold
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chemical Mystery
Enjoyed the application of chemistry to a mystery from the view of an 11 year old. I would like to have known more about the family background.
Published 20 days ago by John Ristaino
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another delightful mystery from Alan Bradley
All of the Flavia De Luce novels by Alan Bradley are brilliant and entertaining. De Luce in latin means "Of Light" and Ms. Read more
Published 21 days ago by Gail N.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Again
Another winner in the series. I could recommend this book to anyone. Young and old will relate to the family relationships and enjoy the process to solve the mystery.
Published 25 days ago by S Inman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply the best author l've discovered in years.
If books were edible, Bradley's Flavia de Luce mysteries would be my favorite food, and this one would be the most perfectly prepared so far. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Lisa Fairleigh
5.0 out of 5 stars
De Luce Novels are great fun
This is another install of Flavia's adventures in the sleepy english village. Another murder and her help with the police of course is begrudgingly taken. Read more
Published 1 month ago by S. Brainard
4.0 out of 5 stars
de Luce Christmas
I like it that Flavia recognizes that one of her sisters anyway cares about her. Scary scene on the roof and a nasty injury complicate this new tale.
Published 1 month ago by CATHERINE SWAN
5.0 out of 5 stars
Flavia de Luce
What can you say? Flavia is an absolutely wonderful character!alan really does get inside the head of a 10 year old. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Patti LaValley
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best so far
The characters continue to develop, particularly the relationship among the sisters. The story was a good vehicle to explore the struggle faced by the de Luce family to deal wih... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Priceless
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