Flavia de Luce is in her favorite spot, her chemistry lab, when a note arrives at the hands of Dogger, proclaiming Murder! and asking that she come immediately to Anson House, the boy’s school which her father attended in his younger days.

Never one to resist a mystery, or a dead body, Flavia summons Gladys and sets off immediately.

Upon her arrival she discovers a corpse in a bathtub and a very upset young boy.

Will she solve the mystery before the body is discovered by the authorities?

This is Flavia de Luce we are talking about.

Alan Bradley’s short story, featuring the beloved young sleuth, was released today and it is a nice little appetizer to consume while waiting for the newest novel, As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust, due for release on January 6th.

Continue reading The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse ~Alan Bradley →

The Long Way Home is the tenth novel in author Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache series. Though each novel has had its own self-contained mystery, there is an intricate ongoing story that has carried through the series, major elements of which were tied up in the previous novel.

I mention this because it is my policy to be as spoiler-free in my reviews as I possibly can be while trying to give you some sense of my experience with the story. Given that this an ongoing series, it makes it nearly impossible to avoid sharing details that may reveal plot elements from earlier novels. Simply reading the advertising copy for The Long Way Home reveals the course that some of Penny’s characters have taken.

So, you’ve been warned, though I have no intention of discussing major plot points in my review.

I first met Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, his darling wife Reine-Marie, his investigative team and the odd characters who inhabit the quaint Canadian village of Three Pines a couple of years ago. At that time I devoured the first 6 novels one after the other, soon after read seven and eight, and have pounced on the last two volumes during release week.

It is safe to say I am a fan of her work. For those of you who do not want to continue after the jump, I’ll forgo further suspense by revealing that I enjoyed The Long Way Home very much. Although I felt that a few vital elements of the story were rushed in at the end, my overall experience was one of revisiting old friends that I’ve not seen since last August and reveling in our time together. Thank you, Louise Penny.

Continue reading The Long Way Home ~Louise Penny →

The marble tombs that rise on high,
Whose dead in vaulted arches lie,
Whose pillars swell with sculptured stones,
Arms, angels, epitaphs and bones,
These (all the poor remains of state)
Adorn the rich, or praise the great;
Who, while on earth in fame they live,
Are senseless of the fame they give.

A Night-Piece on Death
~Thomas Parnell

It has been nearly five years since I fell in love with an apple-green book cover, and upon bringing it home, fell under the spell of a precocious eleven-year-old girl by the name of Flavia de Luce.

This solitary young girl, with a head for chemistry and a nose for mystery, discovered that she also had the uncanny ability to solve crimes, a discovery made when a dead body turned up outside the broken-down de Luce estate, Buckshaw.

Those familiar with Alan Bradley’s exceptional heroine will know that the further the series progressed, the less focused each novel became on the latest murder in the post-WWII village of Bishop’s Lacey. Instead the focus shifted to the greater overall mystery of the disappearance of Flavia’s mother, Harriet, in a climbing accident overseas, and the subsequent devastation that disappearance had wrought on the financial state and familial relationships of the de Luce family.

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, the sixth novel in the series, brings to a close a number of the ongoing story lines in the de Luce family history, and does so in the inimitable, satisfying fashion one would expect from an Alan Bradley novel.

It is nigh-impossible to discuss the latest Flavia de Luce novel without spoilers, both major and minor. I would suggest those unfamiliar with the series forgo reading any synopses of the works and instead allow themselves the pleasure of meeting young Flavia de Luce, her father, sisters, family cook and retainer and the other interesting characters of Bishop’s Lacey as their adventures unfold. I have awaited each of the subsequent novels released after The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie with great anticipation and have yet to experience anything but pure bliss. Beginning with the fourth novel in the series, I began checking out the audio versions of the books from my local library (while still purchasing each of the lovely hard covers for my own personal library). Jayne Entwistle is a superb narrator and I could not imagine experiencing the life of Flavia de Luce in any way other than through her interpretation.

After the jump my review will commence with potentially spoiler-laden material. If you have not finished The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, please resist the urge to click “more”. I will leave you by adjuring you to spend some time getting to know Flavia de Luce and her family. Alan Bradley has created a very special cozy mystery series, filled with memorable characters, plenty of surprises, and the kind of warm-glow satisfaction that you want to feel every time you turn the final page of a novel.

Continue reading The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches ~Alan Bradley →

I was only vaguely aware of Lee Child and was completely unaware of his creation, Jack Reacher, until late last year when actor Tom Cruise controversially took on the role in the film of the same name. I thought the film, Jack Reacher, was highly entertaining and since then was curious about the books. Recently my wife’s cousin was talking about how much he was enjoying Child’s novels and that reminder sent me to my local library to borrow a copy.

I was immediately swept up into the action and intensity of Child’s novel. From the very start you know this is going to be one interesting story. Child introduces the character and puts him in a situation with a strong emotional hook that not only provides Jack Reacher’s motivation but also provides the hook for the reader to be invested in the actions Jack Reacher chooses to take.

In Killing Floor Jack Reacher, a former military policeman turned drifter, chooses a small town at random and winds up embroiled in a violent murder that later turns out to involve his older brother. The family connection provides Reacher all the impetus he needs to put himself in one dangerous situation after another as he and a handful of local policeman attempt to solve the mystery behind a brutal murder spree.

Though Lee Child’s first Reacher novel has some minor series-debut issues, overall it is an intense, driving narrative that keeps you riveted to the pages until the very end.

MY RATING: 8/10 stars

Continue reading Killing Floor by Lee Child →