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    The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery, Book 1
    Unavailable
    The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery, Book 1
    Unavailable
    The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery, Book 1
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery, Book 1

    Written by Alan Bradley

    Narrated by Jayne Entwistle

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In his wickedly brilliant first novel, Debut Dagger Award winner Alan Bradley introduces one of the most singular and engaging heroines in recent fiction: eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison. It is the summer of 1950-and a series of inexplicable events has struck Buckshaw, the decaying English mansion that Flavia's family calls home. A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath. For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. "I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn't. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life."

    To Flavia the investigation is the stuff of science: full of possibilities, contradictions, and connections. Soon her father, a man raising his three daughters alone, is seized, accused of murder. And in a police cell, during a violent thunderstorm, Colonel de Luce tells his daughter an astounding story-of a schoolboy friendship turned ugly, of a priceless object that vanished in a bizarre and brazen act of thievery, of a Latin teacher who flung himself to his death from the school's tower thirty years before. Now Flavia is armed with more than enough knowledge to tie two distant deaths together, to examine new suspects, and begin a search that will lead her all the way to the King of England himself. Of this much the girl is sure: her father is innocent of murder-but protecting her and her sisters from something even worse…

    An enthralling mystery, a piercing depiction of class and society, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a masterfully told tale of deceptions-and a rich literary delight.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 28, 2009
    ISBN9780739384312
    Unavailable
    The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery, Book 1

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    Reviews for The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

    4/5

    3,312 ratings411 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Flavia is certainly an interesting character - precocious, curious and bold. Throughout the book I had moments when her offbeat wit was enjoyable and other times when I simply didn't like it at all. By the end, there still weren't any warm-fuzzies towards her, but I did learn to accept her. Even so, following Flavia around to solve the mystery was engaging. Her knowledge of chemistry added a unique flavor to the book and mixed in with the plot nicely. The book has been well-received by other readers.Originally posted on: Thoughts of Joy
    • 4/5
      Full review on my blog.This is a pleasing little murder mystery by Alan Bradbury set in rural England during the early 1950s. You've got to love Flavia de Luce. She is something akin to an 11 year old female Sherlock Holmes before he honed his deductive skills. She's brilliant but still too full of her own cleverness to spot enough of her mistakes early enough to stay out of trouble. Her head is also full of a riot of information, jostling for attention so much that the important clues sometimes get lost in the chaos.Stamp collecting is at the heart of Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Flavia's father is very keen on them. The mystery begins when a dead snipe is found with a Penny Black pinned to its beak. Later Flavia discovers a man expiring in the cucumber patch. Her father is arrested and accused of the murder. It is up to Flavia to clear his name using her extraordinary brain, her genius for chemistry and sheer pluck. More of these books featuring Flavia and co are planned. I'll be adding them to my to-read list forthwith.
    • 4/5
      Flavia de Luce is a genius living with 2 sisters, who she does not get along with in the least, her father who does not like to leave the house, a cook who is not a very good one according to Flavia and her father's valet/chauffeur/gardner etc. Flavia is a genius in the area of chemistry and is often experimenting on her sisters. There is a murder at their house and her father is arrested for the crime. Can Flavia solve the murder and free her father. A fun read.
    • 4/5
      3.75 stars11-year old Flavia de Luce loves chemistry and is very interested in poisons. When she discovers someone who has been murdered in her yard, she sets out to figure out what happened. I listened to the audio and I loved the narrator. I also loved Flavia. I loved her character and the way "she" (or the author) described things. Despite all this, my mind did wander at times, so I did miss things, so I'm rating the book a 3.5, "good", with an extra .25 stars for the brilliant narrator, Jane Entwhistle.
    • 3/5
      I found this vaguely charming and vaguely horrifying in equal measures. I love Flavia but can't quite believe in her and having lived (a bit later) in post WWII times and find the environment she moves through more quirky than representational. And the murderer seems an add-on to spare the local population from being decimated in the event of a series.
    • 3/5
      Flavia is a little too impressed with her own intelligence and probably shouldn't be hiding evidence from police officers, but it does get a lot better around half way through.
    • 2/5

      This and other reviews can be found on Reading Between Classes

      Cover Impressions: I really like the simplicity of this cover. The symbols are very fitting and the color really makes it stand out on the shelf.

      The Gist: Flavia de Luce is a remarkable 11 year old. She is fascinated by Chemistry, particularly poisons. With a dead bird on her doorstep and a dead body in her garden, Flavia endeavors to put her prodigious wealth of knowledge to the test and solve not one, but two murder mysteries.

      Review: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie felt a little like an overly large piece of dessert, delicious and comforting for the first few forkfuls but sickly sweet after one bite too many. Flavia de Luce is overly precocious and more than a little too intelligent to be believable. her ability to wax poetically about any subject, from history to music to lock picking, made her feel much older than her 11 years and tended to distract from the plot. Her manner of speaking felt like it fit with a time period far removed from the 1950's and her level of freedom to roam the countryside without a word of caution from any adults was concerning. I enjoyed Flavia's quick wit and the tumultuous relationship with her sisters but failed to see even a spark of caring to balance out the ire between them.

      The plot of this novel centered around two murder mysteries which were richly woven through time and included elements of illusion and sleight of hand. Ultimately however, the identity of the killer was a little too predictable and I would have preferred a nice plot twist. Secrets were often revealed through long winded speeches and details were repeated endlessly as Flavia mulled them over in her mind. There were moments when she was discovering a connection that I was certain she had actually made 10 or 15 pages earlier. The flashes of chemical knowledge that were of great interest to me as a Science teacher, became more and more complicated as the plot wore on. If my eyes were glazing over at these descriptions I can only imagine a person with little to no Scientific background would skim or abandon these sections altogether. The writing itself tended to be a little long winded and I found myself losing interest during several rambling sessions.

      I do not believe that I will continue with this series. While I enjoyed the IDEA of Flavia de Luce, pint sized chemist and part time investigator, I could not connect with the way that the character was executed and I think my time might be better spent with other child wonders.

      Teaching/Parental Notes:

      Age:15 and up (for reading level rather than content)
      Gender: Either
      Sex: None
      Violence: Death by poisoning, death by blunt force trauma, kidnapping.
      Inappropriate Language: Damn
      Substance Use/Abuse: Smoking
      Other Issues: Character describes having impersonated a stereotypical Asian man, included use of yellow face paint, pinning of eyes and racist accent.

      Notable Quotables:

      "If there is a thing I truly despise, it is being addressed as 'dearie.' When I write my magnum opus, A Treatise Upon All Poisons, and come to 'Cyanide,' I am going to put under 'Uses' the phrase 'Particularly efficacious in the cure of those who call one 'Dearie'"
    • 3/5
      It took me 16 days to get through this 374 page book... that’s ridiculous, since I normally read a book in 2-3 days. I don’t know why, but I just wasn’t all that in to it. I liked it when I was reading it, but when I put it down I had almost no desire to start again. I finally switched to audio and managed to finish it on my walk today. Flavia is great, and the mystery was interesting enough. It could be that cozy mysteries are not for me.
    • 5/5
      This book could very well be the Harry Potter of YA mystery books. Set in 1950 England, the book's heroine, Flavia de Luce is sure to steal your heart. A precocious eleven-year-old with a love of chemistry, Flavia finds herself in the midst of a murder mystery. She sets out to solve the crime and clear her Father's name. In the process, she discovers more about her parents and about herself than she had bargained for.The writing is excellent and flows with great ease. The Advance Reading Copy I received was 370 pages long, but moved at such a quick pace that it felt half that. This book was one that lingered in my thoughts even after I'd pause and put it down. The humor is perfectly adapted to be well in line with Flavia's character. The mystery unfolds expertly, never divulging too much, keeping the reader interested, and all the way seeming absolutely reasonable. I dislike crime novels that string a plot along until the mystery is solved and everything tidied up in the last 5 pages. This book is nothing of the sort. Bradley delivers snippets of information in small doses, so the reader feels that they, along with Flavia, are uncovering the truths in a natural way. I, for one, cannot wait for Bradley's next book featuring more adventures with Flavia.The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a great read, one I'm positive that both my mother and my 11-year-old nephew will enjoy as much as I did. I am getting this in the mail right out to them, so that they may be entranced with Flavia and Bradley's writing.
    • 4/5
      Though I have read other books in this series this book is the first in the series. It did a good job of showing the main characters off and was very good but they get better.
    • 4/5
      I kept seeing posts about this book and the series on Litsy so I decided to take the plunge and give it a try. It didn't disappoint. I really enjoy Flavia's character. The story was a fun and easy read. I can't wait to dive into the next book.
    • 4/5
      I love Flavia. A fun mystery set after WWII in the U.K. - Flavia is a geek girl chemist who solves crimes. Worth a read.
    • 4/5
      While I don't technically consider myself a mystery-lover, I really enjoyed this book a lot! I listened to it on audio, which probably contributed quite a lot to my enjoyment. The narrator was delightful! I suspected that I knew the answer to the mystery quite early on--but I was wrong! That pleased me to no end--I don't want to figure out the mystery way ahead of the protagonist! However, I hesitate to give five full stars to this, simply because Flavia (our main character) is SO into chemistry that it felt a little too "sciency" for my tastes. I mean, it made complete sense to the story... I just tend to tune out when things get really technical. Other than that, Flavia is quite an enjoyable character, and she's brilliant as well as mischievous and funny. She sounds like just the kind of 11 year old girl I'd have been friends with at that age.
    • 4/5
      Probably one of the most entertaining books I've read in years. Inside all of us who grew up living inside books, our heads and our imaginations Flavia is part of all of us.
    • 4/5
      This book came highly recommended by several people and I really enjoyed it. It blends mystery with social history and a very astute but believable 11 year old narrator. As a mystery fan, I could have wished the mystery plot were a little "tighter" but the story is completely engaging and I will definitely read more from the series.
    • 5/5
      Recommended for anyone who has enjoyed Laurie King's Mary Russell series and/or Harriot the Spy!
      Lots of fun, super fast but enjoyable, not a forgotten blur (you know who you are!).
    • 4/5
      "I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn't. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life." This according to the narrator, eleven year old Flavia de Luce regarding finding a dead body in the cucumber patch.

      Delightful. The style is quirky and fun, with a real relish for language and the period. I'm going to say this is a three and a half star read. Agh, this rating system is difficult! :) I may change my mind. (this is this month's group read and discussion.)
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this story. I loved the character Bradley created with Flavia. As a gifted teacher, I saw bits and pieces of my students in her. She was highly intelligent and sometimes got boastful about what she knew. She interacted more with adults than with her own peers. And because she was truly 11 and had the understanding of a child, jumped to a few wrong conclusions with her deductions. This is definitely a series I will continue reading.
    • 3/5
      The first in a series of nine books, this is a lighthearted murder mystery revolving around two highly prized postage stamps that collectors would and others do, die for. Flavia is not your usual everyday eleven year old girl, having a almost obsessive interest in chemistry, particularly poisons and their antidotes. Set in 1950's England it reads like a slightly more grown up version of a Famous Five novel. There's no violence, well nothing gruesome, the murder details won't make you cringe and scattered throughout are some delightfully written descriptive phrases. I won't be rushing out and get the next book, however if I found myself at a loose end for something to read it would be a good book to take on holidays.
    • 4/5
      Pippi Longstocking meets Miss Marple
    • 4/5
      I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through Library Thing's Member Giveaway program.Overall, I found "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" to be fun little murder mystery. The book did start off a bit slow, but as other reviewers have noted, it definitely picks up as you go along. The actual mystery plot initially seems rather simple, but the circumstances are actually quite complicated. That said, I did not find myself getting lost in details at all.Previous reviewers have mentioned that their reception of the book itself was in part reliant on their reception of the 11-year-old protagonist, Flavia de Luce. I myself happened like Flavia, possibly because she reminded me a bit of myself growing up-a nosy, know-it-all science geek who faces the torment of an older sister.While I enjoyed the book overall, there were some weak points in my opinion. There are a lot of infodumps found in the story that disrupt some of the flow of the overall narrative. However, Bradley manages to keep these both clear and interesting; I was actually intrigued by the history of a postage stamp. There were also some loose ends and unanswered questions; the motive for one of the murders is never stated.A good read overall.
    • 5/5
      Delightful!
    • 5/5
      Cute and amusing.
    • 4/5
      Unexpected. Excellent. Delightful.
    • 5/5
      Delightful!
    • 5/5
      Brillant! Flavia is Awesome!
    • 4/5
      Rather an easy read. Not sure what to expect, but this was entertaining and not to taxing story.
    • 3/5
      This is the first in the Flavia de Luce mystery series and it was entertaining for Anglophile readers. The story revolves around a couple of rare Victorian-era stamps and some avid philatelists of questionable ethics.First off: Flavia is not one whit believable as a child, but she is a charming creation. It's lovely to see a little girl more interested in science than in boys and cosmetics. She reminds me of a British Harriet Welsch, and while the mystery was well-crafted, the pleasure of the book is all about Flavia.
    • 2/5
      This is something that maybe should have appealed to me, as it is a bit different, a bit quirky, and has a strong female character. Unfortunately, far from finding this a cozy mystery I think it is meant to be, I found it slightly painful reading. All the characters were unpleasant and deeply unhappy, and the relationship between Flavia and her sisters seemed quite bitter.
    • 5/5
      This delightful mystery, which is set in post-war England in 1950, features Flavia de Luce, heroine, chemist, sleuth, youngest child, and clever eleven year old. It will appeal to anyone who enjoys a well-written story, with well-developed characters, and an engaging plot. And, it will have a special appeal to history buffs, anglophiles, philatelists, and amateur scientists. It has my highest possible recommendation. I can't wait for the next book in what I hope will become a series.