At this point, I have read 5 of Bradley’s de Luce novels with 5 to go (not counting the novella). His books are just the right thing to follow a heavy and/or dark read. A bit like cotton candy after chili-cheese fries with jalapenos.

I wondered with the first book how long he could keep coming up with the witty work, but so far, so good. I do think the first book–The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie–had more humor with the crime taking a back seat. This one is the reverse.

Flavia is now 12 years old, but still a genius. Her sisters are not as mean to her, nor she to them. She does spend a lot of time on her bike and in church and her father is to busy with his stamps to worry about little things like working for a living. It is, after all, 1951.

As pleasant a read as anyone could wish.

Mike Lawrence