Synopsis (from the author's website):
Great literary crime detectives aren't always born; they're sometimes discovered, blindfolded and tied up in a dark closet by their nasty older sisters. Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce's bitter home life and vicious sibling war inspires her solitary diversions and "strange talents" tinkering with the chemistry set in the laboratory of their inherited Victorian house, plotting sleuth-like vengeance on Ophelia (17) and Daphne (13), and delving into the forbidden past of her taciturn, widowed father, Colonel de Luce. It comes as no surprise, then, that the material for her next scientific investigation will be the mysterious corpse that she uncovers in the cucumber patch.
Fearless and darkly imaginative, Flavia hurries to solve the murder and acquit her father of suspicion. Following the lead of its clever protagonist, Sweetness is entirely inventive, fast-paced, and quick-witted, with tongue-in-cheek humour that derides the macabre seriousness of subject.
Alan Bradley plants the story deep into the setting of 1950s England, with a portrait of an eccentric home life that is all too wickedly familiar. The story's twists are supported by the time and place as well as the unusual interests of the characters which range from stamp-collecting to making poisons all of which are highly researched and ingeniously incorporated.
Excerpt:
"Where's my lipstick, you little swine? What have you done with it?"
"It's in your drawer," I said. "I noticed it when I purloined your pearls."
In my short life, bracketed by two sisters, I had of necessity become master of the forked tongue.
"It's not in my drawer. I've just looked, and it isn't there."
"Did you put on your specs?" I asked with a smirk.
Feely slammed down the heels of her hands on the table and stormed from the room.
Later, I wrote in my notebook.
Friday, 2nd of June 1950, 9:42 A.M. Subject's appearance normal but grumpy.
(Isn't she always?) Onset may vary from 12 to 72 hours.
I could wait.
My Thoughts:
I decided to take a break from YA literature (especially after the last few disappointments) and went for a mystery fiction novel. However, this too could technically be classified as YA literature. It was a delightful read. Flavia de Luce is eleven years old and an aspiring chemist and apparently detective. Not only is she trying to solve the mystery of the man found dead in the cucumber patch outside their home for which her father has been accused, but she's also got two sisters who are willing to make her life a living nightmare.
The excerpt I chose was written in the first chapter. I about died when I read that. I KNEW at that moment, I was hooked.
There's another part in the book where Flavia is trying to get information from her sister Daphne. Daphne's in the library, perched on a ladder to get to the books high on the shelf. The ladder even has wheels on it. When Daphne ignores Flavia, Flavia decides to torture Daphne for information. She begins pushing the ladder up and down the library as quickly as she can until Daphne succumbs to terror.
Oh, man. I haven't loved a book like this in a long time. A mystery is always exciting, but when you have a delightful narrator--it makes the whole thing THAT much better.
Recommendation: Get it however you can and READ IT NOW!!
Rating: 5/5 stars
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