Flavia is the precocious youngest daughter of the family de Luce and lives in a large manor house with a long history. The death duties from her mother's death ten years earlier are having a deleterious effect of the family's resources in this novel just after WWII. Her father, the Colonel, decides to rent out the house to a film crew. The film's star, Phyllis Wyvern is a bright star of film and everyone is excited.

In the meantime, Flavia is trying to disprove her two older sisters' assertion that Father Christmas is made-up. Using her chemistry lab, she has concocted an elaborate trap on the roof.

The commotion of the film crew grows when the Vicar cons the two movie stars to enact the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet as a fundraiser for the church roof. The whole village attends and, alas, gets snowed in.

Late that night, Phyllis Wyvern is brutally murdered and Flavia discovers the body. With her curiosity, annoying persistence, she and the police solve the case with an exciting and stunning conclusion. I am always amused at the discussion between the police inspector and Flavia. Each gets it almost-right and when they put their theories together, each one thinks they solved it!

Another delicious audio book with flawless and terrific narration.
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I love hearing Jayne Entwistle's voice and I enjoy Flavia's character. Thus, I keep reading these books hoping that there will be another one that lives up to the first in the series. Sadly, this one doesn't.

Nothing exciting happens until chapter 11 (there are 22 chapters), and when it does, the action is far too spaced out to keep me really interested.

I can't say enough about Jayne Entwistle's talent. She is a wonderful narrator and she was the perfect pick for these novels.

There was nothing particularly gory or disturbing about this one, but there were some expressions that might offend Christians. I did not appreciate the use of the phrases, and this will probably be my last Flavia book.

This is the fourth book in the series but the first that I listened to on Audible. I read the first 3 books and had a different "voice" in my head of what Flavia sounded like, which made it hard for me to listen to the narrator at first. However, she won me over completely with her reading.

The weakest part of the book for me was the story. I felt the mystery was not as well constructed as the previous 3 books. At the same time, I appreciated that the book managed to tie up some loose story lines from the previous books and gave further insights in to Flavia's family dynamics. The back and forth between Flavia's father and her sister's new boyfriend was hilarious.

5 stars for the narrator, 4 stars for the story.

After the first introduction to Flavia you won't be able to tear yourself away. Her youthful exuberance, and quest for knowledge will keep you entertained. The historical reference are a treat for all you British mystery buffs. I think Agatha herself would be delighted in a young brit following in her footsteps. I don't know where Alan has derived his inspiration but he uses just enough detailed description to keep me enthralled while letting my imagination run wild with Flavia. If you didn't really connect with chemistry before you will suddenly be reminded of it everywhere around you. Thank you Alan for entertaining me during my many hours commuting. Anxiously awaiting Flavia's next adventure. Can't imagine where Harriet is??? Highly recommend the Flavia de Luce series to everyone. Already have to my local audible click.

The plot moves along at just the right pace. Very detailed description of events keeps me in the moment. Twists big and small keep me engaged.

I know it's obvious but she becomes Flavia, although she does the other voices justice as well.

All the moments when Flavia tries to engage with her sisters. Their struggle to be a family without their mother tugs at the heartstrings.

Don't miss out.

Yes

Felt like this one was a little formulaic.

Flavia, of course! Dogger a close second & Mrs. Mullet.

I've started to read Alan Bradley's books about Flavia de Luce when the first book was published in Russian. This one I've decided to listen in English.

All the books are an easy reading. Plots are more theatrical than lifelike. But they are complicated enough, so the reader won't guess the ending right after first ten pages - but does not feel fooled in the end because the author played "smart" and was hiding half of the information until the very last scene. Flavia is an interesting main character, a little bit artificial but not completely unbelievable.

"I Am Half-Sick of Shadows" is mostly the same. It was good as background for housework, but hardly a piece for re-listening or re-reading. Also, I'll gladly buy next books in audio-form.

Narration was a little bit slow, so I had to speed it up to 1.25. The voice sometimes was too hight, sometimes reading was too agitated. But, as I said, all the books from this series have the same scent of histrionics, so the narrator's manner of speech fits just well.

(One thing I don't understand is the connection between the plot and the title. May be the explanation was somewhere in the text and I've missed it.)

I love the story, but I don't think I would enjoy the story so much if it weren't for Jayne Entwistle's spot-on performance of Flavia. My only problem with the book is that it is too short.

I've listened to each of the books in this series, in order. I've enjoyed every one of them!

This installment is the weakest of the four so far, in my opinion, but still a great story. The mystery was weaker than the previous three stories. Flavia is still the most delightful, precocious and sassy child! Mr Bradley has to be a genius to be able to write from this child's perspective so well, and make the book so entertaining for every age.

You may be tempted to pass on this series thinking it is a "kid's" book. But trust me, while it is fine for kids to listen to... it is really great for the bigger kids-at-heart! Flavia's snippy interaction with her older sisters might be intentionally overstated, but I'm sure many younger sister's can relate!

The narrator is by far the perfect choice for these books. Her inflections for the devious thoughts and cheeky attitudes of Flavia are perfect! I never have trouble listening or following her narration.

All in all, I recommend this book and series to all ages that love a fun, great mystery!

The narration was perfect as usual. Jayne Entwistle really captures the age and personality of Flavia. While I did enjoy this installment of the the series, I felt it was a bit rushed and the attention to detail was not there. I kept wondering about all the towns people stranded at Buckshaw, All in all a great listen and I am looking forward to the next book.

Yes, I enjoyed all the Flavia stories and this one is no exception. They are great, light-hearted mysteries with plenty of twists and turns.

I enjoy the juxtaposition of Flavia as a youngster who is still wondering about the existence of Santa Claus while also dealing with the very adult matter of a murder mystery. She is a complex and engaging character and I love her adventures.

Jayne really brings all the characters to life in an entirely credible and convincing way.

Absolutely - I never want to turn off a Flavia mystery!

As always, looking forward to the next installment of Flavia's adventures.