The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

A Flavia de Luce Mystery

By: Alan Bradley

Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle

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.©2009 Alan Bradley; (P)2009 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“While Flavia De Luce is winning your heart, she may also be poisoning your tea. She's the most wickedly funny sleuth in years, brilliant, unpredictable, unflappable—and only eleven. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie offers the freshest new voice in mystery yet.”—Charles Todd, author of The Ian Rutledge series

“A wickedly clever story, a dead true and original voice, and an English country house in the summer: Alexander McCall Smith meets Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Please, please, Mr. Bradley, tell me we'll be seeing Flavia again soon?”—Laurie R. King, author of the Mary Russell series

“Alan Bradley’s marvelous book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, is a fantastic read, a winner. Flavia walks right off the page and follows me through my day. I can hardly wait for the next book. Bravo!”—Louise Penny, author of Still Life

"Alan Bradley brews a bubbly beaker of fun in his devilishly clever, wickedly amusing debut mystery, launching an eleven-year-old heroine with a passion for chemistry–and revenge! What a delightful, original book!"—Carolyn Hart, author of the Death on Demand series

“Utterly charming! Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce proves to be one of the most precocious, resourceful, and well, just plain dangerous, heroines around. Evildoers—and big sisters—beware!”—Lisa Gardner, author of Say Goodbye

"Flavia is an engagingly smart new sleuth with a flair for bringing out the child–and the detective–in all of us."—Christopher Fowler, author of the Peculiar Crimes Unit series

“At once precocious and endearing, Flavia is a marvelous character. Quirkily appealing, this is definitely a crime novel with a difference.”—Choice Magazine, “Book of the Month”

“Brilliant, irresistible and incorrigible, Flavia has a long future ahead of her…Bradley’s mystery debut is a standout.“—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Fun for the reader . . . Fans of Louise Fitzhugh's iconic Harriet the Spy will welcome 11-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce, the heroine of . . . Bradley's rollicking debut.”—Publishers Weekly

“A delightful whodunit . . . hilarious, eccentric and mischievous.”—Tangled Web, UK

“Oh how astonishing and pleasing is genuine originality! . . . This is a book which triumphantly succeeds in its objectives of charming and delighting. And on top of that it is genuinely original . . . we may well be talking in a few years about one of the great voices and great series of mystery fiction. I resort to—and it is very, very rarely that I use this—that old cliché, a must-read.”—Reviewing the Evidence

“Delightfully entertaining.”—The Guardian, UK

very enjoyable

I really enjoyed this book (if you couldn't tell from my title). I probably would have given it a 4.5 if it had been possible because the mystery wasn't super tight, but leaned to the 5.

It was well narrated. Many have complained about this, but I think each voice is perfectly done. The heroin is a 9 year old precocious aristocrat. It may be that those who found the voice annoying really would find the heroin annoying if they were to meet her in real life. If that is the case you probably shouldn't be listen to this series. On the contrary I found that they nature of the characters and their world was the most intriguing part of the story. Flavia behaves as a precocious 9 year old would. Her area of interest just happens to be chemistry. In the world of high mindedness and proper English living it would not be that unusual.

The mystery is done very much in the vein of Sherlock Holmes where details are everything and the pieces slowly start to fall into place by the end of the story. Again, the mystery does not have the tight reveal of some books, but is well done none the less.

Over all I would highly recommend the book for the character development, its fun flair, the narration, and the way the story transports you to the period in which it is written.

Ah, Flavia, my new heroine!

A delightful beginning to what will most probably be the best "new cozy series." I thoroughly enjoyed this story & look forward to the next one. And --- I'm not a teen but in my 80's! Flavia is smart - love all the chemistry & physics references - and at the same time she is still a young girl. She has to deal with a disinterested father & 2 older "meany" sisters. Yea for Flavia - cheer her on!

Charming Heroine, Fabulous Narration!

The 11-year-old protagonist in this story, Flavia, is intrepid, hilarious, brilliant, and delightful. Jayne Entwhistle does a spectacular job of capturing her quirky, humorous personality, and the story races along with more than a little intrique and suspense. Most of the charm is in the heroine's perspective of the world and how she approaches the thorny problem of solving a murder and clearing her father's name. 1950s England springs to life through Flavia's eyes and her adventures, both at home with her trying sisters, and in the world at large detecting crime, are captivating. Highly recommended!

A Precocious Eleven Year Old with a Mystery!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie to be better than the print version?

Yes, to me it was. There is a lot of extraneous similies and analogies in the book that I found annoying in print but in audio, you were privy to a very intelligent, eccentrically educated young girl in 1950s England. Fairly well-to-do and access to ancestral libraries and chemistry lab, this child has an enormous amount of knowledge. Her internal voice is very amusing and has a depth of insight.....even when she is wrong. Flavia is an original.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie?

Without indulging in a spoiler, there was a very suspenseful set of circumstances in the end. I drove several extra miles to finish the chapter.

Have you listened to any of Jayne Entwistle’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but she certainly brought the prose alive. Jayne Entwistle made Flavia, her sisters, and all the characters be come vibrant, eccentric, human beings. I did go buy others in the series and also another series that Entwistle narrates.

Any additional comments?

This reminds me of those classic children's books where children are left to their own devices. Driven by curiosity and a sense of adventure, the children solve problems and mysteries have fantastic and dangerous adventures.

very good book!

Love the voices of each character, A lot of similes and it's easily imagined. Good character build-up and plot.