As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust

A Flavia de Luce Novel

De: Alan Bradley

Narrado por: Jayne Entwistle

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Flavia de Luce—“part Harriet the Spy, part Violet Baudelaire from Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” (The New York Times Book Review)—takes her remarkable sleuthing prowess to the unexpectedly unsavory world of Canadian boarding schools in this captivating mystery.

Banished! is how twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce laments her predicament, when her father and Aunt Felicity ship her off to Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy, the boarding school that her mother, Harriet, once attended across the sea in Canada. The sun has not yet risen on Flavia’s first day in captivity when a gift lands at her feet. Flavia being Flavia, a budding chemist and sleuth, that gift is a charred and mummified body, which tumbles out of a bedroom chimney. Now, while attending classes, making friends (and enemies), and assessing the school’s stern headmistress and faculty (one of whom is an acquitted murderess), Flavia is on the hunt for the victim’s identity and time of death, as well as suspects, motives, and means. Rumors swirl that Miss Bodycote’s is haunted, and that several girls have disappeared without a trace. When it comes to solving multiple mysteries, Flavia is up to the task—but her true destiny has yet to be revealed.

Praise for As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust

“Flavia de Luce [is] perhaps contemporary crime fiction’s most original character—to say she is Pippi Longstocking with a Ph.D. in chemistry (speciality: poisons) barely begins to describe her.”—Maclean’s

“Another treat for readers of all ages . . . [As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust] maintains the high standards Bradley set from the start.”—Booklist

“Exceptional . . . [The] intriguing setup only gets better, and Bradley makes Miss Bodycote’s a suitably Gothic setting for Flavia’s sleuthing. Through it all, her morbid narrative voice continues to charm.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Even after all these years, Flavia de Luce is still the world’s greatest adolescent British chemist/busybody/sleuth.”—The Seattle Times

“Plot twists come faster than Canadian snowfall. . . . Bradley’s sense of observation is as keen as gung-ho scientist Flavia’s. . . . The results so far are seven sparkling Flavia de Luce mysteries.”—Library Journal

Reseñas de la Crítica

Praise for As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust

“Flavia de Luce [is] perhaps contemporary crime fiction’s most original character—to say she is Pippi Longstocking with a Ph.D. in chemistry (speciality: poisons) barely begins to describe her.”—Maclean’s

“Another treat for readers of all ages . . . [As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust] maintains the high standards [Alan] Bradley set from the start.”—Booklist

“Exceptional . . . [The] intriguing setup only gets better, and Bradley makes Miss Bodycote’s a suitably Gothic setting for Flavia’s sleuthing. Through it all, her morbid narrative voice continues to charm.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Even after all these years, Flavia de Luce is still the world’s greatest adolescent British chemist/busybody/sleuth.”—The Seattle Times

“Plot twists come faster than Canadian snowfall. . . . Bradley’s sense of observation is as keen as gung-ho scientist Flavia’s. . . . The results so far are seven sparkling Flavia de Luce mysteries.”—Library Journal

“A rattling good ‘girls’ own adventure’ yarn with an extensive cast of characters and suspects . . . When all is revealed, the links, misunderstandings and secrecy have a satisfying click.”—Winnipeg Free Press

“A delightful installment in the series!”—LibraryReads

Acclaim for Alan Bradley’s beloved Flavia de Luce novels, winners of the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award, Barry Award, Agatha Award, Macavity Award, Dilys Winn Award, and Arthur Ellis Award

“If ever there were a sleuth who’s bold, brilliant, and, yes, adorable, it’s Flavia de Luce.”—USA Today

“Part Harriet the Spy, part Violet Baudelaire from Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Flavia is a pert and macabre pragmatist.”—The New York Times Book Review

“This idiosyncratic young heroine continues to charm.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Delightful . . . a combination of Eloise and Sherlock Holmes.”—The Boston Globe

It doesn't get much better than this!

Alan Bradley and Jane Entwistle are a magical combination. This series is without a doubt my most favorite in a long time.

More Flavia Now!

It is sometimes tricky to distinguish the voices of different characters, and I was still puzzled once the book was over, but I think Mr Bradley wanted me to feel that way. I couldn't stop listening. How does he come up with these plots?

Darling story

Please don't stop writing these delightful novels. Love them! Hard to put down. Best start with first one.

Excellent pairing as always!

Entwhistle and Bradley are a match made in heaven. You can't go wrong with the series. Marvelous voice in text and performance.

Wonderfully entertaining

I was so glad to see another adventure. I love and enjoy these books and the narrator. Very enjoyable. Please keep writing.

Very enjoyable

Although one might envision the beginning of a Hogwarts-like adventure for Flavia, the story winds differently through a particularly intricate murder mystery.

Loved it.

Jayne Entwhistle, as Flavia DeLuce, is perfection. The story, like so many of the Flavian Deluce stories, is a mixture of comedy, innocence, chemistry, and smarts. This was actually one of my favorite Flavia Deluce books. I have read all of them, and one or two didn't quite hit the nail on the head, but I did enjoy them nonetheless. Reading some of the reviews on audible, I fully expected not to like this particular book as much as I liked some of the others, but I was happily mistaken. Alan Bradley and Flavia hit it out of the park again, and in different geographic circumstances.

The second time was the charm

The first time that I read this book I was mad that the setting and characters of Merrie old England in Buckshaw were missing. I thought they would never return in their familiar form. But in later books we revert back to the familiar formula of the earlier books. The second reading and listening delighted me because I got to see Flavia in a different light.
Don't call this series a "cozy mystery" series because the books are are too good, too extraordinary to be demeaned by this term. If you are not acquainted with Flavis De Luce you must try them if you love a great mystery story!

Lovely Flavia. Fantastic job.

I love this character and I eagerly await every new installment. But this one felt a bit more hastily contrived than its predecessors...as though Mr. Bradley couldn't wait to get Flavia back to Buckshaw (for which I really can't blame him).

Chimney sweepers come to dust

This is a great book. I like to have it read to me at night in bed, putting it on an hour to stop. I wish there were longer times as I have occasionally forgotten to put a time off and it runs along to the end and I am asleep by then and missed a great deal and have to go back many chapters.