The Golden Tresses of the Dead: A Flavia de Luce Novel

Flavia de Luce Series, Book 10

By: Alan Bradley

Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle

Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times Best Seller

A finger in a wedding cake is only the beginning in this deliciously shocking mystery featuring Flavia de Luce, “the world’s greatest adolescent British chemist/busybody/sleuth” (The Seattle Times).

Although it is autumn in the small English town of Bishop’s Lacey, the chapel is decked with exotic flowers. Yes, Flavia de Luce’s sister, Ophelia, is at last getting hitched, like a mule to a wagon. “A church is a wonderful place for a wedding”, muses Flavia, “surrounded as it is by the legions of the dead, whose listening bones bear silent witness to every promise made at the altar.” 

Flavia is not your normal 12-year-old girl. An expert in the chemical nature of poisons, she has solved many mysteries, sharpening her considerable detection skills to the point where she had little choice but to turn professional. So Flavia and dependable Dogger, estate gardener and sounding board extraordinaire, set up shop at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, eager to serve - not so simple an endeavor with her odious little moon-faced cousin Undine constantly underfoot. 

But Flavia and Dogger persevere. Little does she know that their first case will be extremely close to home, beginning with an unwelcome discovery in Ophelia’s wedding cake: a human finger. 

Praise for The Golden Tresses of the Dead

“Delightful.... The mysteries in Mr. Bradley’s books are engaging, but the real lure is Ms. de Luce, the irreverent youngster.” (The Wall Street Journal)

“A ghoulish question is at the heart of Bradley’s excellent tenth Flavia de Luce novel.... Bradley, who has few peers at combining fair-play clueing with humor and has fun mocking genre conventions, shows no sign of running out of ideas.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review)

©2019 Alan Bradley (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A winning tenth mystery.” (People)

“Flavia’s over-the-top use of alliteration...and proudly precocious, sesquipedalian vocabulary...along with the thoroughly endearing cast of characters, make this series’ tenth installment a laugh-out-loud winner.” (Booklist, starred review) 

“Flavia de Luce hasn’t lost a sister, she’s gained a case - and what a case..... Perhaps the most consistently hilarious adventure of the alarmingly precocious heroine.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Flavia does it again!

I've listened to every Flavia de Luce novel to date and this one is a good'un. The last couple were not up to Alan Bradley's normal standard, but he's back with this one. The narrator is so perfect for Flavia that I cannot imagine reading the book.

Newest Alan Brady

The newest Flavia de Luce novel is a superb example of Mr Bradley’s ability to speak as a precocious child. The only problem I had is Dogger is beginning to be so much more eloquent . In prior novels Dogger had too many difficulties to have attained the eloquence that is evident in this novel. However because of the wonderful and fully formed relationship that he and Flávia have, I have little trouble accepting it. I can only look forward to the next Installment. Please keep Flavia front and center, Mr Bradley. It is her acceptance and growing understanding that draws the reader.

The best Flavia since “Sweetness at the Bottom...

The team of Flavia and Dogger come into their own for a great team. I felt that some of the Flavia books went looking for some new approach and they didn’t really find themselves. This one gives up a lot of the fluffy crazy stuff and gets down to good story telling with interesting information. The pre-teen angst has been controlled and meaningful conversations can be had. I hope this is the path for future enjoyable stories well done - and enjoy this book!

More Flavia Mr Bradley-but please lose Undine!!

I loved everything about this story except for the horrible, unnecessary, evil and probably psychotic Undine. The narrator is so talented that when she has to do cousin Undine's irritating voice (as it's described in the book), I actually have to skip beyond it. The atrocious child's behavior and voice are like nails on a chalkboard!

not my favorite

I love how Flavia is growing, maturing, and overall rounding out! there were many scenes in this book, though, that felt repetitive... very unlike her to repeat that, for instance, shock... and question Duggar a second time about him expecting a prank. they had that discussion...
I did, though tear up more than once... so good job 😀

Carry on, Flavia de Luce!

The fact is that I have only experienced the Flavia de Luce books via Audible, because Jayne Entwistle's voice is perfect. In this novel, and the last two, Entwistle modulates her register to show Flavia's maturing without losing our heroine's joi de vivre--or her joi de macabre. In The Golden Tresses of the Dead, Flavia deals with more losses, but also finds new allies, and the complex strands (!) of several mysteries wind up in surprising ways. A genuine pleasure.

Another rousing read - hurrah!

I've always been a huge de Luce fan. Bradley's writing paired with Entwhistle's narration is the perfect combo. Well done.

Better than the previous installment

I found this case to be more interesting than the previous one. I felt I missed a few connections during the final wrap-up, though. it was nice to see the often mentioned Inspector's wife actually make an appearance. I still feel that the death of a character in book 8 has spoiled the series for me in many ways, by making the current state of Flavia's life implausible to me. She's not even 14 yet, I don't think, but essentially emancipated. I don't buy it. Aunt Felicity would have moved in, in reality, and seen to the girls' upbringing.
Still, the characters retain some charm and if there are more books, I'll likely keep reading.

A Real Let-Down

I've listened to every one of the FDL novels as audiobooks. Jayne Entwistle's voice always brings a smile to my face and would do so reading the Nightly Business Report. But our esteemed author Mr. Bradley has really let us down this time. Phoned it in. Dropped the ball. It's as if he got behind and his publisher was hounding him so Bradley decided to wrap it up 2/3 of the way through. It needed another 5 chapters, and another pass through the whole book to tighten it up, to be on a par with earlier works. I suppose his dedicated fans will have to read it regardless, but I warn you to lower your expectations.

Cannot wait for the next one in the series

I love the characters of this series. I wasn’t sure how it was going to continue with the parents being dead but I have been pleasantly surprised.