A Red Herring Without Mustard - A Flavia de Luce Novel

I still love Flavia, and would recommend these character-driven mysteries to anyone who enjoys humor, quirky characters and a good whodunit; I am getting tired of the ceaseless hostility Flavia receives from her older sisters, however, and would like to know the underlying cause (as, apparently, would Flavia!) There seems to be a bit of a cracking in the wall of anger (Daffy answers a few of Flavia's questions, Feely sends Dieter to keep an eye on Flavia), but it still seems a bit much. I look forward to the next entry in the series to hopefully provide more family background. As I read the book I was suffering from a rotten head cold, so that may have accounted for my difficulty getting into it as much as previous entries; I found myself asking, "Why is she going there? What made her think of that?" more often, mystified by what exactly was propelling the action forward - there seemed no rhyme or reason. Then I decided to just go with it and enjoy the characters and dialogue and the joy of flying up and down the lanes of Bishop's Lacey alongside Flavia and Gladys - "Yaroo" indeed! - and remember Flavia's supposed to be an impetuous, wickedly precocious 11-year-old girl. I can't wait for the next entry in the series!

Flavia de Luce is back in this third installment of the series by author Bradley.

Once again our precocious scientist and budding detective finds herself entangled in yet another murder mystery.

I enjoyed this book a bit more than the last, The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag. The mystery here was actually not quite as interesting; however we do learn a bit more about our intrepid heroine and her beloved mother Harriet. While the relationship between Flavia and her older sisters is still one of torture and retaliation there are little tiny glimmers of genuine feeling for each other peeking through, although I still don't understand why they treat her so poorly. There are also signs that Flavia's dad is not totally oblivious to his youngest child but actually may be just a tiny bit proud of her. It is also abundantly clear that Flavia is desperately lonely and longing for a friend. The scene in the book with Flavia talking to Gladys, her bike, almost brought me to tears. The final scene in the laboratory also got me a little choked up. Here's hoping that we see a little more growth in Flavia's relationship with her family, especially with her father. I would also like to see more interaction between Flavia and Inspector Hewitt, I love the repartee between the two and as often as he is exasperated with her I think he actually admires her.

Good entry in the series, I'm looking forward to `I Am Half Sick of Shadows" due this November 2011.

All of the Flavia De Luce novels by Alan Bradley are brilliant and entertaining. De Luce in latin means "Of Light" and Ms. De Luce is the delightful, pardon the pun, prodigy and heroine of these wonderful tales. Each character is rendered in full color. The plot and the story move along with every page. Can you figure out the solution to the mystery before Flavia? It is such a treat to read an adventure story about a very modern young girl, who is brilliant, clever, witty, and kind. For an added treat, listen to the recorded version of these books, available from Audible. The reader, Jayne Entwistle, captures the exact right voice for all the endearing characters, but especially for Flavia. I am a granny and I revel in these escapades. I plan to give this series to my grand daughter when she turns 12. The stories are all a bit dark, dealing as they do with a murder or two, and also quite openly with sibling rivalry. So when a child is ready to read these stories will of course depend on each individual child.

Flavia de Luce starts this book off with dramatic flaw as she visits the fortune teller’s booth at the church fete and manages to set the booth on fire. To atone for her clumsiness she takes the fortune teller to stay on family property, which has bad memories for the woman. Things get worse as the fortune teller is attacked, a local trouble maker is murdered and life does its usual flips and jumps whenever Flavia appears. Thank goodness it’s fiction, the De Luce family is one that almost no one would care to have living nearby, even before Flavia started to attract dead bodies. Flavia needs a rating system of her own--as she can be a most annoying character but the situations she gets into keep the reader on the edge of her seat.

Delightfully wicked is the only way I can describe Flavia De Luce. This third installment of the Flavia de Luce novels had me cackling just as much as the first two. Her love of poisons and chemistry is so funny, especially when she uses her knowledge on her two sisters who deserve everything they get from Flavia. Looking forward to the next book.

Flavia has some emotional growth and development during this investigation, and gains new insight into her mysterious mother and her forgotten relationship with her. I enjoy Flavia and her friends and family, and can easily picture life on the estate in her small village. Flavia vacillates between precocious investigator and adventuresome child, grounded by the solid logic of chemistry. I look forward to reading more of her adventures. Yaroo!

The precocious, irrepressible 11-year old Flavia de Luce is again at her best in this third installment of the series. After accidentally setting fire to a gypsy’s tent, she later saves the gypsy’s life after a brutal assault. Thus begins her adventures as she solves the identity of the assailant, discovers another dead body and a ring of antique thieves. On the homefront, she learns more about her long-deceased mother and fights a losing battle against the torments of her older sisters. After losing his touch with novel #2, Bradley shows that the English village mystery genre is not dead.

Alan Bradley continues to charm with Flavia and his mysteries in the English countryside. Flavia is up to new hijinks helping to solve the latest crime in the small hamlet of Bishop's Lacey. Her latest escapade starts off with a gypsy who tells Flavia her fortune. Soon Flavia has installed the gypsy at Buckshaw. When the old gypsy is attacked in her caravan, Flavia sets out to find the gypsy's attacker and ends up discovering other secrets that have long lain dormant in Bishop's Lacey.

This story also delves into some of the sorrow and the vulnerability of Flavia's life and her father's life, the long suffering Colonel De Luce. The reader is given some insight into Flavia's mother, Harriet, and how much the death of Harriet has affected Flavia and her father.

Flavia has long been tortured by her sisters into half believing that she was adopted, left by pixies, or not really been a part of the De Luce family. This book will show Flavia that she was a beloved young daughter to her mother.

A great read for crime and mystery lovers and for those who just can't get enough of Flavia and the inhabitants of Bishop's Lacey.

This wasn't my favorite of the series, but I do love reading about Flavia and what she is up to. I realized while reading that I have a soft spot for utilizing a chemistry lab as a kitchen. I guess it comes from one of my all time favorite books, The Wrinkle in Time Quintet Boxed Set (A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, An Acceptable Time). I find myself wishing these books were around when I was younger, but I am so glad that I get to read them now. I love that I can never seem to guess the answer to the mystery before it is revealed in the book. I do find myself yelling at the book occasionally that a clue is important but doesn't seem to be remembered until the last minute, but I also remember how much I overlooked important facts until the last moment when I was 13, which just makes it seem more authenticate.

This was my least favourite of the Flavia de Luce stories so far. It felt as though she was out of her depth and barely treading water. It all started with a trip to the local fair where somehow the gypsy fortune teller`s tent burns down as a result of Flavia`s visit. Then the same gypsy is visciously attacked on the de Luce property. This violence doesn`t deter eleven year old Flavia from investigating.

Most children this age would be happy to stay at home and play or read, but not her, she is constantly out and about in her home town aboard her faithful stead, or rather her bicycle name Gladys. (yes, she`s still a lonely little girl who has named her bicylcle) She pokes her nose into every day space and doesn`t hesitate to turn over even the heaviest rock in the expectation of finding secrets.

I particularly enjoyed the sections where Flavia reflects on her relationship with her sisters. She is growing up and learning that her sisters are much more than just bigger people who seem to torture her.

The Hobblers, a religious sect in the book, appear to be fashioned after historical English dissenters. My research didn`t locate any group actually named the Hobblers.

For me, the mysteries that Flavia explored were second place to the continuing story of her dead mother. Each book has revealed tiny bits about her. She is still an unknown figure who`s absence is a major influence on the young girl`s life. I do hope that we learn more about her in future books in this series.

I listened to the audio book version as read by Jane Entwistle, unabridged 11 hours.

This is my first delve unto the world of Flavia de Luce and I loved it. I will have to begin from the first book in the series but I didn't feel as if I was missing something, I felt like it was a standalone not an ongoing story line because you did get backstory of the family and village throughout the book.

I have not read any of the other Flavia books so I am not in a position to compare. I did this as an audio book because I catches attention and keeps it. It also would provide a great entre' for dialogue with your children and that is something they can hang on to as they gain their maturity.

Nevertheless, the plot is reflective of a big house going down hill; the interaction of the well-bred with those in the lower classes; and the role of gypsies and the sentiments towards them in everyday life in the early 20th century. Within this scene is a grizzley mystery or two which Flavia de Luce solves before the detectives.

I've read all three books in the series in the course of a month and this, the third book, shows no sign of losing steam. What rings true to me is Flavia's combination of misunderstood genius and childlike naivety. Yes, she concocts poisons in her laboratory, puts together clues and solves mysteries faster than the local police force, but she doesn't have the life experience to understand that her father is selling off the family heirlooms to keep them at home or the mechanics of sex. She and her sisters, geniuses all, use psychological torture and physical bullying on one another in a way that is entertaining but also made me wince. This isn't a kid's book. The subject matter and the description of the various characters is all very adult. The mystery in this novel was engrossing but I am reading this story for the characters and to see what happens to them next.

My mind was a whirl. Heigh-ho! I thought. What a jolly sport is the world of Flavia de Luce.
p. 152

Even Flavia de Luce knows what a wonderful world she inhabits. I was completely delighted by the first book in this series: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Totally mesmerized by the second book: The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag. And once again I am completely enchanted by the wonderful Flavia in A Red Herring Without Mustard.

Alan Bradley's writing is amazing. I know Flavia is only eleven years old but she is wise beyond her years and wickedly clever. She lives in an crumbling manor house with her father, two scheming older sisters and the ever helpful Dogger. The novel like its predecessors, is set in post World War II England. This world is everything that is wonderful about England....small villages, the countryside and gypsies! The novel completely revolves around the wonderful Flavia, her thoughts and her incredible adventures. She has such an inquisitive mind and is such a brave and daring young girl! And she possesses a brilliant mind that devours chemistry. There is even an abandoned chemical laboratory in their manor house where she concocts poisons to terrorize her sisters with and help her to solve the mysteries and deaths that somehow manage to show up at her doorstop!

With each outing, I wonder more as to whether her mother Harriet has really died. The sorrow over the death of Harriet sets the tone for the house and in particular for her father, who is there but not really there. Flavia has had to learn how to survive without a mother all these years and you can feel the depths of this loss in A Red Herring Without Mustard.

I cannot wait for the next book in the series: I Am Half-Sick of Shadows which will be released January 31, 2012.

Flavia's back and as charming as ever.

This time around the precocious little girl who loves chemistry (and poisons) is on the trail of a rogue who bludgeoned an old Gypsy woman and leaves a fishy odor in his wake. Is the crime connected to misdeeds of the past and what does it all have to do with an obscure religious sect and the firedogs from the De Luce manse?

This is the third in Bradley's delightful Flavia De Luce novels I've read and enjoyed. I'm certain there are no real 11-year-old girls as precocious as Flavia. But I'm willing to suspend disbelief for the sake of this imaginary child and her adventures.

A delicious novel with a murder mystery that none other than 11 year old Flavia can solve. The story is so rich with details of 1950's England, in a simple little village, where murder seems to be commonplace. The story does involve gypsies and a bit of fortune-telling (not my favorites features). But still... I loved reading "A Red Herring Without Mustard"!

I absolutely love these books. This is the third book in the series of mysteries involving 11 year old Flavia. I love the funny, quirky, charming heroine Flavia. I find myself chuckling and smiling often throughout these books.
This story is about a gypsy who is blamed for the disappearance of a local child years ago. The gypsy woman is later attacked and left for dead and Flavia sets out to find out what really transpired.
I am thrilled there are three more books in this series. I wish there were more, they are that good. The characters are fantastic and the story writing is never dull. Excellent!

The story is about a fortune teller that almost gets whacked twice. Everytime they come around , an awful stench of fish is left behind. Flavia even makes some friends her own age,which was a nice addition.It bothers me a bit,that her father ignores his kids like that and lets flavia and her sisters fights get to that level. Sorry to preach,I know he is sad about losing his wife, but his kids are alive and he needs to be there before he loses them, too. But it still kept me all night reading and thinking about the next day at work. I love her friend Dogger ,the P.O.W. turned gardener. His character gets more interesting with every book.

I found this book to be a lot of fun. I found it to be a unique twist on the standard detective novel. It is set in 1950s England in a small hamlet. It has an "old-timey" feel to the writing style. I think that helps the reader get a better sense of the setting and really works for this book.

But I will say that the story rests entirely on the protagonist. I personally loved her. Flavia is a spunky, witty 11 year old amateur sleuth. She is innocent in many ways, yet wise beyond her years in others. But she is also lonely. She has two older sisters who despise her, an absent father and a mother who died in a climbing accident when Flavia was young. Flavia definitely gets caught up in her flights of fantasies and that sometimes gets her in trouble. Her intelligence gets the best of her and she acts without thinking of the consequences. Alan Bradley does a great job bringing Flavia to life. You feel a part of her (mis)adventures. Flavia reminded me a bit of Anne of Green Gables, Harriet the Spy and Mary Lennox from the Secret Garden.

But as I mentioned, the story rests on Flavia's charm. I honestly wasn't that interested in the mystery or even the solving of the mystery. I was much more interested in Flavia's interactions with others. Sometimes the plot moved along at a jaunty pace and other times it seemed to lag.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. This is the third in the series. I haven't read the first two, but I didn't feel like I missed out on any key plot points. I've also heard the books grow stronger as the series progresses, so I'm looking forward to continuing on!

The Alan Bradley, Flavia DeLuce books are wonderful. I cannot wait to read these to my grand daughter when she is old enough. I recommend this book for all pre-teens, and perhaps older. Flavia is funny, smart and endearing. I think anyone of any age would enjoy them, even my 77 year old dad couldn't wait to get the next book in the mail but then he had to wait for me to finish first.

So far the second book has been my favorite. I was in the middle of a few books when I picked this one up, so not sure if my heart wasn't all in it, when I read it, or it just wasn't as good... But Flavia is so funny and her dialogue is just something you don't see by any other author. I've recommended this series to all of my coworkers and I can't wait to read the next in the series.

Wonderful, Delightful Flavia rides again. This is my favorite book so far as far as lines go. Each page had me grinning with Flavia's clever thoughts and words. This wasnt my favorite of the Flavia mysteries though. I am excited that Bradley has another book out the year. The fun with Flavia and where she takes us is never ending fun.

A Red Herring With Mustard - Alan Bradley
3 stars
This is the third installment in the Flavia Deluce mystery series. As usual there is a body. Flavia defies authority and puts herself in the midst of mystery and danger. Her sisters continue to torture her and her father continues to be the world's most ineffectual parent. I like Flavia, and although Bradley's plot formula is, by now, becoming very predictable, I will probably continue to read every book that he adds to the series.

Is there anything more perfect than curling up with a Flavia de Luce book and spending some time in Bishop's Lacey? No, no there is not. Bliss.

Okay, sorry, I really *didn't* express how much I love these books, did I?

For more reviews, please visit my blog, CozyLittleBookJournal.

Once again Flavia can't be stopped. Her knowledge of chemicals and quick wit keep her just steps away from trouble on hot on the track of whodunit. These books are fun and imaginative and are the kind of adventures that it would have liked to have as a kid. The characters are so real and colorful you feel Dogger's kindness. The places and events are vivid enough that one can smell Mrs. Mullets culinary creations.

Purely on the basis of the descriptions on the store I took a chance and ordered the first three Flavia de Luce novels. It is now three days after they arrived, and I have read through all of them. Flavia is a wonderful character. She and her family, far from getting tired and flat as they go from book to book, are springing into ever more vivid life. I love this series. I hate to push him, but I wish he wrote a little faster.

Let me just begin by saying that I do quite like the Flavia de Luce books. They give a wonderfully idyllic picture of life in post-war England and most of the characters in these stories are well described and interesting people that I actually care about. What drives me crazy (and I realise this is a very personal issue that others might not care about) is the idiot who does the reading for Recorded Books' CD version of the novels! She's HORRIBLE. Her pronunciation of certain words (eg: flarsh, arsh, splarsh and even Aga) is like fingernails on a chalkboard. Not to mention her completely arbitrary choice of accents for characters. Half the villagers sound like they're from Leeds (way up north) and the other half like they're cast members of EastEnders (London). Porcelain's accent veers wildly from East London to North England within the same sentence! Areas of the country hundreds of miles apart.

This might be a trivial quibble but it is so distracting you end up paying more attention to the accents than to the story. I can only hope that for the next CD set Recorded Books either fires this woman or she quits. This narrator is apparently an English actress (and I am English too so I think I know what I'm talking about) so there's really no excuse for screwing up these books so badly.

At first I suspected that this book was written for the younger generation but it was pleasingly good and I recommend it for all ages. I remember reading many Nancy Drew mysteries so was enchanted with the detective work this young heroine was capable of. A true delight!!!-!!!

This is the third installment of the Flavia de Luce mysteries. I really do love these books. The protagonist is a curious and clever 11 year old girl in post WWII England who loves chemistry and delights in finding new and inventive ways to annoy her older sisters. Also, she can't help but keep her nose out of police investigations involving the people that live in her village. I enjoy the first person account of Flavia as she snoops about and sorts through clues as she tries to get to the bottom of the latest crime in Bishop's Lacey. I highly recommend this book and the previous Flavia de Luce mysteries. It's a compelling and entertaining mystery and an all around fun read.

While I enjoyed the book, it wasn't as much fun as Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie or The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag. The ending rather fizzled. At times it seemed that the author was trying too hard. I do love Flavia de Luce though!

If you loved Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh, Flavia de Luce is a worthy successor. But where Harriet was aimed at the children's market, Flavia is definitely for the grown-ups (though I'm sure there will be many young people who will enjoy her escapades, too, despite the appearance of quite a few deaths in the novels). I enjoyed this more than the first book, the plot being less convoluted (though still tricky with many threads) and a resolution that was more satisfying.

I love the period detail, England in the 1950s - a remarkable achievement given that the author has never visited England, having lived in America all his life.

i quite enjoyed alan bradely` s The sweetness at the bottom of the pie, The weed that strings the hangman` s bag, and A red herring without mustard. I think that flavia is a deliteful character and i always to read more about her, given she is my own age.

I love Flavia, but something about the stories seems to always fall a little bit flat for me. I will keep reading the series, but there does always seem to be something missing and I can't figure out just what it is.

Purely on the basis of the descriptions on the store I took a chance and ordered the first three Flavia de Luce novels. It is now three days after they arrived, and I have read through all of them. Flavia is a wonderful character. She and her family, far from getting tired and flat as they go from book to book, are springing into ever more vivid life. I love this series. I hate to push him, but I wish he wrote a little faster.

Let me just begin by saying that I do quite like the Flavia de Luce books. They give a wonderfully idyllic picture of life in post-war England and most of the characters in these stories are well described and interesting people that I actually care about. What drives me crazy (and I realise this is a very personal issue that others might not care about) is the idiot who does the reading for Recorded Books' CD version of the novels! She's HORRIBLE. Her pronunciation of certain words (eg: flarsh, arsh, splarsh and even Aga) is like fingernails on a chalkboard. Not to mention her completely arbitrary choice of accents for characters. Half the villagers sound like they're from Leeds (way up north) and the other half like they're cast members of EastEnders (London). Porcelain's accent veers wildly from East London to North England within the same sentence! Areas of the country hundreds of miles apart.

This might be a trivial quibble but it is so distracting you end up paying more attention to the accents than to the story. I can only hope that for the next CD set Recorded Books either fires this woman or she quits. This narrator is apparently an English actress (and I am English too so I think I know what I'm talking about) so there's really no excuse for screwing up these books so badly.

At first I suspected that this book was written for the younger generation but it was pleasingly good and I recommend it for all ages. I remember reading many Nancy Drew mysteries so was enchanted with the detective work this young heroine was capable of. A true delight!!!-!!!

This is the third installment of the Flavia de Luce mysteries. I really do love these books. The protagonist is a curious and clever 11 year old girl in post WWII England who loves chemistry and delights in finding new and inventive ways to annoy her older sisters. Also, she can't help but keep her nose out of police investigations involving the people that live in her village. I enjoy the first person account of Flavia as she snoops about and sorts through clues as she tries to get to the bottom of the latest crime in Bishop's Lacey. I highly recommend this book and the previous Flavia de Luce mysteries. It's a compelling and entertaining mystery and an all around fun read.

While I enjoyed the book, it wasn't as much fun as Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie or The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag. The ending rather fizzled. At times it seemed that the author was trying too hard. I do love Flavia de Luce though!

If you loved Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh, Flavia de Luce is a worthy successor. But where Harriet was aimed at the children's market, Flavia is definitely for the grown-ups (though I'm sure there will be many young people who will enjoy her escapades, too, despite the appearance of quite a few deaths in the novels). I enjoyed this more than the first book, the plot being less convoluted (though still tricky with many threads) and a resolution that was more satisfying.

I love the period detail, England in the 1950s - a remarkable achievement given that the author has never visited England, having lived in America all his life.

i quite enjoyed alan bradely` s The sweetness at the bottom of the pie, The weed that strings the hangman` s bag, and A red herring without mustard. I think that flavia is a deliteful character and i always to read more about her, given she is my own age.

I love Flavia, but something about the stories seems to always fall a little bit flat for me. I will keep reading the series, but there does always seem to be something missing and I can't figure out just what it is.

I love the Flavia de Luce mysteries! Life seen through the eyes of a precocious 11year-old chemistry genious, is smart and simple, while the setting in post WWll England on a neglected estate is interesting and edifying. Love the genre.

Flavia's personality keeps me enthralled. What I imagine is Miss Marple as a little girl. And her family, supporting characters, and surroundings add just the right amount of charm. Thoroughly enjoyable and readable, I intend to read all Flavia de Luce stories.

Great series, and the latest Flavia de Luce book doesn't disappoint. One thing that makes the series continue to be interesting is that it isn't just about the central mystery, it's very character driven. I always look forward to meeting up again with Flavia and her family and community.

You won't need a crystal ball to see that our imaginative amateur chemist and pre-teen Nancy Drew replica Flavia de Luce is up to her ears in yet another tongue -in-cheek mystery. A Red Herring Without Mustard, marks the third appearance of Alan Bradley's little sleuth. This time she becomes involved with a gypsy fortune teller named Fenella and the woman's grand-daughter, Porceline,a dead body and a frightened young boy. Added to this quiver of "not so straight" arrows are remnants of an unusual religious group called Hobblers. All reside in and around the village of Bishops Lacey and their individual temperaments range from unsavory to eccentric.

Flavia regularly converses at some length with her bicycle Gladys - "an adventurous female with Dunlop tires, three speeds and a forgiving disposition" who never complains and never tires of her ongoing adventures with the ever inquisitive Flavia.

Still temporarily ensconced in their mildly decrepit and heavily encumbered home, Flavia along with her stamp collecting father, her two teasing tormenters - sisters-Feely and Daffy (Ophelia and Daphne), Mrs Mullet the cook and Dogger their shell-shocked veteran of a gardener/handyman continue to plug along with their mundane daily activities. Only our Flavia seems to stumble over the battered and the dead on a regular basis.

Another recurring character is the notably obtuse Inspector Hewitt who, it would appear, is always one step behind this quick-witted and gifted eleven year old. One wonders how this fellow manages to find his shoes in the morning without Flavia there to guide him through the process.

For all her uncanny talent, Flavia is just a typical eleven year old when it comes to dealing with problems of ongoing sibling rivalry and her galloping insecurity regarding her lack of friends.

Although not marketed as YA, this is where the book belongs. An amusing little outing, it is an ideal choice for younger readers since the violence and questionable language content is less than that of a roadrunner cartoon. 3 ½ stars

my second Flavia book...a fun mystery with an unusual main character that you can't help but love. Quick read. Hope there will be many more as the reader is invested in her relationship with her father and the loss of her mother.

I love Flavia, always a good mystery to sink the teeth into. I also like how the author has incorporated a mystery about Flavia's own family that runs throughout all of the books in the series. I can always count on a Flavia de Luce to provide a good read.

You won't need a crystal ball to see that our imaginative amateur chemist and pre-teen Nancy Drew replica Flavia de Luce is up to her ears in yet another tongue -in-cheek mystery. A Red Herring Without Mustard, marks the third appearance of Alan Bradley's little sleuth. This time she becomes involved with a gypsy fortune teller named Fenella and the woman's grand-daughter, Porceline,a dead body and a frightened young boy. Added to this quiver of "not so straight" arrows are remnants of an unusual religious group called Hobblers. All reside in and around the village of Bishops Lacey and their individual temperaments range from unsavory to eccentric.

Flavia regularly converses at some length with her bicycle Gladys - "an adventurous female with Dunlop tires, three speeds and a forgiving disposition" who never complains and never tires of her ongoing adventures with the ever inquisitive Flavia.

Still temporarily ensconced in their mildly decrepit and heavily encumbered home, Flavia along with her stamp collecting father, her two teasing tormenters - sisters-Feely and Daffy (Ophelia and Daphne), Mrs Mullet the cook and Dogger their shell-shocked veteran of a gardener/handyman continue to plug along with their mundane daily activities. Only our Flavia seems to stumble over the battered and the dead on a regular basis.

Another recurring character is the notably obtuse Inspector Hewitt who, it would appear, is always one step behind this quick-witted and gifted eleven year old. One wonders how this fellow manages to find his shoes in the morning without Flavia there to guide him through the process.

For all her uncanny talent, Flavia is just a typical eleven year old when it comes to dealing with problems of ongoing sibling rivalry and her galloping insecurity regarding her lack of friends.

Although not marketed as YA, this is where the book belongs. An amusing little outing, it is an ideal choice for younger readers since the violence and questionable language content is less than that of a roadrunner cartoon. 3 ½ stars

my second Flavia book...a fun mystery with an unusual main character that you can't help but love. Quick read. Hope there will be many more as the reader is invested in her relationship with her father and the loss of her mother.

In Bishop's Lacey, England the Gypsy looks into her crystal ball to inform eleven year old chemist and amateur sleuth Flavia de Luce her future. However, the hag tells her she has never in her life seen a darker future. Flavia is not one to be concerned as the child deals with an odd household on their Buckshaw Estate. Her widowed father the Colonel lives for his philately collection; her oldest sister Ophelia "Feely" loves her music; and the middle sister thirteen years old "Daffy" Daphne hides in her books. Flavia, who never met her mother Harriet (outside the womb that is), uses her late great-Uncle Tarquin's fully loaded chem lab as her escapism into the savory world of poison.

Soon after the dark reading, Flavia finds the corpse of the ancient Gypsy. Someone stabbed the woman to death in her wagon. Flavia on her bike Gladys investigates the homicide while she contemplates that the murder appears to be one of passion perhaps vengeance; similar to what she thrives for against her older siblings though not with murderous malice. Instead of solving this killing, Flavia finds a second body. Her inquiry leads to an intriguing clue to what she considers the key mystery.

This is a terrific post WWII whimsical amateur sleuth as Flavia follows the murder clues while eluding the demands of her older sisters and her father is to busy with his stamps. As with her previous cases (see The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag), the tweener keeps the story line focused as she investigates two homicides in which the clues twist into something personal.

Harriet Klausner

I loved the first two Flavia adventures but she is nowhere to be found in A Red Herring Without the Mustard. This book is definitely written from the point of view of a middle aged man, not a young girl. Please Mr. Bradley, if you have another Flavia book in the works, bring her back, start channeling her now because she is so charming and is so missed by her fans.

A visit with the enchanting Flavia de Luce is always entertaining, but I have to admit I was a bit disappointed in this book!
I had hoped to discover why Flavia's relationship with her sisters is so hostile, a situation that is apparently quite recent.
However, just as Flavia remains in the dark, so does the reader.
The characters, as always, are a delight, but I would like to see a little progress with their development.

Just a mention here that Flavia does NOT discover the Gypsy's corpse in her caravan; instead she finds the woman injured. So what Flavia investigates is an assault, not a homicide!

Flavia and her sisters are as endearing as in the other two stories, but the reading of this book did not work for me. Flavia came off as way more full of herself than I got from the earlier books. This felt more like a staging than a book reading - and was way too dramatic for my taste. I got through, but cannot recommend this audio book as a way to enjoy Flavia!

I absolutely loved the first two books. Flavia was a great character, irreverent and quietly wicked in the tormenting of her sisters. However this book was awful. Flavia has lost all of her "bite". She is running around trying to help people and attempting to be nice to the appalling sisters. with the gypsy caravan story line , i felt i was reading a Famous Five book, with George as the main protaganist. Terrible.