Then, beginning at the bottom left, I speared the first pea with my fork and ate it.It was all Ophelia's fault. Using my knife as a ruler and my fork as a prod, I marshaled the peas so that they formed meticulous rows and columns across my plate: rank upon rank of little green spheres, spaced with a precision that would have delighted the heart of the most exacting Swiss watchmaker. In your view, is her dark matter-of-factness more refreshing or disturbing?5. Well received by critics as an old-fashioned ⦠When I found that precise instructions were given for formulating these compounds, I was in seventh heaven.Once I had taught myself to make sense of the chemical equations such as K4FeC6N6 + 2K = 6KCN + Fe (which describes what happens when the yellow prussiate of potash is heated with potassium to produce potassium cyanide), the universe was laid open before me: It was like having stumbled upon a recipe book that had once belonged to the witch in the wood.What intrigued me more than anything was finding out the way in which everything, all of creation—all of it!—was held together by invisible chemical bonds, and I found a strange, inexplicable comfort in knowing that somewhere, even though we couldn't see it in our own world, there was real stability. Current price is $15.5, Original price is $17. Each of them had subsequently added a wing, William the east wing and Antony the west.Each became a recluse in his own dominion, and each had forbidden the other ever to set foot across the black line which they caused to be painted dead center from the vestibule in the front, across the foyer, and straight through to the butler's W.C. behind the back stairs. I had no idea I was agreeing to read a YA mystery, and was slightly irritated at myself for not researching the context before agreeing to review it. Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce proves to be one of the most precocious, resourceful, and well, just plain dangerous, heroines around. "While Flavia De Luce is winning your heart, she may also be poisoning your tea. "Because you reminded her of her own baby pictures. They belonged to Mummy! Alan Bradley discusses his first novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - the first of six planned books set in England in the 1950s, starring 11-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce. In The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley you will find a new classic in the mystery genre. A precocious 11-year-old chemist confesses to murder. I do love a good mystery and I thoroughly enjoyed The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. There was no one in sight; save for its perpetual tangle of shadows, junk, and sad bric-a-brac, the long attic was empty. Caught in one of those tight spots, Flavia believes no one in her Britishly undemonstrative family loves her. But no, save getting mild revenge on a tormentor, 11-year-old Flavia uses her knowledge of poisons for good. She's the most wickedly funny sleuth in years, brilliant, unpredictable, unflappableâand only eleven. Editorial Reviews "While Flavia De Luce is winning your heart, she may also be poisoning your tea. Auto Suggestions are available once you type at least 3 letters. Get your copy of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie from: Amazon Bookshop Book Depository Kobobooks Booktopia OR listen to the audiobook FREE with Audibleâs Trial (check eligibility) This book counts towards my participation in the Cozy Mystery Challenge. Flavia reminds us often about Harriet, the mother she never knew, and has many keepsakes that help her imagine what she was like. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie book by Alan Bradley inspired me to bake a classic pie with a twist involving the ever popular salted caramel. any year, returns with another irresistible Flavia de Luce novel. Discuss the meaning (or meanings) of the title The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.9. I tried counting to ten on every intake of breath, and to eight as I released each one slowly into the darkness. BOOK RATING: The Writing 5 / 5 ; The Story 4.5 / 5 â Overall 4.75. 1. Assuming the mystery itself will be as enticing and smoothly handled as the opening, I can see Flavia solving crimes into adulthood. the lists went on and on. The lives of three strangers interconnect in unforeseen ways–and with unexpected consequences–in acclaimed author Dan Its reflecting mirror could be angled to catch the first pale rays of the morning sun, while for cloudy days or for use after dark, it was equipped with a paraffin microscope lamp by Davidson & Co. of London.There was even an articulated human skeleton on a wheeled stand, given to Tar when he was only twelve by the great naturalist Frank Buckland, whose father had eaten the mummified heart of King Louis XIV.Three walls of this room were lined from floor to ceiling with glass-fronted cabinets, two of them filled row upon row with chemicals in glass apothecary jars, each labeled in the meticulous copperplate handwriting of Tar de Luce, who in the end had thwarted Fate and outlived them all. The ⦠Javascript is not enabled in your browser. Several years back, I received a copy of the fifth book in this series for review purposes. I did enjoy it but wonder about the age of the protagonist. "Old House," as it was called, had gone up in flames, and the new house which had replaced it was now well into its third century.Two later de Luce ancestors, Antony and William de Luce, who had disagreed about the Crimean War, had spoiled the lines of the original structure. Amid all the fun, Bradley allows moments of poignancy. Though Flavia narrates the story, the voice seems too adult for even a very bright child. From the library. Jolly good luck then that I'd remembered to put my fingertips together, using them as ten firm little bases to press my palms apart as they had pulled the knots tight.Now I rotated my wrists, squeezing them together until I felt a bit of slack, using my thumbs to work the silk down until the knots were between my palms—then between my fingers. I retorted. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Novel 4.4 out of 5 stars (1,677) Mysteries are a dime a dozen. Find BookPage, About BookPage Flavia is a wonderful creation, along with the rest of her eccentric family, and makes for a highly engaging sleuth. A thoroughly entertaining romp of a novel, "Those are my pearls! Set in the English countryside in 1950, it features Flavia de Luce, an 11-year-old amateur sleuth who pulls herself away from her beloved chemistry lab in order to clear her father in a murder investigation. He made us take an oath. "Ophelia and Daphne not down yet, Flavia?" Without preamble she said, "I'm not really your sister, you know . Flavia de Luce, daughter to a philatelist colonel father and late mother, who dies when she was a baby, finds a body in the cucumber patch. And she is astonished by the effect the dead bird has on her stamp-obsessed father, the Colonel. he asked peevishly, looking up from the latest issue of The British Philatelist, which lay open beside his meat and potatoes. Our heroine is refreshingly youthful, funny and sharp and the author creates such a strong sense of time and place. . The reader can easily imagine this as a tale recounted by a jolly, eccentric old lady, maybe a retired Oxford don, to a cub reporter from The Guardian. series“The toughest, funniest, wisest, private eye in the field these days.”—Houston ChronicleSpenser earned his degree in the school of hard knocks, so he is ready ... “Covenant is [Stephen R.] Donaldson's genius!”—The Village VoiceHe called himself Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, because ... “Covenant is [Stephen R.] Donaldson's genius!”—The Village VoiceHe called himself Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, because The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a mystery by Alan Bradley published in 2009. "What's that sticky mass in the bottom?" they had shoved me in and locked the door. her fingers on the brass clasp. I'm sick and tired of being blamed for everything, Feely. But not until Ophelia had spun round on her heel—quite neatly, I thought—and stormed out the door.Retribution was not long in coming, but then with Ophelia, it never was. Thirty years!—against my eleven. But it matters not. In rather an odd way, I despised Ophelia's memories of our mother.I looked up slowly from my work so that the round lenses of my spectacles would flash blank white semaphores of light at her. Library "Ophelia was the only one of Harriet's daughters who referred to her as "Mummy": the only one of us old enough to have any real memories of the flesh-and-blood woman who had carried us in her body, a fact of which Ophelia never tired of reminding us. "That's not true. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie at Amazon.com. For example, to find out why that red-headed chap dropped dead in her father’s cucumber patch, right beneath her bedroom window. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is set in post-World War II Britain, a time of a certain dinginess, in a great country estate where the sad and widowed Mr. De Luce lives with his three daughters and his stamp collection. Review: . Although not classified as âyouthâ literature, 11-year-old Flavia will appeal to young readers. It was almost too easy. By Alan Bradley. It was not only unsporting, it was downright rotten. 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. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. Their two yellow brick annexes, pustulantly Victorian, folded back like the pinioned wings of a boneyard angel which, to my eyes, gave the tall windows and shutters of Buckshaw's Georgian front the prim and surprised look of an old maid whose bun is too tight.A later de Luce, Tarquin—or Tar, as he was called—in the wake of a sensational mental breakdown, made a shambles of what had promised to be a brilliant career in chemistry, and was sent down from Oxford in the summer of Queen Victoria's Silver Jubilee.Tar's indulgent father, solicitous of the lad's uncertain health, had spared no expense in outfitting a laboratory on the top floor of Buckshaw's east wing: a laboratory replete with German glassware, German microscopes, a German spectroscope, brass chemical balances from Lucerne, and a complexly shaped mouth-blown German Geisler tube to which Tar could attach electrical coils to study the way in which various gases fluoresce.On a desk by the windows was a Leitz microscope, whose brass still shone with the same warm luxury as it had the day it was brought by pony cart from the train at Buckshaw Halt. A Great Treat in the Mystery Genre: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Submission Guidelines, © 1996-2021 BookPage and ProMotion, inc. | 2143 Belcourt Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212. ©2009 The Literate Mother The coast was clear.Reaching above my head at the back of the closet, I unscrewed one of the wire coat hooks from its mounting board. The family unit, comprising of the taciturn, introspective Colonel and his three daughters is well written, humorous and the sibling relationships very realistic. William King, The Art of Cookery (1709). magic, and adventure—sure to delight fantasy readers everywhere.Landover was a genuine magic kingdom, with fairy folk and wizardry, just as the advertisement has promised. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is set in post-World War II Britain, a time of a certain dinginess, in a great country estate where the sad and widowed Mr. De Luce lives with his three daughters and his stamp collection. ""Well, you can. Individual A bit of judicious fishing and fiddling yielded a gratifying click. I don't believe I did; it ran far deeper than that. To protect my unborn children, I have turned my back on the crown, choosing exile in the human world ... New York Times bestselling author of the Spenser series of crime thrillers—Book 1 in the ... New York Times bestselling author of the Spenser series of crime thrillers—Book 1 in the "If you're insinuating that my personal hygiene is not up to the same high standard as yours you can go suck my galoshes.""Flavia! "I'm not the keeper of your trinkets. At the center of it all is precocious, funny, slightly annoying Flavia, with her mousy brown braids and knack for getting out of tight spots (it helps to be little). Does anyone collect stamps anymore?” –Paul Ingram“If there ever was a heroine set for stardom it would be Flavia de Luce….Think Agatha Christie crossed with the Mitfords and laced with mischievous humour.” –Sunday Herald, Australia“If you condensed Sherlock Holmes’s deductive abilities, Madame Curie’s talent for chemistry, and Dr. Jekyll’s zeal into the mind of an 11-year-old, her name would be Flavia de Luce….full of mystery, charm, and chemistry. 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