Unexpected Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

As with many great audiobook discoveries, I came across Alan Bradley's delightful Flavia de Luce series while trolling through Library to Go for a new book to listen to. It was even on my MP3 player for months before I tried it out. I'm sooo glad I did!

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a fantastic mystery in the 'cozy' style – very Agatha Christie / Dorothy L. Sayers-like but young and fun at the same time – a very rare item indeed. Once I got started I was completely hooked. Flavia de luce is an 11 year old amateur chemist in 1950's England. She lives in a large, oddly designed manor house with her two older sisters, her distant father, and their handyman / chauffeur / gardener Dogger. Where other girls her age have pictures of film or music stars on their walls and mirrors, Flavia has pictures of Marie Curie and other famous chemists. She is particularly fond of brewing up poisons. When she finds a dead body in their garden, Flavia leaves her chemistry lab and sets out to help the police, whether they want her help or not, and clear her father's name.

I began spouting off about my newly found addiction at work and discovered several coworkers were also addicted. Now numbering three books, the series continues to be fresh and fun. One of the staff at the library I am branch head at laughed out loud when she looked at our hold shelf – the A-F section was filled with Alan Bradley books and audiobooks. She pointed out that it must have something to do with the fact that I tell everyone I know about this series! Obviously subtle is not in my nature. My patrons will be hearing me go on about this for awhile because Bradley has been contracted to expand the series to six books in total.

Although Flavia is eleven, the books are considered adult mysteries but their content is pretty tame and I can see adults and kids liking them – I would have loved these books as a teenager.

Jayne Entwistle, who also narrated the Hunchback Assignments series, does a fantastic job bringing Flavia and her family to life.

I downloaded all three titles from Library to Go. You can listen to the audio samples there, or at the Random House Audio links below.

Listen Up!
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, (9 hrs, 53 mins), Random House Audio, (2009)
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag, (9 hrs, 50 mins), Random House Audio, (2010)
A Red Herring Without Mustard, (10 hrs, 46 mins), Random House Audio, (2011)
I am Half Sick of Shadows – due in November, 2011