A review by bickleyhouse
A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Here we have the third installment in the ongoing adventures of the precocious Flavia de Luce, the eleven-year-old girl from Bishop's Lacey, who "helps" the local police solve murders in her community.
In this book, it kicks off with Flavia visiting a Gypsy fortune teller's tent at the local church's fête. That's a festival or carnival type of event for those not familiar with that word. As the Gypsy, whom we later learn is named Fenella, tells Flavia's "fortune," Flavia jumps up, at one point, and accidentally knocks over a candle, which results in a fire that destroys the woman's tent.
Feeling guilty and attempting to make up for it, Flavia offers to allow the Gypsy to stay on their property at Buckshaw. Even though her father had banned said Gypsy from the property a number of years ago when Flavia's mother died.
That's just the beginning of this twisted tale. We have an attempted murder when someone tries to kill Fenella in her caravan. We have a real murder when a man is killed and hung up on a statue of Poseiden that sits on the de Luce grounds. Later, another body is discovered at the Palings (that's the parcel of land where the Gypsy's caravan is sitting), bringing even more mystery into the tale.
Flavia is her usual self in this tale ("usual" as far as I know, having only read the first two books), running all about the town and the countryside, trying to drum up clues in the case. She also meets and befriends Fenella's granddaughter, Porcelain. "Friends" might not be the right word to describe their relationship, at least at first, though.
Flavia also continues to have the most strained relationship with her two sisters, Ophelia and Daphne (affectionally referred to as Feely and Daffy), who are constantly trying to convince Flavia that their mother did not like her, and, not only that, she's not really their sister, because their sister was stolen as a baby and she was put in the real baby's place, and so on. In one scene in this book, Feely and Daffy capture Flavia, throwing a burlap sack over her head, and drag her down to the basement to "interrogate" her.
There is a very pleasant and wonderful surprise, though, in this book, which I will leave to the reader to discover. It is something that Flavia uncovers during her efforts to find out who tried to kill Fenella and who actually killed Brookie Harewood (that's the guy hung on the statue of Poseidon).
I am firmly enamored with Ms. de Luce, and fully intend to read the rest of this series of books. I have heard that there will be more of them to come, and there may even be a movie or TV series in the works. How exciting!
In this book, it kicks off with Flavia visiting a Gypsy fortune teller's tent at the local church's fête. That's a festival or carnival type of event for those not familiar with that word. As the Gypsy, whom we later learn is named Fenella, tells Flavia's "fortune," Flavia jumps up, at one point, and accidentally knocks over a candle, which results in a fire that destroys the woman's tent.
Feeling guilty and attempting to make up for it, Flavia offers to allow the Gypsy to stay on their property at Buckshaw. Even though her father had banned said Gypsy from the property a number of years ago when Flavia's mother died.
That's just the beginning of this twisted tale. We have an attempted murder when someone tries to kill Fenella in her caravan. We have a real murder when a man is killed and hung up on a statue of Poseiden that sits on the de Luce grounds. Later, another body is discovered at the Palings (that's the parcel of land where the Gypsy's caravan is sitting), bringing even more mystery into the tale.
Flavia is her usual self in this tale ("usual" as far as I know, having only read the first two books), running all about the town and the countryside, trying to drum up clues in the case. She also meets and befriends Fenella's granddaughter, Porcelain. "Friends" might not be the right word to describe their relationship, at least at first, though.
Flavia also continues to have the most strained relationship with her two sisters, Ophelia and Daphne (affectionally referred to as Feely and Daffy), who are constantly trying to convince Flavia that their mother did not like her, and, not only that, she's not really their sister, because their sister was stolen as a baby and she was put in the real baby's place, and so on. In one scene in this book, Feely and Daffy capture Flavia, throwing a burlap sack over her head, and drag her down to the basement to "interrogate" her.
There is a very pleasant and wonderful surprise, though, in this book, which I will leave to the reader to discover. It is something that Flavia uncovers during her efforts to find out who tried to kill Fenella and who actually killed Brookie Harewood (that's the guy hung on the statue of Poseidon).
I am firmly enamored with Ms. de Luce, and fully intend to read the rest of this series of books. I have heard that there will be more of them to come, and there may even be a movie or TV series in the works. How exciting!