The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Pages: 370
Intended Audience: Written for adults but suitable for mature tweens and up.
Genre: Mystery / Historical
Notes for Parents: It’s a murder mystery so it contains…murder! However, there is no inappropriate language, sexuality, or graphic violence.

The Back Cover

Meet eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison.
It is the summer of 1950—and a series of inexplicable events has struck Buckshaw, the decaying English mansion that Flavia’s family calls home. A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned in its beak. Hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath. For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the first in a series of 10 books intended by the Canadian author.

What’s good?

Excellent characters and rich, sophisticated writing, make this a clever murder mystery starring an unexpected 11-year-old sleuth in 1950s England. Flavia’s tenacity is highly entertaining as she makes it her mission to solve the mystery of the dead man in the cucumber patch (yet she still finds time to run experiments on her annoying sisters.) Flavia is both incorrigible and adorable, a mad scientist in the body of a bold, but also lonely, little girl. The plot moves smartly once her investigation begins.
Best Part: Dogger.

What isn’t good?

At times, the language is heavy and the narration rambles on well beyond what’s necessary. Flavia’s pretentiousness is off-putting at times and her level of genius requires a bit of suspension of disbelief.  Many of the pop culture references will be lost on anyone younger than 50!
Worst part: The way she experiments on her sisters is a bit disturbing.

Recommendation þþþoo

A slow start made me put this book down for a while, but I’m glad I picked it back up. Flavia is wonderfully smart and tenacious without apology. She manages to get herself into pickles (trouble) on a regular basis but uses her well-honed sense of logic to get out. Although the language will be a bit daunting for some younger readers, I definitely recommend giving this book a try.

Bradley, Alan. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. [Toronto]: Anchor Canada, 2009.