I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley
Review by Cheryl (Spuddie)
It’s Christmas 1950 in England and Flavia de Luce, the eleven-year-old sleuthing chemistry-whiz, is determined to answer that age-old question of children everywhere: is there, or is there not a real Santa Claus? (Or a ‘Father Christmas’ as he is called in England.) Her mean-spirited older sisters assure her there is not, but although Flavia is precocious in many ways, she still has a wide-eyed innocence about Father Christmas and wants fervently to believe. Her plans to build a trap for the merry old elf and prove his existence to her sisters are interrupted when it is announced that her father has made a deal with a film company who are now–just a few days before Christmas–descending upon Buckshaw, the crumbling de Luce family mansion, for a substantial fee in order to keep the family afloat for another few months.
The family is rather disgruntled about the invasion until they learn that the lead role in the film is to be played by the very famous Phyllis Wyvern. Agog at having such a celebrity in their midst, the de Luces–and indeed the whole village of Bishop’s Lacey–step back in awe as they watch preparations for filming. Flavia of course is no respecter of persons famous, so she jumps right into conversation with Miss Wyvern and has a couple of interesting conversations with her. Nearly the whole village turns up at Buckshaw to watch an impromptu performance of a scene from Romeo and Juliet featuring Miss Wyvern and their departure is delayed by a fierce snowstorm that traps everyone indoors for many hours, leaving the limited Buckshaw staff consisting only of Mrs. Mullett (the cook and housekeeper) and Dogger (the general dogsbody) run off their feet. When Flavia discovers Miss Wyvern’s dead body a few hours after the performance, strangled with a length of cinematic film, she has plenty of time to examine the evidence as Inspector Hewitt’s arrival is also delayed by the storm. Despite his warnings to her to keep her nose clean, Flavia manages to uncover the vital clues needed to solve the mystery.
This was another wonderful entry in this charming series, although I suspect that it is a series that you either love or hate–I don’t think Flavia can ever be accused of inspiring people to feel indifference about her! She often seems so old beyond her eleven years–I think in part due to her chemistry knowledge and powers of reasoning–that it was a little refreshing in this book to see her as the child she really is with regard to her hoping there really is a Santa Claus. The series has something for most readers–historical detail of post-war Britain, plenty of classic literary and music references, clever wordplay and an impish sense of humor, and of course, a murder mystery–although to be honest, the mystery part is almost secondary to the annual visit with Flavia and her wonderful extended family.
I have always listened to the audio versions of these books and they are wonderfully read by Jayne Entwistle, who does voices very well but more importantly, sets the tone of the de Luce household and Flavia in particular exactly right. If you have never read a book in this series, I recommend starting with the first one, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, to see if you and Flavia are a good match.
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I have the first 2 books on my TBR pile, I have heard good things about this series, Thanks for the great review Cheryl!