From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce, #1)

Alan Bradley

Start date: June 1, 2020

Finish date: June 30, 2020

Discussion: Group reads

Why we're reading this: The first in this popular series won the poll for our June group read.
[close] The first in this popular series won the poll for our June group read.

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What Members Thought

Jul 19, 2011 Louise Culmer rated it liked it

An entertaining murder mystery set in 1950. Flavia de Luce, a precocious 11-year-old girl with a passion for chemistry, finds a man dying in the garden of her family home, and her father is suspected of having killed him. Flavia is convinced he is innocent, and sets out to prove it.

This book has some interesting characters and an ingenious plot. I didn't get any particular sense of a 50s atmosphere though, and I find it hard to believe that anyone in 1950 really refered to the telephone as 'the ...more

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Jun 22, 2010 Jessica-Robyn rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction-ya, mystery-crime, historical-fiction, cozy-vibes, canada

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a bubbling combination of some of my absolute favourite things,
- chemistry
- detective novels
- Brittan
- and girls who know know what they're doing.
Needless to say this book was written perfectly for people like me. But the more I read, the more I realized that there were things that worked in the books favour and things that didn't.

It is obvious from page one that Flavia is the definite draw of the entire story, and she is written in a way that makes her Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a bubbling combination of some of my absolute favourite things,
- chemistry
- detective novels
- Brittan
- and girls who know know what they're doing.
Needless to say this book was written perfectly for people like me. But the more I read, the more I realized that there were things that worked in the books favour and things that didn't.

It is obvious from page one that Flavia is the definite draw of the entire story, and she is written in a way that makes her super-sleuth ways believable while still retaining that she is a kid. Underneath all of her smarts and cleverness she still thinks and acts like a one, which makes following her though the mystery as she goes back and forth from murder and crime, to riding her bike and taunting her sisters incredibly fun.

The rest of the characters play a large part in charming you while giving the reader a look into what the time period was like without having the narrative point it out. They kept the mystery moving but sometimes made me wonder if they were really necessary, popping up to serve a purpose without really adding anything. One of my favourite parts of the story were the interactions of the de Luce family, they're quirkiness made me love them and this made a nice backdrop to the overall off-beat story-line.

The way that everything is written and described was also just wonderful, and the character dialogue was especially well crafted.

However, despite how overall wonderful the book is I didn't find myself liking this to the level that I like to like a book before saying that I really liked it. And this fact is what gets me in the end. I have no complaints about the book! Its plot as I said, is perfect for me and I am totally willing to gush about how enjoyable it was but this story unforchantly falls a little flat. I love the quirky detective genre in all mediums and although this is a pretty interesting mystery it just doesn't effect me in the way other things already have.

I will definitely be reading the rest of the series, which are all already on the list queuing up! I think it will be interesting to see how things progress as more of Flavia's adventures play out.

Now, I think that this is one of those books that would be especially great to recommend for people who haven't read a lot of the mystery genre and are interested in starting with a more resent series, especially crossing over from YA.

On the note of recommendations, I have to add that if you've read this book and really like it you have to, have to look into Miss Marple. ...Have you ever heard of her? She is a character written by the dame Agatha Cristie and although she is on the opposite side of Flavia's age spectrum (think wrinkles) her mysteries are set in the same general time period (I think, it can be hard to tell), same general location (Brittan) and shares that level of quirky independence when murder is afoot. There are over 10 Miss Marple novels and the BBC program is the best mystery theatre on this earth. Not that I'm a fan girl, pshaa! ;D

Bah, now I just feel wishy-washy! We'll see how I do with the rest of the books. Don't disappoint me, damn it! ...more

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May 23, 2015 Teri-K rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, amusing-to-funny, feisty-females

I might have rated this book higher, but upon reaching the end I realized I enjoyed it, but I felt a bit frustrated because I can't quite figure Flavia out. Sometimes I suspected she might be a classic sociopath - unable to identify with the feelings of others. But a couple of times she might have shown some feeling for someone else. I just wasn't sure. I did enjoy the book over all and I'll definitely try the next one. I'll be interested to see if she's any more comprehensible in that one.

I thi ...more

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Feb 23, 2011 Katie rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery

I wish there was a 3 1/2 start rating. I enjoyed reading this and the mystery was a fun one. It was also novel to have the "detective" be a young girl. But it took me a while to warm up to her as a narrator - and I got a little tired of the poison/chemistry descriptions; and when a book is written today (but set in the past), sometimes the descriptions of the past can be almost too perfect (almost like reminding you that's you're reading something written NOW - BUT set in the PAST!! - it takes y ...more

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Mar 20, 2010 Laura Anne rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery, british-isles

When I was 11 years-old --the age of heroine Flavia de Luce -- I lived in Agatha Christie books, and imagined myself an amateur sleuth. Flavia's adventure is my most outrageous imaginings with the precocious and intrepid meters turned up to eleven. Negatives: The mystery/puzzle plot wasn't the best; a bit too much repetition when going over the clues and conclusion. 3.5 stars

ETA: This a good introduction to Flavia, but the next few books in the series are excellent! ...more

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Oct 13, 2011 Ruskoley rated it really liked it

Shelves: book-1, 2009, mystery

Storyline was nothing great, but fell in love with Flavia right away. Her battles with her sisters and her sharp intellect overcome any faults of the novel. Will definitely read next in series.

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