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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Group reads

* VOTE NOW for November 2025 group read!
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last updated Sep 07, 2025 01:29AM

* Sept 25: Lonesome Road (#3 Miss Silver Mysteries) by Patricia Wentworth
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last updated Sep 13, 2025 09:27AM

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What Members Thought

Oct 17, 2017 Allison P rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I absolutely adored this book! Great characters, unique mystery and British. What more could you want? 😍

1 like · Like · see review

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

Shelves: amusing-to-funny, mystery, 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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Jul 16, 2016 Shabbeer Hassan rated it really liked it

Shelves: detective-thriller, 2016

Truthfully speaking, I didn't even know about Alan Bradley or the clever little protagonist Flavia de Luce but was more drawn by the neat title of the book. Not overtime you get a mystery book in which the protagonist is a 13 year girl with a penchant for chemistry (poisons in particular). But don't let her age fool you, for she is quite cunning and every bit of clever as any other detectives of note you might have heard of. So Flavia de Luce, keep on solving those mysteries in the most uncharac ...more

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Oct 13, 2011 Ruskoley rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery, book-1, 2009

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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