From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag (Flavia de Luce, #2)

Alan Bradley

Start date: October 17, 2020

Finish date: November 10, 2020

Discussion: Buddy reads

Why we're reading this: Second in the Flavia series, after group members enjoyed the first book.
[close] Second in the Flavia series, after group members enjoyed the first book.

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What Members Thought

Dec 08, 2017 Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore added it

Shelves: mystery, series, murder, flavia-de-luce, alan-bradley

I think I enjoyed this second of Flavia de Luce’s adventures even more than the first. This time around, a travelling puppet show comes to Bishop’s Lacey. Their van having broken down there, puppeteer Rupert Porson decides to put on two shows at the Vicarage Hall, a matinee for the children and another in the evening for everyone else. Flavia who happens to be in the graveyard when Porson’s van has broken down is roped in to help. All is not right between Porson and his assistant (also girlfrien I think I enjoyed this second of Flavia de Luce’s adventures even more than the first. This time around, a travelling puppet show comes to Bishop’s Lacey. Their van having broken down there, puppeteer Rupert Porson decides to put on two shows at the Vicarage Hall, a matinee for the children and another in the evening for everyone else. Flavia who happens to be in the graveyard when Porson’s van has broken down is roped in to help. All is not right between Porson and his assistant (also girlfriend) Nialla, and Flavia soon finds that while the van breaking down may have been accidental, Porson is not a stranger to Bishop’s Lacey. The matinee show is a great hit, but when Flavia and her family return for the evening show, Rupert is killed just as he is ending the show. Rupert may have been a genius with his work but with people he was not, and soon enough Flavia finds, there are more than one who could have done the act. Alongside, Flavia’s aunt Felicity is visiting at Buckshaw, something the family is not very thrilled about, Flavia’s father is grappling with money issues, and Feely and Daffy continue to “torture” poor Flavia from time to time.

This was as I said a very entertaining instalment in the Flavia de Luce series. Like book 1, I enjoyed the chemistry and Flavia’s attempts at getting back at her sisters as well as all the literary references/allusions besides also the popular references. I also love the timeline at the back which gives one a good insight into what things were like in the ‘50s―not only politics and major developments but also prices and things. From the point of view of the mystery too I thought this pretty good―I did guess what the murder related to but not the who or the how―lots of complex relationships, secrets, and mysterious goings on, quite a bit of it hidden even from the village gossips. Flavia’s “voice” and her spunk are what make me really like her, though even in this one she doesn’t quite sound entirely like an eleven-year-old. Great fun!
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Apr 17, 2015 Shannon Teper rated it liked it

Shelves: british-mystery

***Contains spoilers***
I want to like this series. I like the idea of a child who is a genius at chemistry rambling around a huge manor house solving mysteries one step ahead of the police. Still, I am having trouble believing in Flavia as a child narrator. Her insights and knowledge often go beyond believability for a even a precocious eleven year old child.

I also wish I liked the characters better. Like real people so often are, the characters in this book are uncharitable and self-absorbed f ...more

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Feb 18, 2021 Dipanjan rated it liked it

"The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag" is the 2nd mystery starring the 11-year-old sleuth-cum-toxicologist, Flavia de Luce.

The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag picks up where 2009’s The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie left off, and like the first book, this one mines the vein of human sadness that exists alongside the fun and skullduggery. Along with Flavia’s isolation—she may not be the only living child in Bishop’s Lacey, but it feels like she is—Bradley’s far-reaching examination of ...more

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Feb 17, 2017 Jill rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: alan-bradley

I love these books! Flavia who is only 10, going on 11 is so likeable. You can't really call her a little girl, as she is more of a small adult without being a precocious being. She thinks and says things that us adults would only ever think and not actually put into words, but she also knows when to hold her tongue. I really enjoy the freedom that she has in the 1950's. She is the one who solves the crimes, although I don't think the crime seems as important as it is her that makes the book com ...more

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