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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

Nov 06, 2020 David Bryant rated it liked it

This is the second in the series of Flavia de Luce mysteries, and the second I have read.
This book was enjoyable and diverting (especially during the week of the 2020 US presidential election mess), but not on par with the first book. I found this one somewhat too facile. I got less of a sense of the charming 11 year-old girl than I did in the first book, which had me laughing out loud often as I read it.
Part of the difference could have been the more serious plot, involving the death of a chi This is the second in the series of Flavia de Luce mysteries, and the second I have read.
This book was enjoyable and diverting (especially during the week of the 2020 US presidential election mess), but not on par with the first book. I found this one somewhat too facile. I got less of a sense of the charming 11 year-old girl than I did in the first book, which had me laughing out loud often as I read it.
Part of the difference could have been the more serious plot, involving the death of a child, and mental illness. And my expectations may have been too high because of how charmed I had been by the first story.
In this story, Flavia seems to act essentially like an adult, and is (mostly) accepted in that role, at least in any moment when it matters. There is less of a sense of a young girl stretching her limits, either socially or intellectually, and more of a person who is solving a mystery quite readily, and who tells us she is only 11 but acts much older. Flavia is in only modest danger here. In the big climax, she fears she is in danger for a while, but actually turns out not to be. Quite the opposite, actually. Her start-to-finish revelation of the crime(s) to Inspector Hewitt might have been more effective if the plot had allowed her to reveal it more gradually. It left the Inspector looking and feeling quite foolish.
On a positive note, the story has several new and memorably interesting characters, especially the puppeteer (Rupert Porson), his assistant Nialla, Flavia's eccentric Aunt Felicity (who delivers some unexpected and welcome advice to Flavia), and Mad Meg, who contributes valuable artistry to solving the case. Each is described quite vividly and effectively.
A wonderful element was the description of the "Jack and the Beanstalk" puppet show, which Flavia quite rightly admires for its cleverness and artistry.
On another note, I appreciated the gentle and understanding way in which both the mentally ill women, Grace and Meg, were represented. I am glad we were spared learning more details about what might have been an unpleasant conclusion to Grace's story line, in particular.
All in all, good but not great. I shall look forward to reading more in the series, hoping the author will regain some of the charm from the first novel that I missed in this one.
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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 18, 2014 Ann rated it really liked it

Second in the series featuring Flavia de Luce when a man is murdered in the middle of a performance of Jack the Beanstalk at the village church. Flavia knows right away that the death wasn't natural and she sets about finding the killer.

I love Flavia and her wicked mind. She is constantly tormented by her two elder sisters and gets her revenge by sticking poisons into their makeup and other such things. She is delightful and I think this is one of the greatest series going. ...more

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