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I Am Half-Sick of Shadows (Flavia de Luce, #4)

Alan Bradley

Start date: June 15, 2021

Finish date: July 8, 2021

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Apr 11, 2021 David Bryant rated it really liked it

This was the fourth in the Flavia de Luce series, and my fourth as well. (It is somewhat helpful to read them in order, but not essential to have read the second or third before reading this one, I think.)
This story was quite different from the first three in certain ways. First, it was set entirely in the family home, Buckshaw, versus in the village or neighboring towns. This leads to my first minor annoyance -- I wish there was a map of the house. Previous books have had maps of the area so th This was the fourth in the Flavia de Luce series, and my fourth as well. (It is somewhat helpful to read them in order, but not essential to have read the second or third before reading this one, I think.)
This story was quite different from the first three in certain ways. First, it was set entirely in the family home, Buckshaw, versus in the village or neighboring towns. This leads to my first minor annoyance -- I wish there was a map of the house. Previous books have had maps of the area so that we could see the relationships among the communities, the farms mentioned, and so on. This one involved many different rooms in the house, in two or three wings. Much is made of the division of the house into two sectors long ago, but we are given no visual aids to help us understand where everyone is at various critical junctures in the story.
Second, the house was mobbed with people! In addition to the de Luce family, an entire film company and at least half the town residents are all in the house at once!
And third, I think this story was the most dangerous for Flavia, so far. She really put herself out on a...limb, shall we say, this time (trying to avoid the obvious spoiler).
Which brings me to my second complaint. Now perhaps it is because I am engineer, but I wanted to understand the arrangement of the roof and its chimneys because they are critical to certain portions of the plot. There is one scene in particular that I had difficulty picturing because I could not understand the roof geometry -- was it flat? I always think of residential roofs as sloped, but perhaps this one was not. And there was no good way to understand the relative position of the doorway onto the roof and the various chimneys. Reading that scene was rather like trying to watch aa action movie with a blindfold on.
As a story, I liked it. There is a healthy does of interesting new characters, most especially the murder victim. I particularly enjoyed the scenes in which Flavia bonded with the victim. (The scene in the bath was wonderful!)
My one hesitation is that the story was so extremely far-fetched -- more so than the three before it, I think -- that it was a bit annoying in how far it stretched my ability to suspend my disbelief. Nonetheless, it was enjoyable and I plowed right through it. It was good to have on a recent rather dreary Sunday afternoon.
As a side note, I was quite touched by the ending moment in which Flavia's father does something so seemingly out of character that it was startling. But it was sweet and sentimental, quite a lovely ending. I say this even though I am not a fan of Shakespeare, and will say no more! ...more

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