A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia de Luce #3)

by Alan Bradley

half a million cigarettes.

From my own early chemical experiments in the laboratory at Buckshaw, I had verified that in some cases, such as when iron is combusted in an atmosphere of pure oxygen, oxidation is a wolf that tears hungrily at its food: so hungrily, in fact, that the iron bursts into flames.

A good example of the mood, viewpoint, and prose in these books.

What we call fire is really no more than our old friend oxidation working at fever pitch.

You even get to learn neat things 😉

“You lie when you are attacked for nothing … for the color of your eyes.” “Yes,” I said. “I suppose I do.” I had never really thought of it in this way.

Yes; when someone puts you in a position where lying is required for self preservation, you must do it.