New Flavia de Luce book

[Tom]

I recently read Alan Bradley's newest Flavia de Luce book, I Am Half-Sick of Shadows. It had a little different flavor from the previous books. Has anyone else had a chance to read this?

[Kimberly]

I read the first tow adn thought the second was slightly off also. will have to visit the library and get the newest one to see

[Amy]

I read it, too. It was okay, but for some reason, didn't have quite the same bouyant, bouncy, fun flavor of the others.

I mean, I loved it and will definitely buy the next one, but it felt more as if an editor were slowly rubbing off all the little warts that made the first few so unique and fun, and making it smoother and more...mainstream. That sounds weird, I know, but it's often the reason I avoid best sellers like the plague and often "go off of" a writer's books. It certainly hasn't reached that point and may never, but...I did notice a slight difference in overall tone.

I've been noticing it in Charles Todd's Rutledge series, as well. The more recent ones are smoother and somehow less engaging for me, although again, I will continue to read them because I like them.

Now one author who hasn't seemed to have this happen to him is Fowler with his Bryant & May books. They are fantastic and so far, I haven't noticed a huge change, although like any series of books, you always find ones that you like better than others.

[David]

I gave up on this series halfway through "Red Herring...", the third book. I see in the fourth book, Flavia is STILL 11 years old. Is it silly for this to be a stumbling block for me? Will the girl ever turn 12? Even J.K. Rowling didn't try to eternally prolong a successful series by not allowing Harry Potter to age. Now it starts to get ridiculous how many murder mysteries you can be around as a child in the country in one year of your life. By the way, I found the first one "Sweetness..." delightful.

[Amy]

I understand your concern, although it doesn't actually bother me. She can stay the same age forever for me, because I don't see the books as her life's story so much as a quirky series of mysteries. It's not a progression, so much as individual stories.

If you look at Sue Grafton, she's got dozens of mysteries and her heroine ages very slowly (pretty much not at all). I tend to read each story as separate, which I think helps with this.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy them more, but I do understand.

[David]

I just would love to see a natural progression. I could understand two books for one age, but I would love to see what she'll be like as a twelve year old, or a teenager, or eventually a young woman. This series has so much potential, but Alan Bradley loves that 11th year. I also got worn out with the animosity of her siblings and the bad-mouthing of how her mother felt towards her. I still highly recommend the first book to all my mystery loving friends. I think it's a first-rate stand alone book. The second one wasn't bad, only that the mystery took a while to develop.

[Amy]

Well, maybe Alan Bradley will read your comments and age her a bit, although I hope it is very, very slowly. I think the books would lose some of their charm as she grows up.

But we shall see how it pregresses. I also agree with you that the first one is definitely the best so far, but that is so often true of any author's books. Sometimes, the first remains the best.