Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Author: Alan Bradley
Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce is an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison. It is the summer of 1950, and a series of in explicable events has struck Buckshaw, the decaying English mansion that Flavia's family calls home. A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Hours later, Flavia finds a man l...  more »
ISBN: 436772
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 500
Rating:
  ?

0 stars, based on 0 rating
Publisher: Gale
Book Type: Hardcover
Large Print: Yes
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 2
Reviews: Member | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie on + 120 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Except for seeing the end coming a mile away, I really enjoyed this book. It is unsentimental and sharply written, but also delightful. The heroine, 11-year-old Flavia, is a 'corker.' The setting of the story - a small English village in the 1950s - is a great choice. It gives the book an updated Jane Marple flavor. In fact, I would recommend this book to anyone with a fondness for Agatha Christie mysteries.
I listened to this book on CD, and the perfect choice of Jayne Entwhistle as the reader moved this book from "liked it" to "really liked it." The timbre of her voice is perfect for a precocious tween and she manages at one point to nail the accent of an American pretending to be British.
heartinthehighlands avatar reviewed The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie on + 54 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Loved this mystery. Refreshingly different. The mystery solver is an extremely precocious 11 year old girl with a relish for chemistry, in 1950's England. This is the first of the series and my favorite of the three. I have been listening to books on tape/cd for years and this is the very best match of narrator to story that I have ever come across. I would never just read these books because Jayne Entwistel IS Flavia.
Read All 3 Book Reviews of "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie"

Book Wiki

Series
Original Publication Date (YYYY-MM-DD)
People/Characters
Flavia de Luce (Primary Character)
Ophelia de Luce (Average Character)
Daphne de Luce (Average Character)
Real Places
Fictional Places
Awards and Honors

Genres: