The Grave's a Fine and Private Place : A Flavia de Luce Novel

Description NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "The worlds greatest adolescent British chemist/busybody/sleuth" (The Seattle Times), Flavia de Luce, returns in a twisty mystery novel from award-winning author Alan Bradley. In the wake of an unthinkable family tragedy, twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce is struggling to fill her empty days. For a needed escape, Dogger, the loyal family servant, suggests a boating trip for Flavia and her two older sisters. As their punt drifts past the church where a notorious vicar had recently dispatched three of his female parishioners by spiking their communion wine with cyanide, Flavia, an expert chemist with a passion for poisons, is ecstatic. Suddenly something grazes her fingers as she dangles them in the water. She clamps down on the object, imagining herself Ernest Hemingway battling a marlin, and pulls up what she expects will be a giant fish. But in Flavias grip is something far better: a human head, attached to a human body. If anything could take Flavias mind off sorrow, it is solving a murder--although one that may lead the young sleuth to an early grave. Praise for The Graves a Fine and Private Place "Flavia [is] irrepressible, precocious and indefatigable. . . . A whole new chapter of Flavias life opens as she approaches adolescence. Will she become the Madame Curie of crime?"--Bookreporter "Outstanding . . . As usual, Bradley makes his improbable series conceit work and relieves the plots inherent darkness with clever humor."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Theres only one Flavia. . . . Series fans will anticipate the details of this investigation, along with one last taste of Flavias unorthodox family life."--Library Journal (starred review) "Bradleys unquenchable heroine brings the most complicated case I had ever come across to a highly satisfying conclusion, with the promise of still brighter days ahead."--Kirkus Reviews