The Grave's a Fine and Private Place

The Grave's a Fine and Private Place is the 9th Flavia de Luce novel by Alan Bradley. I don't think that Flavia is really an acquired taste, though I seem to be more delighted by each addition to the series.  Flavia is wickedly wryly funny (and clever) and Bradley is a gifted author.  She and her dogsbody/batman, appropriately named Dogger are a force to be reckoned with and outmaneuver, outflank and outwit all comers. 

I wouldn't recommend this book as a standalone.  I do think that all the necessary background info is provided for doing so, but there are a number of spoilers/plot twists from previous entries which are referred to in this book.  Much more fun to find a rainy fall weekend and binge read the whole series.

For readers who are unfamiliar with Flavia, she's not your average adolescent. She's self contained and prodigiously interested in chemistry and crime.  Dogger does the heavy lifting.

I don't often laugh out loud at books, but I have done so with every single one of the Flavia books.

I have recommended these books to my circle of crime-reading friends and the verdicts seem to be almost evenly split between 'wonderful' and 'no, thanks'.  Definitely worth a try if you appreciate very well crafted mysteries with a touch of the absurd and/or slightly gallows humor.

Info:
Release date: 30 Jan 2018.
384 pages, available in hardback, paperback, audio and ebook formats.

Five stars in my appreciative estimation. Long may she reign!


Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.