Review: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

I have been telling myself to write this review for a couple of weeks now, and finally, here we are! Despite my inability to stick to any sort of schedule, I am SO excited to talk about this book. Last month, I read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, and I devoured every bit of it.

Hands down, the most compelling aspect of this story (and my favorite) is the main character, Flavia de Luce. Flavia is eleven. She is the youngest of three sisters. She is clever, precocious…and a little bit scary. Flavia is obsessed with, and quite adept at, chemistry. In her rambling ancestral home, she fights and plots against her sisters, tries to understand her father, contemplates her mother (declared dead after going missing while adventuring) and takes care of her father’s friend and the family’s handyman, who was severely affected by the War.

While some of Flavia’s actions are suspect (I won’t give them away here…but poison) she is incredibly endearing and absolutely enjoyable. Some of her decisions are those of a child who sees things as black and white, while her reasoning abilities and ability to work out a mystery show that she is clever beyond her years. I can’t wait to read more in the series!

Recommendation:

If you love British mysteries, cozy mysteries, British cozy mysteries set in the past, precocious sleuths, beautiful and artful language, poisons, family intrigue and mystery, and a delightfully odd family…READ THIS BOOK.

** The only slight con about this story is I figured out who the murderer was before the murderer was revealed. Normally, I prefer to not know until the reveal (one of the reasons I adore Agatha Christie) figuring it out didn’t ruin the story for me. 🙂

I already have the second book ready to go, but I’m going to wait a month or so to read it since I have so many other books queued up!

What are you reading right now? I need more books to add to my “to-read” list, especially during this time.

I hope you are all hanging in there and as always, keep reading!