The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Novel Author: Alan Bradley | Language: English | ISBN:
B0030DHPH0 | Format: EPUB
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Novel Description
BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Alan Bradley's
A Red Herring Without Mustard, discussion questions, and an essay by the author.
Flavia de Luce, a dangerously smart eleven-year-old with a passion for chemistry and a genius for solving murders, thinks that her days of crime-solving in the bucolic English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey are over—until beloved puppeteer Rupert Porson has his own strings sizzled in an unfortunate rendezvous with electricity. But who’d do such a thing, and
why? Does the madwoman who lives in Gibbet Wood know more than she’s letting on? What about Porson’s charming but erratic assistant? All clues point toward a suspicious death years earlier and a case the local constables can’t solve—without Flavia’s help. But in getting so close to who’s secretly pulling the strings of this dance of death, has our precocious heroine finally gotten in way over her head?
- File Size: 1278 KB
- Print Length: 386 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0553840894
- Publisher: Dell (March 9, 2010)
- Sold by: Random House LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B0030DHPH0
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,570 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
Second in the series featuring young Flavia de Luce, The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag has our young heroine embroiled in yet another sticky situation or two, trying to uncover the identity of a murderer who dared do the deed in the middle of a performance of Jack the Beanstalk at the village church. As it just so happens, Flavia and her family, including Aunt Felicity (a new arrival to this series) are in the audience watching as the death occurs. Flavia knows right away that the death wasn't natural, as does the family gardener and general man-about-the-house Dogger, and she sets about finding the killer. But that's not all that Flavia knows, and as she uses her observations to help guide her, other mysteries, long kept hidden in the little village of Bishop's Lacey, begin to be revealed, perhaps not to some people's liking.
Once again Alan Bradley has done a fantastic job relating the story of Flavia deLuce, that child genius who was first introduced in his first novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Bradley has not let up on his excellent writing, indeed, in this novel, the characters all become more real, more fleshed out, and he adds some new and quirky characters into the village of Bishop's Lacey. The mystery element of this novel is much stronger and runs deeper than in the first novel, and the reader finds himself or herself this time with several suspects from which to choose, all with their own private motives for murder. But once again, the strength isn't so much in the mystery, but rather in the other elements of the novel. For example, there's the struggle of Haviland deLuce (Flavia's father) to keep the family home, Buckshaw.
In "The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag," Alan Bradley successfully continues his Flavia DeLuce mysteries. Flavia, the precocious and wickedly funny heroine, begins narrating this novel while lying in the church's graveyard as she contemplates her own death. No, she is not thinking of suicide, but rather how sorry her family would be if she were no longer alive. Macabre as is sounds, Flavia's thoughts are so humorous that you will find yourself smiling.
While she is still in the churchyard, Vicar Richardson introduces Flavia to the famous puppeteer, Rupert Porson and his assistant Nialla. In exchange for assistance - Rupert's van is in need of repairs - the two are asked to perform in the parish hall. During the entertainment, Rupert dies suddenly; the circumstances of his death are, of course, suspicious. Once again, Flavia is drawn into the mystery of an untimely death. It is while she is delving into this matter that she begins to tie in the facts of five year old Robin Inglesby's hanging death several years before. Using her deductive reasoning skills and perception of human nature, Flavia is able, once again, to solve the mystery of Rupert's death as well as bringing to light the real story of Robin's death.
Readers who enjoy tongue-in-cheek humor; well-written, literate text; and good character development will delight in the Flavia DeLuce mysteries. As in "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie," Alan Bradley uses Flavia's family members and their dynamics to add dimension to Flavia's personality and character. The book moves along nicely and will hold your interest throughout. I will continue to look forward to other Flavia DeLuce mysteries; each has its own unique flavor and does not seem to be following a formula.
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