The Dead In Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley [Review]

4.5 out of 5 Robots!

  

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley
Series: Flavia de Luce Mystery #6
Genre: Mystery
Release: January 14, 2014
Hardcover: 310 Pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press
My Copy: Publisher (Edelweiss)
Reviewer: Shannon
Buy the Book: Amazon

Book Summary:

On a spring morning in 1951, eleven-year-old chemist and aspiring detective Flavia de Luce gathers with her family at the railway station, awaiting the return of her long-lost mother, Harriet. Yet upon the train's arrival in the English village of Bishop's Lacey, Flavia is approached by a tall stranger who whispers a cryptic message into her ear.

Moments later, he is dead, mysteriously pushed under the train by someone in the crowd...

Who was this man, what did his words mean, and why were they intended for Flavia? Back home at Buckshaw, the de Luces' crumbling estate, Flavia puts her sleuthing skills to the test.

Following a trail of clues sparked by the discovery of a reel of film stashed away in the attic, she unravels the deepest secrets of the de Luce clan, involving none other than Winston Churchill himself.

Surrounded by family, friends, and a famous pathologist from the Home Office - and making spectacular use of Harriet's beloved Gypsy Moth plane, Blithe Spirit - Flavia will do anything, even take to the skies, to land a killer.

(Courtesy of the Publisher)

Shannon's Thoughts:

The Flavia de Luce mysteries is one of my favorite "cozy mystery" series.  Flavia is a very precocious and intelligent 11 year old with a passion for chemistry in 1950s England.  She extremely observant and posesses a Sherlockian brilliance when it comes to solving crimes, yet still naive when it comes to relationships and feelings.  Flavia lives with her father and two sisters on a large, crumbling estate.  Her mother had gone missing some ten years earlier, but still plays an integral part of the family's life.  At the end of the fifth book, it was discovered that Harriet had been found, but it was unknown whether she was found dead or alive.  It's revealed soon after the beginning of this book that Harriet was not found alive, but her body was recovered and was being returned to Buckshaw.  

This sixth book is a bit of a departure than the previous five books.  Instead of focusing on a murder, it focuses on the family's reaction to the discovery of Harriet's body.  It is a decidely more melancholy book and a bit of a coming of age moment for Flavia.  And this book also marks a turning point in the series.  Not only does the mystery of Harriet's disappearance get resolved, but the book takes quite an unsuspected, but exciting turn.  The end makes me believe that we will see a big change in the direction of the series and I am very curious and excited to see how it plays out.  I think we can expect big things from Flavia de Luce in the future.

Other books in this series in the order that they should be read:
1. The Sweetest at the Bottom of Pie
2. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
3. A Red Herring Without Mustard
4. I Am Half Sick of Shadows
5. Speaking From Among the Bones
6. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches

Disclosure:  I reviewed a copy free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.