Book Review: As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley

Thank you to NetGalley.com & Random House Publishing Group for a digital copy of this wonderful book 

and Flavia's latest adventure, in exchange for my honest review.

FYI: This book is expected to be published on January 6th, 2015. 

Spoiler alert! If you didn't finish the previous book, don't read my review!

Hard on the heels of the return of her mother’s body from the frozen reaches of the Himalayas, Flavia, for her indiscretions, is banished from her home at Buckshaw and shipped across the ocean to Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy in Toronto, her mother’s alma mater, there to be inducted into a mysterious organization known as the Nide...

via goodreads.com 

Yaroo! Flavia is back! But banished... 

Flavia, who finally turned 12, had to leave her beloved Buckshaw to attend her late mother's school in Canada. After being very sad and homesick while sailing across the Atlantic ocean, Flavia's time at Miss Bodycote's starts off with a "BAM!" - to be more specific: A human skeleton wrapped up in a Union Jack falling out of the chimney in her bedroom during her first night at the academy.

Who is this corpse? 
How long has it been there? 
Who's the killer?

Our favorite detective solves this case the Flavia-way! She soon has a notebook full of suspects, and access to a chemistry lab to proof it.

I thought I would miss Buckshaw, the rest of the de Luce family, Doggar, Mrs. M, Bishops Lacey. But I fell in love with all the new characters right away!

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

I was so happy to receive a digital copy of her newest Adventure. To be honest, it was one of the reasons, I've bought my Kindle. Alan Bradley just finished another awesome book of the "Flavia de Luce" series! I hope there will be more to come!

  Check out my amazing sponsor:

Do you know Flavia de Luce? // Bookworm

If you follow my little blog for a while, you know I'm a bookworm. I read almost every day! I don't do e-book readers though. I might give it a try one day, but so far I need a real book in my hand. I love the paper, I love the smell. I would miss it. And I want to keep at least one part of my life tech-free!

We have this lovely little bookstore downtown El Dorado. Since I'm trying to support my local dealers as good as possible, I go there as soon as I have a feeling I will be running out of reading material soon.

The other day I was there to pick up a book I ordered, when I saw a few books on the shelf, all with similar covers. I LOVE series. I miss the characters of the stories as soon as I finish a book. So series give me the chance to spend a little more time with them.

That day I decided to pick up the first book of the Flavia de Luce series, which is called "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie". And I didn't regret it one day! The Author is Alan Bradley.

It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath. 

For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”

via goodreads.com

The first few pages were a little weird to read. I had to get used to the way Alan Bradley writes I guess. And since Flavia, a 11 year old girl, is the narrator, it all adds up to a whole new reading experience.

The book was well received by critics as an old-fashioned mystery featuring an unforgettable protagonist (Flavia). The novel has won multiple awards and is the first in a proposed 6-book series. Currently I own 1-5. I will definitely order the remaining one as well.



I finished the first book in s few days, bought the number 2-5 right away, and right now I am about to finish reading the 3rd one, which is called "A Red Herring Without Mustard". The books have the weirdest names, and (IMO) not the nicest covers, but I think they are awesome, funny, entertaining.... A MUST READ! If you love mystery and black humor.

Goodreads.com sums the series up: 

"Precocious 11-year old fascinated with chemistry and death bicycles around Bishop's Lacey from ancient country house Buckshaw in 1950s England."

  Check out my amazing sponsor: