The first five books in this series are formulaic (in a good way). Flavia finds a mystery in her tiny English town and then she solves it, with the help of various family members and neighbors. In more recent books, Alan Bradley has introduced some truly world-shaking events into the de Luce family. I have never written a long series like this, but I have to imagine that Mr. Bradley knows exactly where he is taking our beloved Flavia.
This is where some of my frustration comes into play though--each book seems to change the family, but we don't really get a chance to see what it looks like before the next crisis occurs. Books seven and eight seemed to hint that the books would go in an entirely new direction and finally give us some answers about the lives and work of Flavia's parents and aunt. But we still haven't received any of those answers and this book felt to me a bit like the middle book in a trilogy--we needed some more information before we could get back to the real action.
The mystery itself in The Grave's A Fine and Private Place is a good one and it's interesting to see the lives of people who don't live in Bishop's Lacey. I also loved seeing Flavia grow up a bit; she even takes a young boy under her wing as a sort of mentor. Most of all, I'm excited to see what happens to Flavia and the family in book ten (which will purportedly be the last one). This story ends with the suggestion of a big change, so I hope we actually get to see what that looks like in book ten and see how all of these threads will come together for Flavia.
The Grave's A Fine and Private Place
Flavia de Luce #9
By Alan Bradley
Bantam January 2018
384 pages
Read via Netgalley
I haven't read this series, but I have customers who are quite devoted to it. I like your point about the problem with a story arc when dealing with a younger protagonist and not being able to see the growth before the next crisis hits.
ReplyDeleteI'm so interested to see what happens in the last book (if it is the last) and how Bradley brings all of these big things together.
DeleteI haven't gotten past book three in this series yet, but that's mostly because my library doesn't have them. I'll have to find another way to keep reading, because I love Flavia!
ReplyDeleteOh no! I've managed to find several of them at Barnes and Noble on the discount book table. Maybe you could pick up a few there too!
DeleteI have this book on hold at the library and am impatiently waiting for my copy to come in because I love Flavia and all her many adventures. :)
ReplyDeleteMe too. It's always a delight to read about her adventures.
DeleteI like Flavia too very much. Not read this one though. Thank you for the review.
ReplyDeleteI hate it when books leave you hanging when there are so many unanswered questions.
ReplyDeleteThis book has a really interesting cover!
I read the first book in this series, years ago, and really liked it. It sounds like this was a good read, even though it lacked forward momentum.
ReplyDeletehttps://clarefavarawriter.wordpress.com/
I agree that she was more mature with Hob but I also think she was less mature with Dogger for at least a good chunk of the book. She was always so careful with the things she said and in this one she had at least three big "oops!" moments that didn't seem like they fit. I think this was supposed to show that she was distracted but then, when she was doing other things, she didn't seem distracted at all. A bit uneven like that but overall, I still love the series!
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