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A review by bhnmt61
A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley
3.0
I've heard half a dozen readers say recently that they adore this series. I read the first one years ago, and while I enjoyed it, it didn't draw me in well enough to bother with reading any of the others. But I thought maybe I should try them again, so I picked up this one because it was the next one in the series that was available at our library. I got the audiobook version.
With the addition of the terrific narrator (Jayne Entwistle), I finally understood the love that other readers have for these books. I somehow hadn't been able to hear Flavia's voice in my head, but Entwistle nails it. In this installment, Flavia has her fortune told by a gypsy at a fair. When Flavia accidentally burns down the woman's tent, she ends up offering the woman a place to park her caravan for a few days. The next morning, Flavia finds her nearly beaten to death. Later, a dead body appears nearby. I thought this book took a long time to get started-- a thing happened, and then another thing happened, and then Flavia was off on several "fact finding missions" that didn't always make much sense-- but about halfway through, it started to come together and I enjoyed the second half very much. Audio version highly recommended.
With the addition of the terrific narrator (Jayne Entwistle), I finally understood the love that other readers have for these books. I somehow hadn't been able to hear Flavia's voice in my head, but Entwistle nails it. In this installment, Flavia has her fortune told by a gypsy at a fair. When Flavia accidentally burns down the woman's tent, she ends up offering the woman a place to park her caravan for a few days. The next morning, Flavia finds her nearly beaten to death. Later, a dead body appears nearby. I thought this book took a long time to get started-- a thing happened, and then another thing happened, and then Flavia was off on several "fact finding missions" that didn't always make much sense-- but about halfway through, it started to come together and I enjoyed the second half very much. Audio version highly recommended.