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sophiarose1816 's review for:
What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust
by Alan Bradley
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Sheer ecstasy being back in rural England of the 1950’s visiting the old Buckshaw estate and quaint village of Bishop’s Lacey following the eccentric teenage Flavia de Luce for her latest investigative escapades. Alan Bradley has made my year by returning to this series after a five-year hiatus. Flavia is back, a little older, but still as irrepressible as ever.
What Time the Sextant’s Spade Doth Rust is the eleventh book in a series that is best in order as the character of Flavia and her life build from book to book.
Right away, I know adults are wondering if this is a Middle Grade or Young Adult series because of the age of the protagonist, but no, these are very much an all-age series of historical mysteries. In fact, I’d argue that adults are the aim because some of the content would fly right by younger readers and is meant to be appreciated by mature readers.
Flavia is the youngest of three eccentric sisters living with their widowed father and Dogger, all around servant from butler to gardener to valet to chauffeur and handyman in the ramshackle Buckshaw estate house. Over time, the once wealthy family has fallen on hard times in the later generations and can barely pay the taxes let alone repair the roof.
The de Luce family including Flavia are not the types for familial love or tenderness- quite the opposite, in fact. Ophelia is gorgeous, often peevish, and musically inclined, Daphne is an introverted bookish genius sort, and Flavia, the youngest, is the chemical genius. The girls are terrible to each other while their stern father, Colonel de Luce is mostly oblivious in his study caught up in his stamps and still struggling after losing his wife and affected by his time as a prisoner of war. But, when the chips are down, they can count on each other.
Flavia is a quirky sleuth who captured my heart from the early pages of book one and I’ve enjoyed seeing the eleven year old chemist genius slowly grow up in an unusual household facing life’s most difficult challenges even as she tackles local murder mysteries sometimes with and more often in competition with the local police. This latest has her determined to keep their cook, Mrs. Mullet, from being arrested. Flavia feels she is on her own now that Pheely is traveling for her honeymoon, father is passed away, Daffy is indifferent and her younger cousin Undine is being a nuisance. Only faithful Dogger can be depended on.
There was a huge stunner in this one and it was a series game changer. I really don’t know what to make of it. Flavia solves the murder mystery and even learns to appreciate Undine even as she feels all at sea about leaving her childhood behind, but yeah, that big shocker has me really needing to have a new installment soon. If readers want something rather different in their historical cozy mysteries including a youthful amateur sleuth with a sense of the macabre about her, give the Flavia de Luce books a go.