The Grave's a Fine and Private Place

The Grave's a Fine and Private Place (#721) is Alan Bradley's ninth book in his Flavia de Luce mystery series, one of my favorites.  I don't think there's anyone else quite like Flavia in the literary world.  Her passion is chemistry, and as a precocious twelve year old living on an isolated estate in Post WWII England, she has the time to devote to scientific investigation and experimentation, whether that's tormenting her two older sisters, or poking into local suspicious deaths.  It's not as hard as it may seem, since trouble has a way of finding Flavia.


Flavia's father has recently died, and the entire household is having a difficult time adjusting to his loss  Dogger, his faithful batmen, suggests a driving trip in the country, now that gas rationing has been lifted.  An afternoon's quiet punting trip brings their holiday to a sudden halt when Flavia snags a body submerged in the river.  It just so happens that the corpse is found at the same village where the notorious Canon Whitbread had poisoned three of his elderly parishioners with communion wine several years previously.


Flavia just can't help herself by poking around the village, but she is showing signs of growing up.  She manages to make some brief, but real connections with her sisters Daffy and Feely.  Of course she does stir things up to the point where she nearly become a victim herself. 


One of the most surprising things to happen in this book, though, concerns Dogger, and a chance encounter with close friend.  Things may be looking up for all the residents of Buckshaw, now Flavia's property.  I just had to love a mystery that quotes the Anglican Communion Service so extensively.  Flavia is Roman Catholic herself, but her years of attending St. Tancred's in Bishop's Lacey pay off here! 


Just a note if you are thinking of reading this wonderful series; it's best read from the beginning (The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie)  in order to really appreciate it, but you'll be glad you did..