Tuesday, 19 July 2022

Alan Bradley - As Chimney Sweepers Come To Dust


 
Rating: 4/5
 
Review:
Another enjoyable Flavia adventure 
 
I enjoyed this instalment of Flavia’s adventures more than I expected to. It’s not the best of the series by any means, but I still found it involving and a pleasure to read.

Flavia is “banished” to Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy in Toronto to further her education. She is of course devastated to leave Buckshaw, but a mystery and possible murder (or murders) soon engages her attention, while it emerges that Miss Bodycote’s is not an ordinary finishing school.

The exile from Buckshaw does diminish things a bit, and it’s not the same without Daffy, Feely, the marvellous Dogger and others, but the mystery is intriguing and well developed, and Flavia’s narrative voice is as engaging and entertaining as ever. She is also now making some rather shrewd comments about people’s behaviour and I’m enjoying her developing maturity in this way.

It has to be said that there are some oddly unresolved pieces of plot and the solution felt a little rushed, but I still enjoyed the book very much. I’m also delighted to see her heading home and look forward to the next instalment.

No comments:

Post a Comment