***SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING MARTIN FREEMAN, JONATHAN PRYCE, AND TOBY JONES***
NATIONAL AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“Flavia de Luce is one of the most amusing female sleuths in mystery fiction . . . [and] Bradley’s humorous narrative style is the best in the business. May Alan Bradley live to be a hundred and write a new book every year, and may Flavia never grow up.” —New York Journal of Books
In spite of being ejected from Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy in Toronto, twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce is excited to be sailing home to England. But instead of a joyous homecoming, she is greeted with unfortunate news: Her father has fallen ill. With Flavia’s blasted sisters and insufferable cousin, Undine, underfoot, Buckshaw now seems both too empty—and not empty enough. Only too eager to run an errand for the vicar’s wife, Flavia goes to deliver a message to a reclusive wood-carver. Finding the front door ajar, she enters and stumbles upon the poor man’s body hanging upside down on the back of his bedroom door. The only living creature in the house is a feline that shows little interest in the disturbing scene. Curiosity may not kill this cat, but Flavia is energized at the prospect of a new investigation. What awaits her will shake her to the very core.
National and New York Times Bestseller
“Flavia de Luce is one of the most amusing female sleuths in mystery fiction . . . [and] Bradley’s humorous narrative style is the best in the business. May Alan Bradley live to be a hundred and write a new book every year, and may Flavia never grow up.” —New York Journal of Books
“There is such a thing as willing suspension of disbelief brought on by sheer outlandish charm, and that’s what [Alan] Bradley and some delicious writing have tapped.” —London Free Press “Mystery fans seeking novels of wit, an immersive English countryside setting and rich characterizations will be rewarded with this newest entry in the award-winning series.” —Library Journal, starred review
“Bradley’s preteen heroine comes through in the end with a series of deductions so clever she wants to hug herself. So will you.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Flavia’s a winner, a mix of sparky irreverence and wrathful propriety.” —Publishers Weekly
“Flavia’s first-person narration reveals her precocious intellect as well as her youthful vulnerability.” —Shelf Awareness
“Bradley’s heroine is one of the most delightful, and one of the sharpest, sleuths to come along in a long, long time.” —Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
“The preteen version of Miss Marple. . . . In addition to the meticulous investigations, what makes these novels, including this eighth in the series, so enjoyable is the personality of the primary character who, while being a murder investigator savant, is also an emotionally vulnerable little girl. It is a very unusual combination . . . and it works.” —MysteryScene
“A Flavia de Luce mystery is a bitter, dark and thoroughly scrumptious treat. . . . Highly recommended; don’t miss this!” —Historical Novel Society
Alan Bradley is the New York Times bestselling author of many short stories, children’s stories, newspaper columns, and the memoir The Shoebox Bible. His first Flavia de Luce novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, received the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award, the Dilys Winn Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Agatha Award, the Macavity Award, and the Barry Award, and was nominated for the Anthony Award. His other Flavia de Luce novels are The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag, A Red Herring Without Mustard, I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Speaking from Among the Bones, The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust, Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d, The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place, The Golden Tresses of the Dead, and What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust, as well as the ebook short story “The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse.” Numb Were the Beadsman’s Fingers, the twelfth novel in the Flavia de Luce series, will be published in Fall 2026. He lives and writes on an island in the middle of the Irish Sea.
View titles by Alan Bradley
***SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING MARTIN FREEMAN, JONATHAN PRYCE, AND TOBY JONES***
NATIONAL AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“Flavia de Luce is one of the most amusing female sleuths in mystery fiction . . . [and] Bradley’s humorous narrative style is the best in the business. May Alan Bradley live to be a hundred and write a new book every year, and may Flavia never grow up.” —New York Journal of Books
In spite of being ejected from Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy in Toronto, twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce is excited to be sailing home to England. But instead of a joyous homecoming, she is greeted with unfortunate news: Her father has fallen ill. With Flavia’s blasted sisters and insufferable cousin, Undine, underfoot, Buckshaw now seems both too empty—and not empty enough. Only too eager to run an errand for the vicar’s wife, Flavia goes to deliver a message to a reclusive wood-carver. Finding the front door ajar, she enters and stumbles upon the poor man’s body hanging upside down on the back of his bedroom door. The only living creature in the house is a feline that shows little interest in the disturbing scene. Curiosity may not kill this cat, but Flavia is energized at the prospect of a new investigation. What awaits her will shake her to the very core.
Praise
National and New York Times Bestseller
“Flavia de Luce is one of the most amusing female sleuths in mystery fiction . . . [and] Bradley’s humorous narrative style is the best in the business. May Alan Bradley live to be a hundred and write a new book every year, and may Flavia never grow up.” —New York Journal of Books
“There is such a thing as willing suspension of disbelief brought on by sheer outlandish charm, and that’s what [Alan] Bradley and some delicious writing have tapped.” —London Free Press “Mystery fans seeking novels of wit, an immersive English countryside setting and rich characterizations will be rewarded with this newest entry in the award-winning series.” —Library Journal, starred review
“Bradley’s preteen heroine comes through in the end with a series of deductions so clever she wants to hug herself. So will you.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Flavia’s a winner, a mix of sparky irreverence and wrathful propriety.” —Publishers Weekly
“Flavia’s first-person narration reveals her precocious intellect as well as her youthful vulnerability.” —Shelf Awareness
“Bradley’s heroine is one of the most delightful, and one of the sharpest, sleuths to come along in a long, long time.” —Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
“The preteen version of Miss Marple. . . . In addition to the meticulous investigations, what makes these novels, including this eighth in the series, so enjoyable is the personality of the primary character who, while being a murder investigator savant, is also an emotionally vulnerable little girl. It is a very unusual combination . . . and it works.” —MysteryScene
“A Flavia de Luce mystery is a bitter, dark and thoroughly scrumptious treat. . . . Highly recommended; don’t miss this!” —Historical Novel Society
Alan Bradley is the New York Times bestselling author of many short stories, children’s stories, newspaper columns, and the memoir The Shoebox Bible. His first Flavia de Luce novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, received the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award, the Dilys Winn Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Agatha Award, the Macavity Award, and the Barry Award, and was nominated for the Anthony Award. His other Flavia de Luce novels are The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag, A Red Herring Without Mustard, I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Speaking from Among the Bones, The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust, Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d, The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place, The Golden Tresses of the Dead, and What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust, as well as the ebook short story “The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse.” Numb Were the Beadsman’s Fingers, the twelfth novel in the Flavia de Luce series, will be published in Fall 2026. He lives and writes on an island in the middle of the Irish Sea.
View titles by Alan Bradley
