One of the best of the Flavia books! Flavia and Dogger have so much wisdom to bestow. Well done Alan Bradley!

4.5- another delightful installment in the series. The subtle moments that show Flavia and others dealing with grief just add such a richness to this series.

Another smart and well done tale of Flavia de Luce. She is a delight! Flavia and Dogger make a wonderfully unique detective team and have a sweet relationship with each other. I love their keen and intelligent minds. This was a page turner, one that was very entertaining but also made me feel like my mind was being stretched. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a really good mystery, intelligent writing, characters that are well developed and often quirky, a lot of wit and humor, and a clean read.

It was good to visit with all my favorite characters but it lacked some of the oomph I love about Flavia.

It’s a good book, but it’s a little too young for my taste

I struggled through this one. The mystery was bizarre and all over the place. It also seemed such a departure from all the previous books in the series. It lacked the cleverness and depth of emotion. I'm not sure that I can pinpoint a particular reason but I'm hopeful that future books (author confirmed that he's planning to continue the series) will include more of Flavia's family members and all of the townspeople that we've come to know & love throughout this series.

Flavia generally, esp her relationship with Dogger: 5
mystery: 3