Auntiemwrites Crime-Mystery Author M K Graff

Auntie M just returned from ten days taking care of the four Grands in Minnesota. It was the perfect time of year to be there–no ice or snow–and she got in a bit of reading.

Two more for you to inhale are by Canadian Alan Bradley.

Bradley won the Debut Dagger Award  of the Crimewriter’s Association for The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, featuring the precocious and resourceful eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce.

Set in 1950 in rural England, Flavia is as unusual a protagonist as one could find. Brilliant at chemistry, her passion being poisons, Flavia develops a genius for solving crimes, especially murders. The youngest sister of three, older sisters Ophelia and Daphne thrive on pranks (and worse) to hurt Flavia’s feelings. Her widowed father spends his days involved with his precious stamp collection, leaving Flavia plenty of time to pursue her chemistry studies and to solve mysteries.

The family cook, Mrs. Mullet, and a butler/handyman/gardener named Dogger complete the family cast. There are the villagers of Bishop’s Lacey, too, the small town nearest to Buckshaw, the de Luce mansion.

In book one, Flavia is intrigued when a dead bird with a stamp through its beak is found on Buckshaw’s doorstep. Only hours later, Flavia stumbles across a man lying in the kitchen cucumber patch, and catches his dying words. The girl is appalled and delighted at once. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”

Bradley  is spot on with the period notes and social strata he describes. Flavia’s voice remains youthful and intelligent but oddly endearing, as she rattles around the huge house amusing herself. When she meets Inspector Hewitt and his two sergeant’s, he is acutely aware he is in the company of someone unusual.

I gobbled this book up quickly because I knew the second installment was waiting for me in my suitcase (yes, I know, buy a Kindle or Nook for travel). Would Bradley capture me again? Would Flavia’s voice continue to hook me? The answer is a resounding yes to both questions.

The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag finds Flavia having to untangle a new and a years-old murder. Riding her trusty bicycle,Gladys, around the area, Flavia introduces us to a madwoman who lives in Gibbet Wood, a catatonic mother in a dovecote, and a German soldier obsessed with the Bronte sisters. Introduce a puppeteer, a brush with electricity, and a long-dead boy, and you’ve got the makings of another book I couldn’t put down.

Flavia has an added asset that Inspector Hewitt lacks: a quiet child is often overlooked as adults gossip and talk. In this vein Flavia is able to obtain needed information to help solve the murders.

Each of these books are reads that will have you wanting more of the irrepressible Flavia de Luce. Auntie M can’t wait for the next one!

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Nicola Upson found a unique twist when she starred Golden Age writer Josephine Tey as the protagonist of her first novel, An Expert in Murder.

Her second follows Tey down to Cornwall in 1935 for a summer of writing, the guest of her friend’s, the Motley’s. Their cousin, DI Archie Penrose, has a complicated past with Josephine. He arrives just before her, to attend the funeral of a young estate worker who died in a tragic riding accident. Or was it an accident?

Upson hits the period details just right, as well as the restraint in the relationship between Josephine and Archie. And she uses the setting to show how estate owners and workers alike are tied to the land. Real places, including the outdoor Minack Theater, are used to great effect and add to the sense of place that Upson knows well.

Amidst tragedy, Josephine and Archie ferret out secrets that have been kept by families for years. This  one has satisfying plot twists and turns, a cast of memorable characters, and is guaranteed to be devoured quickly for your reading pleasure.

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