There’s even more still! Flavia De Luce is back to solving crimes in this fourth increment of the series.
“Excuse me,’ I said. ‘I’ve just remembered something.’ It was true. What I’d remembered was this: While I was not in the least afraid of the dead, there were those among the living who gave me the creeping hooly-goolies…”
I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley takes place at Christmas time. Flavia, with her chemical analysis and experiments, is trying to catch Saint Nich. But, she gets disrupted and finds a new, more interesting thing going on. A film crew has come to Buckshaw! They are making a film starring the famous Phyllis Wyvern, so of course, all of Bishops Lacey came to watch. But there is a shocking conclusion to that night, a gruesome murder after midnight. A body is found, strangled to death with a length of film. But who? Why? The storm worsens. The suspect list increases. And Flavia must work hard to solve the murder without getting killed herself.
This book is one of my favorite types of murder mysteries. A long suspect list. A weird and disturbing weapon (who would have ever thought that film can be a murder weapon? They should add that to Clue. Mr. Green, in the hall, with the film).
What I like most about this series is that it is long and satisfying, but you don’t become half-sick of Flavia De Luce (see what I did there?). This series has some cliffhangers, but most of the problems are resolved in each book (a lot like it is in the Nevermore series). I recommend this book if you read and have liked the first 3, and I would recommend the first book if you haven’t read it.
