I love Flavia De Luce, Dogger, Mrs. M, all of them. What I don’t love? This book. Sure, it was interesting (sort of). But the plot got crazy. I won’t spoil it, but it is way too weird and I’m not talking about Flavia’s chemical plans.
The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches is the 6th, and in my opinion the most disappointing, increment of the Flavia De Luce series. THIS SUMMARY MAY HAVE SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T READ SPEAKING FROM AMONG THE BONES! Harriet has been found. Her body is brought on a funeral train to the train station at Buckshaw, and everyone has come to pay their respects. At the station, a strange message is given to Flavia. But just a few minutes after, there is a death. Was it a murder? Rumor has it, yes. But Flavia doesn’t bother solving this one. Instead, she searches for clues about herself, tries to resurrect her long-dead mother, and spends her time trying not to cry, get discovered, or get too annoyed at her relatives.
My first issue with this book – the lack of murder. This series is supposed to be a murder mystery series. But, even though there was a murder, Flavia barely works to solve it. It is barely a main part of the plot. Instead, there are mainly Flavia’s emotions. Sure, it’s cool to see her reactions to this but I don’t want a whole book about it. Again, trying not to spoil, but all the stuff about WWII is interesting to know and all, but when the past comes to the present, it gets weird. Sure, these are all works of fiction. But this book just gets so improbable, even more than the last book, that it gets annoying. I’ll keep reading the series because I’m curious to see what’s next, but this book should never have existed, in my opinion. I’ll give it 3 stars since I love the characters, but that’s generous. Sorry if you loved this book, but personally I think Alan Bradley should stick with the murder.