The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place

by Alan Bradley

Published by Anchor Canada a division of Random House of Canada Limited Cover art by Joe Montgomery

“The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place” is a quirky mystery reminiscent of Roald Dahl’s, “Matilda” and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s, “Sherlock Holmes”. It is a brilliantly written psychological mystery reminiscent of an Agatha Christie novel by an author possessing a singular, sometimes subtly acerbic but always entertaining sense of humour. Bradley demonstrates his impressive insight into the intricacies of people’s minds and human nature and has created a charming and deviously precocious character in twelve year old Flavia de Luce.

You enter a cerebral world as seen through the eyes of an intellectually gifted, sometimes histrionic, young girl as she thoughtfully analyzes every aspect of her environment and the people that populate it. We tag along with Flavia as she deals with the complexities and vagaries of life. Her mother had been killed in a mountaineering accident when Flavia was just a year old. Her father, the glue that held the family together suddenly died at Christmas shattering the family dynamic.

It is at this moment, with the family on the verge of breaking up that, Dogger, the loyal family servant suggests a boating trip for Flavia, Ophelia (Feely) and Daphne (Daffy). Their destination for this sojourn; St. Mildred’s-in-the-Marsh, where, just two years previously, Canon Whitbread, the infamous Poisoning Parson had dispatched three of his female parishioners by lacing their Communion wine with cyanide. It’s not long before the family is embroiled in a mystery of the violent vicar and an enigmatic entertainer.

Flavia, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison and amateur sleuth, is both surprised and delighted when, by some quirk of fate, she accidentally catches a cadaver. She is determined to solve the mystery and wrap it up in a bow for Inspector Hewitt.

The master wordsmith, Alan Bradley, offers up diabolical plot twists, a clever ending and a crazy killer. You won’t be able to put this one down. The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place is like a fine wine, it is meant to be savoured.