With their financial woes and the ongoing mystery of their missing mother Harriet, the de Luce family is ripe for any kind of distraction and the 500th anniversary of the death of their beloved St. Tancred, coupled with the Easter holiday is just the distraction they need.

To a degree.

For nothing really distracts eleven-year-old chemist and amateur sleuth Flavia de Luce except a really good mystery. Fortunately for her, that comes along fairly quickly with her discovery of the missing church organist, Mr. Collicut, in the burial chamber of St. Tancred himself! Or fairly near it, at any rate. As is always the case in the life of Flavia de Luce, one mystery begets another and before the crime, or crimes, are solved she will acquire more knowledge about life, the human condition, her family relationships and herself than she ever bargained for.

This, the fifth novel in the Flavia de Luce series, is arguably the best yet, though to be fair the ongoing de Luce saga in each novel provided the foundation for the character growth in Speaking From Among the Bones. With a shocking set up for the next novel, due out in January 2014, this story arc is set to wow when The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches is released.

The mysteries in the Flavia de Luce series are always entertaining, but the real treasure of Alan Bradley’s novels is the de Luce family themselves, with Flavia in the forefront and faithful retainers Dogger and Mrs. Mullet along for good measure. I fell in love with this 1950’s world and all its characters with the release of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and that love has grown with each volume, enhanced over the course of these last two stories by experiencing them through their unabridged audio versions. Jane Entwhistle is a delight in her voicing of the characters. I cannot get enough of her reading, listen to the books like my life depends on it, then lament the fact that they are over when I am done in a matter of days.

Another 10/10 star effort for Alan Bradley

It is no spoiler to share that from the first novel readers are made aware that Flavia’s mother, Harriet de Luce, has been missing since just after Flavia was born.  She does not know much about her mother other than stories gleaned from discussions with others but it is apparent from that first book that they share a bond, despite her older sisters constantly telling her that she is adopted.  The de Luce household is people by Flavia herself, her next oldest sister Daphne, a passionate reader, and Ophelia, an appearance-conscious teenager, her distant and distracted father, Colonel de Luce, his retainer Dogger, and their cook Mrs. Mullet.  They are a wonderful and eccentric cast of characters.  But then again, so is everyone else in Bishop’s Lacey.

Their crumbling estate, Buckshaw, is one fictional place I long to visit, and the surrounding countryside, often visited by Flavia on her bicycle, Gladys, is the stuff that makes Anglophiles’ hearts pound.  Alan Bradley has created a fully realized 1950’s English village that is host to a surprising number of murders and an appealing cast of regular characters.

Throughout each mystery on which the novel centers is an ongoing plot thread regarding the relationships between the three de Luce girls, their father, and the absent Harriet.  What starts out with a family that is obviously hurt and broken builds to the point where you see the strong bonds beneath the surface and something lovely and poignant seems to arise from each novel.  There are a few of those moments in Speaking From Among the Bones that pluck the heart strings with great skill.  The novels are far from overly sappy and sentimental, which make those moments stronger emotionally.

I particularly enjoyed this novel as Flavia spends a great deal of time in her investigation forming new relationships and learning a great deal about herself in the process.  It is obvious to the reader and to a lesser degree Flavia herself, that she is maturing in this middle ground between childhood and adolescence.  The story is paced very nicely for those who are fans of character development.  It ends quite satisfactorily while also leaving the reader anxious to read the next novel in the series.

In a recent interview Alan Bradley stated that the next novel, The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, is the end of a six-book story arc.  There have been four additional books ordered by the publisher which sound as if they may be stand-alone works or the start of a different story arc.  Whatever the case may be, I’m thrilled there is more Flavia in the future and while I will continue to buy the books, as they are lovely packages, I am  hoping that Jane Entwhistle continues to be the voice of Flavia de Luce, as her reading adds so much to the experience.

If you are interested in the reviews of the previous novels in the series, they are as follows:

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag
A Red Herring Without Mustard
I am Half-Sick of Shadows