The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag (Flavia de Luce, #2)

a Flavia de Luce mystery Flavia de Luce

by Alan Bradley

364 pages

English language

Published Dec. 7, 2010 by Delacorte Press.

ISBN:: 978-0-385-34231-5

(21 reviews)

Flavia de Luce, a dangerously smart eleven-year-old with a passion for chemistry and a genius for solving murders, thinks that her days of crime-solving in the bucolic English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey are over—until beloved puppeteer Rupert Porson has his own strings sizzled in an unfortunate rendezvous with electricity.

But who’d do such a thing, and why? Does the madwoman who lives in Gibbet Wood know more than she’s letting on? What about Porson’s charming but erratic assistant? All clues point toward a suspicious death years earlier and a case the local constables can’t solve—without Flavia’s help. But in getting so close to who’s secretly pulling the strings of this dance of death, has our precocious heroine finally gotten in way over her head?

1 edition

BethOwl 📚✍🏻🦉🇺🇦🌈 reviewed The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag (Flavia de Luce, #2) by Alan Bradley (Flavia de Luce)

Review of "The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag (Flavia de Luce, #2)" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Clever, engaging, and parts are laugh out loud funny. A little bit dark in parts, but nothing too dire (and believe me, I am a weeny!).

settingshadow reviewed The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag (Flavia de Luce, #2) by Alan Bradley (Flavia de Luce)

Review of "The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag (Flavia de Luce, #2)" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

The Flavia de Luce books are just SO cute. Is it weird that I find an 11 year old would-be toxicologist and her investigation of murder mysteries adorable? For all the kids who grew up wanting to be detectives with best friends who were obsessed with botanical toxins (spoiler: that's me) there's something really satisfying and really nostalgic about reading Flavia's stories. The spooky Punch and Judy vignette recalled my favorite childhood books, especially The Magicians of Caprona, by Diana Wynne Jones and Mr. Punch, by Neil Gaiman.

I continue to find Flavia a totally plausible child protagonist, and I continue to be completely charmed by seeing the world from her point-of-view (my favorite: her sincere outrage at not being treated with collegiate equality by the police inspector.) Yeah, the mystery is a little thin and the ending is SUPER rushed, but that's not really the reason I read these …