Nothing makes 12-year-old Flavia de Luce feel more gloriously alive than murder. The brilliant young chemist-sleuth has just returned from her mother's old school in Canada to find her beloved father hospitalized with pneumonia, leaving her English household morose and her two older sisters as disagreeable as ever. But when Flavia takes off on her bicycle named Gladys to deliver a message from the vicar's wife to woodcarver Roger Sambridge, she finds the man dead, his body suspended upside down in a wooden frame. Adding to the puzzle is a nearby shelf of mint-condition first editions by renowned children's author Oliver Inchbald, including a copy inscribed to Carla Sherrinford-Cameron, a girl Flavia knows. Turns out that Carla's aunt, Louise Congreve, was a dear friend of Inchbald, who was pecked to death by seagulls before Louisa herself died in a diving accident. With the help of convicted and then acquitted murderer Mildred Bannerman, Flavia follows leads to reveal the truth to Inspector Hewitt. Readers of all ages will revel in the accomplishments and share in the sorrow of Flavia, a perennial charmer.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2016 Booklist

Bestseller Bradley's lively eighth Flavia de Luce novel (after 2015's As Chimney Sweeps Come to Dust) finds the preadolescent chemist and detective back at Buckshaw, her crumbling family estate in England, after being dishonorably discharged from Miss Bodycote's Female Academy in Canada. Her beloved father's sickness taints homecoming, leaving moody Flavia to ward off a flock of pesky sisters. Welcome distraction comes when Flavia stumbles on the body of a local wood-carver strapped upside-down to a wooden contraption, flanked by a stack of children's books by famed nonsense-versifier Oliver Inchbald. Flavia, who's delighted to investigate under the eye of her old friend Inspector Hewitt, uncovers a backstory to the murder involving a man devoured by seagulls and a madcap Auntie Loo who dies scuba diving. Only the somewhat arbitrary final reveal disappoints. Child detectives can irritate, but Flavia's a winner, a mix of sparky irreverence and wrathful propriety who evades the preciousness endemic to the species. Agent: Denise Bukowski, Bukowski Agency. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

In her eighth series installment (after As Chimney Sweepers Come To Dust), Flavia de Luce is back tearing up the roads between her family estate at Buckshaw and the village of Bishop's Lacey on her trusty bicycle Gladys. The 12-year-old intrepid girl detective and imaginative chemist has returned home from Canada to a grim house with her father in the hospital. On her first day back, Flavia discovers a corpse, setting off yet another investigation employing her considerable wit and unique logic and leading us through another puzzle steeped in English lore. Part Curious George and part Miss Marple, Flavia is also a lonely little girl growing up in post-World War II England with adults who are otherwise engaged. Still, she manages to make her way, and readers can only delight in watching Flavia make sense of her world. VERDICT Mystery fans seeking novels with wit, an immersive English countryside setting, and rich characterizations will be rewarded with this newest entry in the award-winning series. [See Prepub Alert, 3/14/16; a -September LibraryReads Pick.]-Cheryl Bryan, Orleans, MA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.