Speaking From Among The Bones
Read Speaking From Among The Bones Online
Authors: Alan Bradley
I AM HALF-SICK
of
SHADOWS
“Every Flavia de Luce novel is a reason to celebrate, but Christmas with Flavia is a holiday wish come true for her fans.”
—
USA Today
(four stars)
“This is a classic country house mystery in the tradition of Agatha Christie, and Poirot himself would approve of Flavia’s skills in snooping and deduction. Flavia is everything a reader wants in a detective—she’s smart, logical, intrepid and curious.… This is a refreshingly engaging read.”
—
RT Book Reviews
“With its sharply drawn characters, including the hiss-worthy older de Luce sisters, and an agreeable puzzle playing out against the cozy backdrop of a British village at Christmas, this is a most welcome holiday gift for Flavia fans.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“This is a delightful read through and through. We find in Flavia an incorrigible and wholly lovable detective; from her chemical experiments in her sanctum sanctorum to her outrage at the idiocy of the adult world, she is unequaled. Charming as a stand-alone novel and a guaranteed smash with series followers.”
—
Library Journal
(starred review)
“Bradley masterfully weaves a ghoulish Yuletide tale.… The story breathes characters full of charisma, colour and nuance.… Bradley gives a thrilling ride.”
—
The Globe and Mail
A
RED HERRING
Without
MUSTARD
“Alan Bradley’s third Flavia de Luce mystery,
A Red Herring Without Mustard
, exceeds in every way, if that’s even possible, his first two. Flavia uses her trademark cunning by scheming to get even with her older sisters, who lie in wait to torment her. She saves a Gypsy’s life, befriends Porcelain, the Gypsy’s granddaughter, solves a puzzling and bizarre murder involving an ancient nonconformist cult, collects clues the police have missed, and fearlessly ventures into danger. She is always feisty, always smart. I adore her. And while it is wonderful to read her as an adult, I wish I’d had Flavia as a role model while growing up. It’s cool to be smart. It’s cool to be Flavia! And it’s great to be among her legion of fans.”
—L
OUISE
P
ENNY
, bestselling author of
The Brutal Telling
“Outstanding … In this marvelous blend of whimsy and mystery, Flavia manages to operate successfully in the adult world of crimes and passions while dodging the childhood pitfalls set by her sisters.”
—
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)
“Bradley’s third book about tween sleuth Flavia de Luce will make readers forget Nancy Drew.”
—
People
“Oh, to be eleven again and pal around with irresistible wunderkind Flavia de Luce.… A splendid romp through 1950s England led by the world’s smartest and most incorrigible preteen.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
(starred review)
“As satisfying as the mystery is, the multiple-award-winning Bradley offers more.… Beautifully written, with fully fleshed characters … [Bradley] secures his position as a confident, talented writer and storyteller.”
—
The Globe and Mail
“Think preteen Nancy Drew, only savvier and a lot richer, and you have Flavia de Luce.… Don’t be fooled by Flavia’s age or the 1950s setting:
A Red Herring
isn’t a dainty tea-and-crumpets sort of mystery. It’s shot through with real grit.”
—
Entertainment Weekly
“Whether battling with her odious sisters or verbally sparring with the long-suffering Inspector Hewitt, our cheeky heroine is a delight. Full of pithy dialog and colorful characters, this series would appeal strongly to fans of Dorothy Sayers, Gladys Mitchell, and Leo Bruce as well as readers who like clever humor mixed in with their mysteries.”
—
Library Journal
(starred review)
“[Flavia] remains irresistibly appealing as a little girl lost.”
—
The New York Times Book Review
“Delightful … The book’s forthright and eerily mature narrator is a treasure.”
—
The Seattle Times
“Bradley has created a marvelous character in Flavia—very adult in some ways, very childish in others, full of energy and curiosity. His story should appeal to readers of all ages looking to escape into a thoroughly entertaining world.”
—
Tulsa World
“Bradley’s characters, wonderful dialogue and plot twists are a most winning combination.”
—
USA Today
The
WEED
That
STRINGS
the
HANGMAN’S BAG
“Flavia is incisive, cutting and hilarious … one of the most remarkable creations in recent literature.”
—
USA Today
“Bradley takes everything you expect and subverts it, delivering a smart, irreverent, unsappy mystery.”
—
Entertainment Weekly
“The real delight here is her droll voice and the eccentric cast.… Utterly beguiling.”
—
People
(four stars)
“Brisk, funny and irrepressible, Flavia is distinctly uncute, and the cozy village setting has enough edges to keep suspicions sharp.… Bradley gives a pitch-perfect performance that surpasses an already worthy debut.”
—
Houston Chronicle
“Her sleuthing skills both amaze and amuse.”
—
Mystery Scene
“Endlessly entertaining … The author deftly evokes the period, but Flavia’s sparkling narration is the mystery’s chief delight. Comic and irreverent, this entry is sure to build further momentum for the series.”
—
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)
“Smart, funny … His second novel confirms the promise of the first.… Bradley is a writer of great charm and insight, and he infuses even minor characters with indelible personality.… Flavia de Luce, both eleven and ageless, is a marvel and a delight.”
—
Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
The
SWEETNESS
at the
BOTTOM
of the
PIE
“Sophisticated, series-launching … It’s a rare pleasure to follow Flavia as she investigates her limited but boundless-feeling world.”
—
Entertainment Weekly
(A–)
THE MOST AWARD-WINNING BOOK OF ANY YEAR!
WINNER:
Macavity Award for Best First Mystery Novel
Barry Award for Best First Novel
Agatha Award for Best First Novel
Dilys Award
Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel
Spotted Owl Award for Best Novel
CWA Debut Dagger Award
“If ever there was a sleuth who’s bold, brilliant, and, yes, adorable, it’s Flavia de Luce.”
—
USA Today
“A wickedly clever story, a dead-true and original voice, and an English country house in the summer: Alexander McCall Smith meets Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Please, please, Mr. Bradley, tell me we’ll be seeing Flavia again soon?”
—L
AURIE
R. K
ING
, bestselling author of
Pirate King
“Impressive as a sleuth and enchanting as a mad scientist … Flavia is most endearing as a little girl who has learned how to amuse herself in a big lonely house.”
—M
ARILYN
S
TASIO
,
The New York Times Book Review
“A delightful new sleuth. A combination of Eloise and Sherlock Holmes … fearless, cheeky, wildly precocious.”
—
The Boston Globe
Speaking from Among the Bones
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by Alan Bradley
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
D
ELACORTE
P
RESS
is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bradley, C. Alan
Speaking from among the bones : a Flavia de Luce novel / Alan Bradley.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-345-53868-0
1. Detectives—England—Fiction. 2. Murder—Investigation—Fiction.
I. Title.
PR9199.4.B7324S63 2012
813′.6—dc23 2012028396
Case design: Joe Montgomery
Case art: Ben Perini
v3.1
Now from yon black and fun’ral yew,
That bathes the charnel-house with dew,
Methinks I hear a voice begin;
(Ye ravens, cease your croaking din;
Ye tolling clocks, no time resound
O’er the long lake and midnight ground)
It sends a peal of hollow groans,
Thus speaking from among the bones.
T
HOMAS
P
ARNELL
A Night-Piece on Death
(1721)
B
LOOD DRIPPED FROM THE
neck of the severed head and fell in a drizzle of red raindrops, clotting into a ruby pool upon the black and white tiles. The face wore a grimace of surprise, as if the man had died in the middle of a scream. His teeth, each clearly divided from its neighbor by a black line, were bared in a horrible, silent scream.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the thing.
The woman who proudly held the gaping head at arm’s length by its curly blue-black hair was wearing a scarlet dress—almost, but not quite, the color of the dead man’s blood.
To one side, a servant with downcast eyes held the platter upon which she had carried the head into the room. Seated on a wooden throne, a matron in a saffron dress leaned forward in square-jawed pleasure, her hands clenched into fists on the arms of her chair as she took a
good look at the grisly trophy. Her name was Herodias, and she was the wife of the king.
The younger woman, the one clutching the head, was—at least, according to the historian Flavius Josephus—named Salome. She was the stepdaughter of the king, whose name was Herod, and Herodias was her mother.
The detached head, of course, belonged to John the Baptist.