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The Grave's a Fine and Private Place

A Flavia de Luce Novel

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The Grave's a Fine and Private Place

Written by: Alan Bradley
Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
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About this listen

 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The world’s greatest adolescent British chemist/busybody/sleuth” (The Seattle Times), Flavia de Luce, returns in a twisty mystery novel from award-winning author Alan Bradley.

In the wake of an unthinkable family tragedy, twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce is struggling to fill her empty days. For a needed escape, Dogger, the loyal family servant, suggests a boating trip for Flavia and her two older sisters. As their punt drifts past the church where a notorious vicar had recently dispatched three of his female parishioners by spiking their communion wine with cyanide, Flavia, an expert chemist with a passion for poisons, is ecstatic. Suddenly something grazes her fingers as she dangles them in the water. She clamps down on the object, imagining herself Ernest Hemingway battling a marlin, and pulls up what she expects will be a giant fish. But in Flavia’s grip is something far better: a human head, attached to a human body. If anything could take Flavia’s mind off sorrow, it is solving a murder—although one that may lead the young sleuth to an early grave.

Praise for The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place

“Flavia [is] irrepressible, precocious and indefatigable. . . . A whole new chapter of Flavia’s life opens as she approaches adolescence. Will she become the Madame Curie of crime?”—Bookreporter

“Outstanding . . . As usual, Bradley makes his improbable series conceit work and relieves the plot’s inherent darkness with clever humor.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“There’s only one Flavia. . . . Series fans will anticipate the details of this investigation, along with one last taste of Flavia’s unorthodox family life.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“Bradley’s unquenchable heroine brings ‘the most complicated case I had ever come across’ to a highly satisfying conclusion, with the promise of still brighter days ahead.”—Kirkus Reviews Amateur Sleuth Cozy Detective Fiction Historical Mystery Thriller & Suspense

What the critics say

“Flavia [is] irrepressible, precocious and indefatigable. . . . A whole new chapter of Flavia’s life opens as she approaches adolescence. Will she become the Madame Curie of crime?”—Bookreporter

“Outstanding . . . As usual, Bradley makes his improbable series conceit work and relieves the plot’s inherent darkness with clever humor.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“There’s only one Flavia. . . . Series fans will anticipate the details of this investigation, along with one last taste of Flavia’s unorthodox family life.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“Fans of the precocious sleuth who share her unapologetically enthusiastic sense that ‘an unexamined corpse was a tale untold’ will rub their hands gleefully, confident that her resolution will unleash a dazzling barrage of innocent-seeming questions, recherché chemical and pharmacological tidbits, fibs and whoppers, and the most coyly bratty behavior outside the pages of Kay Thompson’s chronicles of Eloise. . . . Bradley’s unquenchable heroine brings ‘the most complicated case I had ever come across’ to a highly satisfying conclusion, with the promise of still brighter days ahead.”—Kirkus Reviews

Acclaim for Alan Bradley’s beloved Flavia de Luce novels, winners of the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award, Barry Award, Agatha Award, Macavity Award, Dilys Award, and Arthur Ellis Award

“If ever there were a sleuth who’s bold, brilliant, and, yes, adorable, it’s Flavia de Luce.”—USA Today

“Delightful . . . a combination of Eloise and Sherlock Holmes.”—The Boston Globe

“[Flavia] is as addictive as dark chocolate.”—Daily Mail

“The plucky adolescent is terrifically entertaining—the world’s foremost braniac/chemist/sleuth/busybody/smarty-pants. Nobody can touch her in that category.”—The Seattle Times

Continue the series
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The Golden Tresses of the Dead Written by: Alan Bradley
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Another outstanding performance by Jayne Entwistle of an incredibly talented author's brainchild. It's selfish, but I only wish Mr. Bradley was younger, so he could provide us with many more years of his amazing talent. Being Canadian myself, I am proud of this National Treasure. Learned chemistry, literature, history, music, botany, and religion ( to name the obvious modalities) are all shared with fervent fun and wit. Flavia is growing up with many emotional hardships, but these are all peppered with precocious good fun.

OUTSTANDING

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Once again, Alan Bradley has brought us a wonderful tale in which his clever and precocious heroine has solved crime.

No Disappointment Here

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Jayne Entwistle is the perfect narrator. I could not imagine anyone else as Flavia. I can't wait for the next one.

Another great Flavia De Luce story.

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