The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag

The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag (2010) Alan Bradley

This is the second Flavia de Luce book.

Flavia is eleven and fascinated by chemistry and poisons. And murder, although that was a recent discovery.

She has two older sisters who dislike and torment her, and a father who is wrapped up in his stamps, and so Flavia runs wild, wandering the village on Gladys, her bicycle, and doing chemical experiments that would horrify any modern parent.

…(my old friend chloral hydrate, I noted: C2H3Cl32O2–a powerful hypnotic that when slipped into alcohol to American thugs was called a “Mickey Finn.” In England, it was slipped to high-strung housewives by country doctors and called “something to help you sleep.”).

Flavia is both old and young for her age, which leads to many (from an adult’s perspective) hilarious events and insights.

“I’ll be ready in a jiff,” I said, walking towards the W.C. No one, anywhere, at any time in history, has ever stopped a female en route to the Baffins.

When one lives in a village, the more things are hushed up, the more one hears.

That is so very like Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, which, I hadn’t previously realized, many of whose books were set and written during the same time frame as this series.

Perhaps that’s why I enjoy this series so much, because it’s a familiar time, from all my immersion in St Mary Mead.

This is another lovely story, and I’m looking forward to the next.
Rating: 8/10

Published by Dell

 
 

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