As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust: A Flavia de Luce Novel

I have absolutely loved this series...peeking in on Flavia's life and crazy adventures; but this book was a complete letdown. It was slow, it was uninteresting, she was bored-I was bored, she wanted to go back home-and I CERTAINLY wanted to go back "home" to the Flavia we all know and love, with her family and her friends Gladys and the handyman, and her beloved sanctuary: her "laboratory". I can't begin to express how disappointed I was in this book. It felt as though the author's heart wasn't in it. I know mine wasn't, in struggling through it. It would be my advice to skip this one and go on to his next Flavia adventure, hoping that it returns in all it's Flavia flourish.

I've been enjoying this series from the beginning, and I think this one was one of the best. By sending Flavia away to school, it gave the book a freshness--there was a new setting as well as a whole new cast of characters. And because they were as new to Flavia as to the reader, she doesn't know who to trust or believe--everyone is suspect as she navigates her new role at school and the mystery surrounding the body in her chimney. Bradley does a good job of showing Flavia's growth as she starts to mature and age, but still maintains the child that she is--her moments of sudden glee and sudden homesickness. I look forward to watching Flavia continue to grow into the young woman, chemist, and sleuth that she is obviously meant to be.

September 1951 and 12 year-old Flavia de Luce has been sent to Canada, to attend the same school where her mother went many years before. Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy, outside of Toronto, seems rigid with rules, and if you’ve followed Flavia as I have, that does not seem the best place for our precocious heroine.It doesn’t start out well. Flavia arrives late at night, and the matron lets her in. The headmistress appears at the head of the stairs: “ ‘Who is it, Fitzgibbon?’ she asked, in a voice that suggested she fed on peaches and steel.”Flavia is taken to her new room, and on the very first night, a body wrapped in a Union Jack is dislodged from her chimney. A desiccated body clutching an angel pendant. Flavia naturally pockets the pendant, no sense leaving that for the police. And then she finds out that 3 girls have disappeared from the school. Is one of them her chimney-lass?As always, in this, her 7th novel, Flavia de Luce is intelligent and curious. She can jump to conclusions, and the conclusions aren’t always right, but she, above all, reveres the scientific process. Alan Bradley is excellent at describing Flavia’s leaping and whirling mind: “Feigning stupidity was one of my specialties. If stupidity were theoretical physics, then I would be Albert Einstein.”Unfortunately, and I am surprised to write this, but “As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust” is not a 5-star mystery for me. That’s a first for a Flavia story. I don’t think it’s because Flavia is in a new location, far from Buckshaw, her dilapidated home, and her usual cast of English eccentrics. It’s because there is too much explaining, maybe too many characters taking up valuable story-telling time. Also, a couple minor mysteries – or questions for Flavia to answer – seem to take away from the main mystery, that of the missing girls. Or maybe that isn’t the main mystery.Not affecting my review, but I dislike the new Bantam Books paperback. I don’t blame Alan Bradley for which publisher he chooses to go with, but this regularly sized paperback is a bulky 389 pages and seems made to last through only one reading.Typical Flavia: “The hours trudged by with chains on their ankles.”I can highly recommend books 1-6 in the series. Here's #6: The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches: A Flavia de Luce Novel Happy Reader

I loved the earlier Flavia de Luce novels, though the one right before this less so. This one hinted at some things, barely covered others, and left too many unresolved. Rather than adding to the mystery, or leaving me wanting more, it left me disappointed. The author, and certainly the editor, should have caught the inconsistency regarding King George at the end of the first novel in the series, and the incorrect call backs to it in the others.

What a disappointment. Moving Flavia to a girls boarding school turns the series in to children’s stories. And not very good ones at that. I loved the ones at Buckshaw but this book is sluggish, dull and childish. It has none of the wit and charm of the other books. The writing style is so different, It’s almost as though it was written by someone else.

I couldn't wait for this latest in the Flavia de Luce series. I truly wondered how the author would handle Flavia's departure from the ancestral seat, her travel across the pond, and her establishment in Miss Bodycote's school. Not to be disappointed! Alan Bradley didn't miss a beat here. The characters in Canada---couldn't be better! Just as delicious as the British counterparts. Where Flavia travels, trouble and evil abound, nipping at her 12-year-old heels. For Flavia, banishment becomes a holiday of sorts, a time to try her wings away from established family and friends, and do what she does best: solve mysteries--with or without the police. She knows how to work the system, displaying daring resourcefulness yet genuine compassion for those in need. As she grows, readers who love the series cannot help but marvel at her adventures. I was moved by the previous book detailing the body of her mother Harriet's return home, to this latest in the series. When the book arrived, I brewed up a big pot of tea, settled into my favorite reading chair, turned off the phones, and read straight through. Any Flavia de Luce novel is NOT to be savored in short reading spurts; that's far too tame for such exuberant passion that this series displays. Rather, go for the gold! Read the entire novel through at one sitting, and then come back for a slower, more detailed read to catch the subtle nuances and language. I never heard of Alan Bradley and Flavia de Luce until last year, and I didn't waste any time gathering the entire series once I picked up one book at a library sale. I am smitten---I admit it. I now consider Bradley and Flavia to be dear old friends---the type of friends that you can't wait to hear from again and again.

I have to say that I am hooked on the Flavia de Luce series and so am hardly an unbiased commentator. I read each of its predecessors for the second time immediately prior to reading this one, and so I knew that Flavia was going to school in Canada.The opening scene is superb, so typically Flavia, but I think that things went downhill fairly rapidly from then on. I never felt that there was really all that much of a story, despite a corpse dropping down a chimney. Much of the action, scene to scene, seemed disconnected, and I was annoyed when Flavia, apparently setting out to ‘deal’ with two school bullies got diverted and we never found out, what, if anything happened to them. They appear later in one very mild scene and that’s it.The extreme reaction of two girls to “Pheasant Sandwiches” (afficionados will know what I mean) was never really explained and I am still (after two readings) not at all sure why ‘the missing girl’ (or girls) actually went missing and why one of them had to stay at the school in disguise. Perhaps her life was in danger from the resident murderer, but if so, why could she have not just left? The whole Nide business is so vague that almost anything could be an explanation for any action.Flavia’s final exit from the school back to Buckshaw (Hurrah!) is initially presented as an expulsion for bad behavior, then shortly afterwards is described as a triumph. I found it unconvincing.Anyway, I enjoyed it, because Flavia is still her unique self and we can find out all sorts of interesting things about her. For example, she quite clearly deeply respects Daffy and refers to her, on average, once every ten pages! We can see in one reference that she is becoming aware just how much she loves her sister “…. I missed my sister. She had been the lemon on my fish, the vinegar on my chips”Feely, on the other hand is only referred to, on average, once every forty pages, but there is one moving moment when Flavia exclaims “Dear God. I thought. How much I miss her!” and this is when she is thinking of occasions when Feely would be glaring at her!Flavia’s father is not often mentioned – he is such a cold stick that perhaps this is not surprising. The lack of a letter from him or either of her sisters actually causes Flavia to begin to doubt her faith.It is interesting that the only people to write to Flavia are Dogger and Undine. The latter is probably going to appear frequently in succeeding novels and I suspect will drive Flavia to distraction.It is also interesting, and not very credible, that Flavia is without much knowledge of human sexuality – she still believes in storks delivering babies and is completely oblivious to the underlying innuendo in a ‘cardinal/chorus girl’ reference. I find it difficult to believe that someone so prone to rummaging through both her elder sisters’ drawers and belongings can have failed to come across things that would raise a question mark in any young, enquiring mind. Of course the 1950’s are not 2015, where matters sexual are showered at children from a very early age, and I suspect that even physical development in puberty occurred a bit later than it does today, but we know that Flavia threatened to embarrass the thirteen year-old Daffy by referring to her bra size in public. Clearly, Flavia is not completely clueless, and she is now twelve.I am really looking forward to reading the coming home scene in the next book. Will she be met by hostile sisters who resent her being the heir to Buckshaw? Is that why they have not written to Flavia? Or will there be tearful welcoming? Will any money have been released and some spent on Buckshaw – the grounds tidied up or a bedroom decorated for instance? Or will legal complexities have resulted in financial stalemate, as hinted in this novel?So, roll on the next novel, but please, Mr.Bradley try to make it a bit more ‘connected’ than this one.

I am a new comer to Flavia and have to admit that I have bought all the books in order and read them one after another. For me they are 'can't put down' ones. So it was a surprise to be a little bored with this one, set in her mother's old school in Canada. Without giving too much away, I found the whole thing a little boring and implausible, even given the fact that Flavia is extra special and a unique and brilliant youngster it stretched my credibility. Having said that, I've bought the next in order so I am still a big fan

Really LOVE these books. The well written, witty and quircky prose, characters and plot are refreshing but not distracting in these cosy but dark mysteries. It is set in the 50s and as a brown, non-British person references to Churchill's 'great British empire' are not a favourite theme but add authenticity, I suppose, to the milieu. Highly recommended, a go to haven that helped me survive a miserable summer.

I have read, and much enjoyed, all the Flavia de Luce novels. This was different as it is set in her boarding school and not at home, so the usual characters (family, staff and locals) are only referred to in passing. Nevertheless, it was a good read, but I must confess that it is not up to the usual standard. Taken away from her home environment completely changes her character from a gutsy, clever detective to a little girl who is homesick and a bit out of her depth.

I really enjoyed this book. I love the character of Flavia with her pluckiness and intelligence - she reminds me of my mum as a young woman. I also like that although the author is Canadian (and this is set in Canada) he writes about an English character really well - very little of the 'American-ness' creeping in (like "wrote me" instead of "wrote to me" which can drive me mad). I only gave it four stars because there were a couple of others in the series that I liked more.

Love this series of books and this one did not disappoint. Flavia has been sent to her mother's old school in Canada but is there a hidden agenda? Hmm! Missed the characters back in England, but there are plenty of new ones to compensate.

This is just as good as the others, in spite of what some reviews have said. Flavia has to leave Buckshaw, and get some ‘formal’ education, and here she does it. She is growing up. The style of the book with its super similes and descriptions continues to be very engaging, and the plot keeps you gripped. There are lots of memories of Buckshaw, so her old environment is never forgotten. Loving it.

This is another wonderful book by Alan Bradley! Despite Flavia now being in Canada and, perhaps, showing a more vulnerable side that she has in previous books, she still becomes embroiled in an excellent adventure with all of the wonderful comic twists, characters and observations that we've come to expect from this series of books. This was an absolute joy to read and I can't recommend it highly enough!!

I love these books. Nice change of scene for this book.

This one did not really work for me. So happy that our Flavia is going home to Gladys and Buckshaw!

Well packaged and will make an ideal gift for young teenage reader.

Very humorous and addictive fun reading

Arrived safe and sound - thanks

These books are quirky, addictive and a fun way to learn fascinating facts about chemistry. Best in the right order, this adds to those before, and you'll laugh and empathise in turn, as the mystery unravels.

I enjoyed this but not as much as the previous books, but I think it's because the other books are set in 1950s Britain where I grew up and this book is set in Canada.