THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE by Alan Bradley, 2009.
Eleven year old Flavia de Luce stumbles over a dying man in the cucumber patch. As he expires, he whispers one word, "vale." An investigation shows the man was murdered, and Flavia, who listens and keyholes and picks locks with ease, had earlier heard the fellow in an angry confrontation with her father. Who is this person? What does "vale" mean? And how did he come to die at Buckshaw, the de Luce mansion in rural England? Was he poisoned by the piece of pie he ate? And what's the significance of the dead snipe bird found on their doorstep with a stamp stuck on his beak? Flavia, definitely a precocious girl who loves chemistry and has her own working lab, is intrigued by the mystery, and decides to do her own investigation instead of leaving it to the local police. With her bicycle, Agnes, Flavia is able to travel around the countryside and nearby villages, searching out clues with most people being none the wiser. Her snooping leads her into a past that involves a private boys school, valuable postage stamps, and a shocking suicide that is connected to her beloved father. When her father is arrested for this latest death, Flavia ramps up her investigation, little knowing that she has attracted the attention of someone else who has a great stake in how the case turns out and could be extremely dangerous... Excellent descriptions of rural 1950s England, enough wacky village characters to fill several books, dollops of humor (especially between Flavia and her older sisters, Ophelia and Daphne), clever dialogue, and an intriguing mystery make for a good relaxing read. If you don't mind a rather plucky and know-it-all sort of kid solving crimes, this is fine entertainment. The first in a series.