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Literary Friday, Part 2: The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches

Friday, February 7, 2014


Please humor me the next week or so as I "clean house" and get "caught-up" on some posts.  If you're looking for my Literary Friday link party, please check the post before this one.  I'll be linking this post over there in a bit!

For those of you who've followed me for years, you know how enamored I am with the eleven year old sleuth and chemist Flavia de Luce.  This is one of my all-time *favorite* series, and I usually don't read mysteries.

{spoilers ahead}

The previous book Speaking From Among The Bones ends on a cliffhanger: Harriet de Luce has been found and is coming home.  It has taken ten years to locate and retrieve her body on the side of a Himalayan mountain, and The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches begins as many dignitaries (including an enigmatic Winston Churchill) wait for the train bringing Harriet home at Buckshaw Halt.  A mysterious man gives Flavia a cryptic message just minutes before being pushed onto the tracks as the train pulls away, and the message is intended for her father, Havilland.  

All of Bishop's Lacey comes to Buckshaw, the de Luce's rambling estate in much need of repair, to pay their condolences.  Others make an appearance as well: the Cornish branch of the de Luce family, pathologists from the "Home Office," and a dashing American pilot in Harriet's beloved Gipsy Moth plane, Blithe Spirit.  Flavia attempts her biggest chemical coup ever in spite of all the distractions. This book is much more morbid than previous ones in my honest opinion, yet many questions are answered.  It looks as if the series is headed in a totally different direction as Flavia is being sent to Harriet's boarding school in Canada.  

Since this is a murder mystery series, there has been an ick factor in each book, but this one surpasses them all.  My heart breaks for Havilland, Flavia, and her two older sisters Ophelia (Feely) and Daphne (Daffy).  I wonder if the next book will be set in Canada because I will personally miss Buckshaw and Bishop's Lacey.


Daphne de Luce
I can relate to Daffy as she always has her nose in a book;  
Flavia not so much because I'm not a chemist!


Until next time...

Happy reading!
Ricki Jill

6 comments

  1. I do love mysteries and so I will check out the series.

    I took my iPad to the gym last night and began reading Undressing Mr. Darcy. I am enjoying it. Thanks for the suggestion.

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  2. I am dying to go get a good book. Need some time in the book store. Maybe tomorrow with one of my girls. How is the weather now? Hope not freezing any longer.

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  3. Oh this sounds like fun, so I did not read past spoiler alert! ;)

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  4. Hi RJJ, I love mysteries and this sounds really good to me. I'm adding this title to my book list.
    Have a great Saturday...........

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  5. Like you, I always love the Flavia de Luce books but for me this one was just so heartbreaking all the way through. I will be sad to see the story line move away from Bishop's Lacey. I love and would miss Dogger and her family...and Gladys.
    Carole (Stapes)

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I'm Ricki Jill. Welcome! I'm honored that you're reading my blog. I enjoy sharing my creative lifestyle @ The Bookish Dilettante. For more information about my blog, please read the Start Here page. Thank-you for stopping by, and I hope you'll consider following me via email.

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