I don’t read many mysteries. Perhaps five in my entire life and one of them was The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, which I read at the end of January. Alan is a 70-year-old Canadian in possession of a six-book deal stretching across three countries. A late bloomer perhaps? Sweetness is his first novel concerning Flavia de Luce - an 11-year-old sleuth attempting to solve a stamp-related murder. It won an award before it was even published. Reviews are very positive and I enjoyed the book, which is super readable. AbeBooks interviewed Alan this week and you can read more about how he has taken the mystery scene by storm.
I loved this story about his childhood reading habits….
“It was grade nine and I was in English class. The teacher asked us how many books we had read over the summer, starting with one book and then two to 10 books. By the end, I was the only child who hadn’t raised their hand. I was asked how many books I had read and I said: ‘Ninety.’
“I had read one book a day more or less over the summer. I would go the library every week and come back with seven books. The teacher was stricken by what I had said, thought I was lying, and pointed to the door. I went to the principal’s office.”
Patricia Cornwell
Phil