It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath.

For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”

I really wanted to like The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. It was chosen as the March reading for a book group that I plan to join I wanted to like this book so we could have good chats about it. Alas, I just could not get into this book very well. The girl who is the main character Flavia she is just, I can’t like her. I don’t mind precocious children at all but this goes above and beyond. The writing style of it all being from her point of view, it is just a little to much for me.

The book is not bad so much as it is just a bit to much for me. Ah well what can you do right? It was not a total waste of time but I think I am going to stick with Sherlock Holmes when I want smart crime solvers.

My Gemstone Rating: