The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley

I feel like I ride a rollercoaster when I read the Flavia de Luce novels. Some are incredibly good, and I can't seem to put them down. Others are missing key components to keep my interest. All of them include science, and that is why I continue to read the series. They are a different genre to shake it up, too. 

After the conclusion from last time, I was really expecting some big things. The sixth book in the series partly delivered that. I think there were too many cooks in the kitchen when it came to the storyline. We have Flavia with grand schemes of resurrection, murder of a man in a trenchcoat, distant relatives Lena and Undine, and how did Harriet really die. It was an over blended mesh of plots that made the overall rather unappetizing.

Flavia's reaction to most of the events show that Mr. Bradley is really making strides in developing Flavia as a child genius. She is beginning to realize that she will be 12 soon and that means changes are coming. They way she copes with the developments of her life are the key attractant to this story, and often the comic relief.

I really could have done without the addition of the "other" de Luces.  Adding Undine to the cast is not where I was hoping we'd develop, but I guess we'll see how that plays out in future novels. The addition of Lena plays more to the development of Harriet and Felicity so I'll excuse her appearance forced into an already crammed story.

Overall, the whole effect was mediocre, but I was once again given some promise of hope for the future when the Colonel announces Flavia's deportment to boarding school. The very same that Harriet attended as a youth. Flavia around others her age seems very promising for shenanigans.