The Grave's a Fine and Private Place by Alan Bradley

As a mystery author, it has to be a real struggle to continue making novels that have the right twists and the right difficulty. Make them unsolvable and readers won't feel rewarded. Make them too transparent and the readers won't want to try again. A fine line at the edge of a dagger's blade for sure. 

We're at book nine in the Flavia de Luce series, and I find myself still enjoying the tempestuous (now) 12-year-old detective. The direction of the plot may not have been where I wished it--I'm still sad that we missed our opportunity for a boarding school Flavia--but I have hopes for the Queen of Buckshaw.

I haven't given up on this series because I am often so entertained with what Flavia and family are getting up to in their daily lives that I forget about trying to read all the clues. Mr. Bradley also does a fabulous job of distracting me with chemistry. Often I find myself at the end of the novel saying to myself, oh, I should have known that all along, but I was having such fun with Flavia.

Not this go. The family is punting down the river on holiday after yet more tragedy has stricken the de Luces. Flavia is clearly Dogger's favorite because he has coordinated the punt to pass by a poisoner's famous (triple!) murder scene while Daphne and Ophelia are forced to bow to the whims of the plot. 

The trip gets a little more exciting than they probably planned when Flavia hauls a body from the river. Their quick river jaunt has now turned into a small village holiday with not one murder investigation but two. Cold cases stand no chance against Flavia's sense of justice! 

I was unimpressed in the overall novel. After all the back and forth of potential murders, the big reveal made little sense to me. It felt as if Mr. Bradley was trying to solve the mystery with the least likely character just to capture that sense of surprise. The motive made no sense, Daphne's little mini mystery feels like something added after the final edit to pad the page count, and how on Earth does Dieter end up there?

Clunky. Just overall clunky this time around. Too many plot devices thrown into the kettle, too unrealistic in terms of human behavior. I'll try again next time.