The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley

Amazon.com: The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de ...What a mind palette cleanse! After a heavy dosing of dystopian type fantasy, the 10-year-old fledgling chemist detective is just absolutely brightening. Odd to say about book where the main character likes to stare at dead bodies, but there you have it.

 The factual historical chemistry is what draws me to these books the most. I get a fun read while I learn a thing or two at the same time. Also, as an herbalist, it is neat to see a main character interested in plants--though Flavia is attracted to the poisonous kind.

 For a 10-year-old, she definitely has a devious mind, especially when directed at her sisters. There are moments where reality is suspended as Flavia does something or holds a conversation well above her age, but the moments were she acts very clearly 10 balance it back out.

 The foreshadowing tickles the mind, and you know that little sprinkle of information is important, but the characters are so enjoyable I just forget that I'm supposed to be solving who-dun-it. I think I may have finally find a mystery writer that I actually feel like reading. I'm so glad there are many more of these to read.

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