CONTEST: WIN A COPY OF ALAN BRADLEY'S A RED HERRING WITHOUT MUSTARD
February 8 marks the launch of a new novel by one of my favorite authors, Alan Bradley. A Red Herring without Mustard (Delacorte Press) is the third installment of the Flavia de Luce series. Flavia, the detective, may be 11, but this is not a YA book, nor is Flavia Nancy Drew. The books are set in 1950s England, and Flavia is an 11 year old sleuth of the English gentry, albeit in fallen straights, who comes upon corpses and poisons. Her Victorian Chemistry lab is worth the price of admission, or in this case, the book!
In this installment, Flavia draws upon her 'encyclopedic knowledge of poisons and gypsy lore to prevent a miscarriage of justice. Gypsies, nobility, English village, historical (1950s), A Red Herring Without Mustard has it all. Whimsical and madcap!
Alan Bradley, a retired radio/TV engineer from Vancouver, BC, was 70 when he submitted a 15 page synopsis of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (#1 in the series) to the British Crime Writers Association for consideration for the Debut Dagger Award. The rest is history!
Alan Bradley won the Macavity Award (and many other awards) for The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.
CONTEST: Win a copy of A Red Herring without Mustard. Just make a comment below of why you are endeared (or not) by Flavia de Luce. Winner will be chosen by a random numerical system on February 8. Be sure and check back to this post on February for the winner!
Video of Alan Bradley talking about Book 2: The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
