NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Flavia de Luce—“part Harriet the Spy, part Violet Baudelaire from Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” (The New York Times Book Review)—takes her remarkable sleuthing prowess to the unexpectedly unsavory world of Canadian boarding schools in this captivating mystery.
Banished! is how twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce laments her predicament, when her father and Aunt Felicity ship her off to Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy, the boarding school that her mother, Harriet, once attended across the sea in Canada. The sun has not yet risen on Flavia’s first day in captivity when a gift lands at her feet. Flavia being Flavia, a budding chemist and sleuth, that gift is a charred and mummified body, which tumbles out of a bedroom chimney. Now, while attending classes, making friends (and enemies), and assessing the school’s stern headmistress and faculty (one of whom is an acquitted murderess), Flavia is on the hunt for the victim’s identity and time of death, as well as suspects, motives, and means. Rumors swirl that Miss Bodycote’s is haunted, and that several girls have disappeared without a trace. When it comes to solving multiple mysteries, Flavia is up to the task—but her true destiny has yet to be revealed.
Praise for As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust
“Flavia de Luce [is] perhaps contemporary crime fiction’s most original character—to say she is Pippi Longstocking with a Ph.D. in chemistry (speciality: poisons) barely begins to describe her.”—Maclean’s
“Another treat for readers of all ages . . . [As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust] maintains the high standards Bradley set from the start.”—Booklist
“Exceptional . . . [The] intriguing setup only gets better, and Bradley makes Miss Bodycote’s a suitably Gothic setting for Flavia’s sleuthing. Through it all, her morbid narrative voice continues to charm.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Even after all these years, Flavia de Luce is still the world’s greatest adolescent British chemist/busybody/sleuth.”—The Seattle Times
“Plot twists come faster than Canadian snowfall. . . . Bradley’s sense of observation is as keen as gung-ho scientist Flavia’s. . . . The results so far are seven sparkling Flavia de Luce mysteries.”—Library Journal
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“Narrator Jayne Entwistle once again brings to life the beloved British investigative prodigy Flavia de Luce…Entwistle’s appealing portrayal of Flavia emphasizes the precocious girl’s inquisitive (or perhaps nosy) intellect as she repeatedly breaks school rules to pursue clues about the corpse. Thanks to Entwistle’s refined characterizations, Flavia’s conversations with other characters, including the smooth-talking senior girl and an awe-inspiring chemistry teacher, flow seamlessly. Flavia’s sparkling humor is almost visible in Entwistle’s smiling voice, which switches to occasional melancholy as Flavia reminisces about far-away home.”
— AudioFile
“This idiosyncratic young heroine continues to charm.”
— Wall Street Journal“If ever there were a sleuth who’s bold, brilliant, and, yes, adorable, it’s Flavia de Luce.”
— USA Today“Part Harriet the Spy, part Violet Baudelaire from Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Flavia is a pert and macabre pragmatist.”
— New York Times Book Review“Delightful…a combination of Eloise and Sherlock Holmes.”
— Boston Globe“Even after all these years, Flavia de Luce is still the world’s greatest adolescent British chemist/busybody/sleuth.”
— Seattle Times“Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce [is] perhaps contemporary crime fiction’s most original character—to say she is Pippi Longstocking with a PhD in chemistry (speciality: poisons) barely begins to describe her.”
— Maclean’s“Exceptional…[The] intriguing setup only gets better, and Bradley makes Miss Bodycote’s a suitably Gothic setting for Flavia’s sleuthing. Through it all, her morbid narrative voice continues to charm.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Alan Bradley is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of novels, short stories, children’s stories, newspaper columns, and the memoir The Shoebox Bible. His first Flavia de Luce novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, received the CWA Debut Dagger Award, the Dilys Winn Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Agatha Award, the Macavity Award, and the Barry Award, and was nominated for the Anthony Award.
Jayne Entwistle is a voice talent and Earphones Award–winning narrator.