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A Red Herring Without Mustard
A Red Herring Without Mustard | Alan Bradley
119 posts | 178 read | 45 to read
In the third installment of this bestselling, award-winning, sister-poisoning, bicycle-riding, murder-investigating, and utterly captivating series, Flavia de Luce must draw upon Gypsy lore and her encyclopaedic knowledge of poisons to prevent a grave miscarriage of justice.You frighten me, the old Gypsy woman says. Never have I seen my crystal ball so filled with darkness. So begins eleven-year-old Flavia de Luces third adventure through the charming but deceptively dark byways of the village of Bishops Lacey. The fortune teller also claims to see a woman who is lost and needs help to get homeand Flavia knows it must be her mother Harriet, who died when Flavia was less than a year old. The Gypsys vision opens up old wounds for our precocious yet haunted heroine, and sets her mind racing in search of what it could mean.When Flavia later goes to visit the Gypsy at her encampment, she certainly doesnt expect to find the poor old woman lying near death in her caravan, bludgeoned in the wee hours. Was it an act of retribution by those who thought that the woman had abducted a local child years before? Certainly Flavia understands the bliss of settling scores; revenge is a delightful pastime when one has two odious older sisters. But how can she prove this crime is connected to the missing baby? Did it have something to do with the weird sect who met at the river to practice their secret rites?While still pondering the possibilities, Flavia stumbles upon a corpsethat of a notorious layabout and bully she had only recently caught prowling about Buckshaw. The body hangs from a statue of Poseidon in Flavias very own backyard, and our unflappable sleuth knows its up to her to figure out the significance. Pedalling her faithful bicycle, Gladys, across the countryside in search of clues to both crimes, Flavia uncovers secrets both long-buried and freshly stowedthe dodgy dealings of a local ironworks, the truth behind the Hobblers secret meetings, her own ancestors ambitious plansall the while exhausting the patience of Inspector Hewitt. But its not long before the evidence starts falling into place, and Flavia must take drastic action to prevent another violent attack.From the Hardcover edition.
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Blueberry
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😄

SamAnne 🥰 9mo
julesG Very apt comparison! 😁😁 9mo
Aimeesue Flavia❤️❤️❤️ 9mo
42 likes3 comments
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gossamerchild
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Pickpick

I read this a while ago (apparently 9 years ago 😳), but it works for the #spices prompt.

I adore these books. I know I've raved about them before, but the audio versions are just fantastic.

#OminousOctober #Scarathlon2022 #teamslaughter @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Eggs I have one on my shelf!! 2y
gossamerchild @Eggs ❤️❤️ 2y
21 likes2 comments
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JacintaMCarter
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Pickpick

#2022Book24
Just like the first two books in the Flavia de Luce series, I absolutely loved this one. All of the characters are wonderful, the mystery is compelling, and if I have a daughter who isn't exactly like Flavia, then I'm sending her back!

Nute Love this series!🙂 2y
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lauraisntwilder
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Pickpick

This series has really grown on me. It's as cozy as a blanket...or a cup of tea.

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merelybookish
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First #CloakandDaggerChristmas book complete. Fun to revisit Flavia after many years. She is spunky. I ended up caring more about the people of Buckshaw and Bishop's Lacey than the actual mystery.
Next up A is for Alibi.

RaeLovesToRead I'm working on Inspector Bucket with The Strings of Murder! It's great fun so far. Nice work!! 😊 2y
merelybookish @RaeLovesToRead Nice! It's a fun challenge. 🙂 (I got the bingo card off of Instagram if you want one too.) 2y
batsy It's so well done in terms of character and place! 💜 2y
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merelybookish
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Kicking off #CloakandDaggerChristmas with Flavia and Book 3 of the series. 🕵️‍♀️

Ruthiella Woohoo! 🕵🏼‍♂️🎄👍 2y
Suzze I love this series sooooo much. Hasn‘t been one in a couple of years. 😕 2y
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merelybookish @Suzze I looked it up and he was 80 when the last one came out. 😯 2y
Ruthiella @Suzze @merelybookish I think the series is complete at 10 books now and Bradley won‘t write any more Flavia books. While I‘ve enjoyed them all. I think it‘s better to quit when ahead with series. 2y
Suzze @merelybookish @Ruthiella Well, darn. I guess at 80 he deserves a rest. ❤️❤️ 2y
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Tera66
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#Curiouscovers #Yellow
@Eggs & @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Another Flavia deLuce Mystery💛❤💛

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I‘ve heard these are good! 💛📚💛 3y
Tera66 @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Its my favorite book series of all time. The author says he is done, for now. I miss getting a new one every year. I didn't fall in love with the first book, they get better as it goes. 3y
Eggs Lovely 💛🌼📒💛 3y
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mcctrish
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Pickpick

Continuing my love affair with Flavia. Taught today amd used LeRoy Neiman‘s Lion painting to inspire some “March comes in like a lion” art with grade 2‘s ❤️ they did an awesome job

readordierachel 👏🏼👏🏼 3y
kspenmoll Fantastic! Love the vivid colors💙 3y
mcctrish @readordierachel lots of claps from me today ❤️ 3y
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mcctrish @kspenmoll I LOVE the vivid colours 🌈 3y
Tamra Adorbs! 3y
mcctrish @Tamra I‘m going to try another version tomorrow with grade 4‘s 3y
Megabooks Kids are so wonderfully creative! Love these and how unique they are! 3y
mcctrish @Megabooks I love a good art lesson where we follow a theme, use an artist‘s work or technique for inspiration but then create our own work of art. I‘ve tried to do that more this year #arttherapy 3y
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mcctrish
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Staying sane with coffee and audio books 🙋🏻‍♀️

Liatrek ❤️❤️🙌🏾🙌🏾 3y
Prairiegirl_reading I wish my coffee would do that for me! Lol!!! 3y
mcctrish @Prairiegirl_reading Angie I think it‘s the books more than the coffee in my case ( and not reading many of the posts on FB made by newspapers and news outlets ) 3y
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mcctrish @Liatrek thank god for coffee ☕️☕️☕️ 3y
Prairiegirl_reading @mcctrish I always read the comments and I ALWAYS regret it!! Lol!! If I could just my phone to shock me every once in a while I‘d put it down more often. 3y
mcctrish @Prairiegirl_reading I need my phone to shock me when I start eating chips 🤣🤣🤣 3y
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Centique
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Pickpick

Flavia de Luce never disappoints 😊 A wonderful cosy mystery series set in 1950s England with a quirky 11 year old chemistry whizz sleuth, a crumbling gothic house in the country, and a surfeit of dead bodies. This might be the change of pace you need! I should really be reading this beside a roaring fire, but it‘s sunshine and icecreams at a cafe instead. #southernhemispherechristmas

rockpools Sunshine and icecreams at a cafe sounds delightful! 3y
TrishB What @rockpools said 3y
BethM Sounds fun! 3y
LeahBergen I third @rockpools and @TrishB !👍🏻 3y
Centique @rockpools @TrishB @LeahBergen sending you all virtual icecreams (actually it was strawberry gelato!) 🍦🍦🍦 3y
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janeycanuck
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Pickpick

Another excellent instalment of the Flavia de Luce books. I‘m loving doing this re-read on audio. Jane Entwistle could not be any more perfect as a narrator. Flavia gets up to all her old tricks again, bumbling the investigation and generally causing a ruckus. Love it!

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Smarkies
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Mehso-so

I do enjoy this series except this one seemed to ramble a bit too much and I lost a bit of interest in the plot at about the two-thirds mark.

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janeycanuck
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BridgetteM I‘m not really surprised that the Bishop‘s Lacey folks didn‘t have a bigger reaction to Brookie‘s death. I think they knew he was bound to meet an untimely end. As to Flavia‘s remarks to Brookie‘s mom, I think it could probably apply to almost any villager since it‘s such a small place. 4y
Smarkies Generally most of the comments around the village was that he was generally a good for nothin' and therefore his death did not really affect many people. 4y
janeycanuck @Smarkies @BridgetteM Yeah, it didn‘t seem like they cared much about him when he was alive so not surprised his death didn‘t change things. 4y
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janeycanuck
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BridgetteM I thought it was a bit awkward for the other members of the family. After a while I thought Flavia‘s dad was a bit attracted to her by the end of they dinner. 4y
Smarkies I didn't understand this bit at all.... It all seemed to be a bit awkward but this family seems to have a really stiff upper lip in dealing with things like this. 4y
janeycanuck @BridgetteM also, totally weird that this young woman just went into a random closet that she wasn‘t invited into... 4y
janeycanuck @Smarkies it was weird, wasn‘t it? For some reason, I thought she was quite young but she must not have been if she could fit into Harriett‘s clothes. 4y
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janeycanuck
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Question 2.

#flaviabuddyread

BridgetteM Good question... maybe because it‘s predictable, unlike a lot of other things in her life. It also connects her to her family‘s past. 4y
Smarkies It connects her to her family's past. I think this book mentions how she has decided to sleep in this part of the house when she found out about it 4y
Smarkies Also, the rest of her family seems to have hobbies so this may be how she has decided to pursue hers. 4y
janeycanuck @BridgetteM it gives her a sense of control, I think. She knows what will happen, it‘s dependable and constant, unlike so much else in her life. 4y
janeycanuck @Smarkies yeah, sometimes I wonder if part of it is because she felt reading and music were already “taken” 4y
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janeycanuck
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BridgetteM People tend to underestimate her@or they assume she is too young to understand what‘s going on. The inspector, I can only remember that his wife‘s name is Antigone, has learned that the hard way. He seems to be coming to respect her quite a bit. 4y
Smarkies Definitely! As @BridgetteM mentioned - they let down their guard against her because of her age and her supposed naivety. Only her family and servants really seem to know her depths. 4y
janeycanuck @BridgetteM @Smarkies So sorry - I‘ve been having a tough go this month with reading (like everyone else...) so am super late getting back to these posts... but yeah, agreed, Flavia is definitely underestimated because of her age. And she‘s able to get away with so much! 4y
Smarkies @janeycanuck no worries Janey. It has been a very odd few weeks and nobody is really certain about the future. 😞 4y
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janeycanuck
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#flaviabuddyread questions coming up!

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janeycanuck
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Join me on Saturday for the third instalment in our #flaviabuddyread!

26 likes2 comments
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WanderingBookaneer
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Lynnsoprano This reminds me that I have to take the most recent Flavia that I‘ve read back to my son‘s when we go to his house on Thursday for Thanksgiving. Then I‘ll check the next book out of his library 😂 I love this series. 4y
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okthislooksbad
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Happy #readathon-day! Starting out with some Flavia de Luce, but moving on to an absolute PILE of Giant Days I've been collecting for the very purpose of readathoning later on. Happy reading, folks! 📚 ☕ 🍪

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Young4evr
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Pickpick

****

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DarcysMom
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Pickpick

🌟🌟🌟🌟
#audiobook
#cloudlibrary

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DarcysMom
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DarcysMom
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DarcysMom
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DarcysMom
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Ash.on.the.line
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Pickpick

Overall this is a pick, but I did find it a little busy. Still great fun. I love that Flavia is smart and figures things out while still being portrayed as an 11 year old girl that‘s sometimes silly, insecure, sister hater/lover and who also talks to her bicycle!

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Lynnsoprano
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Pickpick

Sometimes Flavia makes me wonder if there isn‘t any mishap or unusual situation she hasn‘t gotten into. At times this story was over the top, yet it was so much fun. I‘m looking forward to the next book in the series, but I‘ll wait a bit, as there‘s only so much of an 11 year old, chemistry-loving amateur sleuth I can take at a time 😄

RaimeyGallant Lol, love the pic. 5y
Lynnsoprano @raimeygallant Thanks! I haven‘t staged a book in forever, but this one was a natural 😄 5y
MaureenMc That is an impressive array of mustard. 😁 5y
MayaB1226 Wow, I‘ve been wanting to read this series! 5y
alanacristin Yes to all the above! 5y
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Lynnsoprano
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Lots of reading time in the doctor‘s waiting room. Hubby just has a follow up appointment but the doctor‘s office moved, so I came along as human GPS😂

Lizpixie I know how you feel. If you gave me a $1 for every hour spent reading in doctors offices, I‘d be a very very rich woman!👩🏻‍⚕️📖💰 5y
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Plaidsticks
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Pickpick
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Lynnsoprano
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1. A Red Herring Without Mustard and A History of Modern Europe, volume one.
2. 😘
3. 😘😊😂
#weekendreads

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Lynnsoprano
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I started this over a week ago, put it down to read the #earlyreviewer book I received, then got distracted by the release of the new Lady Darby book. Time to return to Flavia and her exploits.

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Lynnsoprano
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#nextup I borrowed this from our son and DIL‘s library, so there‘s no real rush to return it. I‘m just in a Flavia de Luce mood.

rretzler Love 💕 💗 Flavia. That series is one of my favorites, but at times it breaks my heart. Sometimes I think Alan Bradley is trying to take a page out of George RR Martin‘s “what to do with my characters” handbook!😝 5y
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TheHeartlandBookFairy
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Pickpick

Book 3 in Alan Bradley's Flavia Daluce series was another hit 😁 I've really enjoyed listening to the series and watching the character development from book to book. This book had a little bit more info about flavia's mom and some touching bits here and there. Hopefully as the series goes on I'll get to piece together a little bit more of that backstory.

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Kmmsellers
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Early signs of spring, a warm, breezy walk, and a lighthearted audiobook: just what I needed this afternoon.

CouronneDhiver 🌸❤️🌸❤️🌸❤️ 5y
36 likes1 comment
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CaitMobley
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I‘m finishing this one to kick off #24in48. 1 hour in, 23 more to go!

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ChristyM
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Mehso-so

Apparently the first three Flavia de Luce mysteries have all melded together in my mind. I read the first thirty pages of this book with a sense of deja vu. I‘m pretty sure I read the whole thing a couple of years ago and I wasn‘t crazy about the story then either.

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SheilaChew
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Oh what joy this series is bringing to my reading life! Flavia de Luce is just the character to bring me out of my reading slump. I‘m on my third book and each one is just as wonderful as the first!

TheBookKeepers This sounds great! 6y
Suzze What a great picture! Flavia is one of my favorites! (edited) 6y
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Laura317
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Oh, Flavia! How I adore your little heart.

JosieG No one is better at loving OR hating than siblings. 😁 6y
Mdargusch 💕❤️💕 her sisters crack me up! 6y
Laura317 @JosieG There is great truth in your statement. 6y
Laura317 @Mdargusch Reminds me somewhat of my son and daughter. They could fuss and fight all day long, but heaven help anyone else hurt the other. Claws and fangs come out. 6y
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Laura317
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I am thinking that I might name my bike “Gladys”. These books just get better and better!

Aimeesue Flavia! Flavia! Flavia! ❤️ 6y
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Laura317
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Love me some Flavia de Luce shenanigans! The relationship between Flavia and her sisters crack me up. “You odious little prawn!” “You stupid sausage!”

Mdargusch That is one of my favorite parts of these books too - the sibling relationships feel so real and humorous. 6y
Laura317 @Mdargusch I know. I thought briefly of calling my stepsister an odious little prawn (I‘m the older), but we we‘ve always gotten along too well - even as little kids! 6y
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MaeMaeLu
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Been on a crazy mystery kick lately and this book is scratching the itch in such a fun way. I love this series.

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Chellebearss
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Bailedbailed

I couldn‘t handle the voice of the narrator. I‘ll have to try in print format instead.

thereadingowlvina That happened to me too for some audiobooks 😐 6y
Chellebearss @thereadingowlvina I listened to a sample and it sounded fine but once I started listening her voice grated on me. :-( 6y
Chronic_Reader The narrator of Flavia novels definitely grew on me, but I couldn‘t stand it at first either. I‘ve listened to the latter half of the series, but I actually have this one in print and am looking forward to the difference! 6y
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Ruthiella Bummer! I read the first 7 with my eyes but really enjoyed the audio version of the 8th...I hope you like the print version better! 6y
TieDyeDude I just had this happen with Raven Boys 6y
RaimeyGallant This was on my maybe list. Maybe not? 6y
Chellebearss @RaimeyGallant give it a shot. I struggle with female voices sometimes if they are higher pitched. I‘m going to give the print book a shot instead of the audio. I‘ve enjoyed the first two books. 6y
Chellebearss @Chronic_Reader I don‘t think I could keep going with it. I found the voice too irritating. I‘ll try the print instead 6y
Chellebearss @Ruthiella not sure if they are all the same narrator but glad that you‘ve enjoyed them 😃 6y
Chellebearss @GoodForCirculation I just started Raven Boys instead of this one 😝 6y
leahbird Oh too bad. I love Jane Entwhistle as Flavia. I'm listening to the most recent, The Grave's A Fine & Private Place, right now. 6y
Chellebearss @leahbird that‘s the same narrator that I had and I just couldn‘t handle her voice. Oh well, I‘ll try print instead :-) enjoy your listening! 😀 6y
KateFulfordAuthor Just curious- for all readers - what does / does not make a good audio book narrator? I‘m considering doing my debut & have been thinking about what would make a “good voice” for Eve. Thanks all. 6y
Chellebearss @KateFulfordAuthor I think being able to do multiple voices and keep an even pace are big things. (I listen at 1.25 or 1.5 speed so an even pace is important). Some of the things that would turn me off are not things you could control really. I tend towards deeper or male voices as female voices can get too high pitched for my preference. If you made a post asking this question I bet you would get lots of respond! 😃 6y
KateFulfordAuthor @Chellebearss That‘s very useful - thanks for the thoughts 6y
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Redjewel_7734
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Pickpick

Another delightful visit to the world of Flavia de Luce. In this one Flavia investigated the beating of a gypsy & the murder of a local thug. Again I find Flavia a pure delight to follow, old friends wonderful to revisit, & new friends delightful to get to know. Entwhistle‘s narration is so perfect that I cannot imagine any ither voice for the inimitable Miss de Luce. I highly recommend you listen to this series if you can.

leahbird Jayne Entwhistle is really great! 6y
Redjewel_7734 @leahbird she is amazing!!!!!! 6y
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GypsyKat
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Nothing like a book deal to start off a Saturday. 👍

cajunsyd I almost purchased that one too! 6y
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Librarybelle
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Pickpick

Book three in the Flavia de Luce mystery series finds Flavia hanging out with gypsies and discovering some family secrets. Flavia is as brainy and know-it-all as ever. Another good narration by Jayne Entwistle. I admit I find Flavia to be a tad annoying, but it is still a good addition to the series.

#SebastianKitty photobombed my audiobook shot with #Zeke . He‘s a squirt! #catsoflitsy

rubyslippersreads 😻😻😻 6y
SandyW Zeke doesn't look too happy about it. 6y
Librarybelle @SandyW No! We‘re still having adjustment issues with Sebastian - 4 months after I brought him into the house. Zeke and Vladimir, my other cat, are still not quite sure to think about Sebastian. We have some peaceful moments, though, so it gives me hope that things will be okay soon! 6y
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SandyW I hope it'll calm down soon! Love their names btw. 6y
Librarybelle @SandyW ❤️❤️❤️ 6y
Lcsmcat 😻😻😻 6y
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susanw
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Squeezing in a cozy for #booked2018

LisaJo I do enjoy a Flavia mystery. Especially on cozy raining ☔️ days. 6y
LeahBergen Fantastic mug 😍 6y
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erzascarletbookgasm
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#🔮 #thisremindsmeof Flavia encountering a gypsy fortune-teller in this book.

@JoeStalksBeck @Tiffy_Reads

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Melli
Pickpick

5 stars loved it.. Will continue and actually start from the first book even thought I guess you could read them as stand alone..

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Melli

Ok so I'm starting the series a little way into it but I couldn't find the first book on Libby or overdrive but I don't know what made me wait so long to read this series I love it