Flavia de Luce, Books 1-10 – Alan Bradley Free Audiobook

Written by Alan Bradley
Read by Jayne Entwistle
Format: Mixed
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Alan Bradley; Flavia de Luce, Books 1-10

[01]

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
By: Alan Bradley
Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
Series: Flavia de Luce Mysteries, Book 1
Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 04-28-09
Language: English
Publisher: Random House Audio

Publisher’s Summary
In his wickedly brilliant first novel, Debut Dagger Award winner Alan Bradley introduces one of the most singular and engaging heroines in recent fiction: 11-year-old Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison.
It is the summer of 1950 and a series of inexplicable events has struck Buckshaw, the decaying English mansion that Flavia’s family calls home. A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath. For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw.

To Flavia the investigation is the stuff of science: full of possibilities, contradictions, and connections. Soon her father, a man raising his three daughters alone, is seized, accused of murder. And in a police cell, during a violent thunderstorm, Colonel de Luce tells his daughter an astounding story, that of a schoolboy friendship turned ugly, of a priceless object that vanished in a bizarre and brazen act of thievery, of a Latin teacher who flung himself to his death from the school’s tower 30 years before. Now Flavia is armed with more than enough knowledge to tie two distant deaths together, to examine new suspects, and begin a search that will lead her all the way to the King of England himself. Of this much the girl is sure: her father is innocent of murder, but protecting her and her sisters from something even worse.

An enthralling mystery, a piercing depiction of class and society, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a masterfully told tale of deceptions and a rich literary delight.

[02]

The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag
A Flavia de Luce Mystery
By: Alan Bradley
Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
Series: Flavia de Luce Mysteries, Book 2
Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 03-09-10
Language: English
Publisher: Random House Audio

Publisher’s Summary
From Dagger Award-winning and internationally best-selling author Alan Bradley comes this utterly beguiling mystery, starring one of fiction’s most remarkable sleuths: Flavia de Luce, a dangerously brilliant 11-year-old with a passion for chemistry and a genius for solving murders. This time, Flavia finds herself untangling two deaths—separated by time but linked by the unlikeliest of threads.

Flavia thinks that her days of crime-solving in the bucolic English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacy are over—and then Rupert Porson has an unfortunate rendezvous with electricity. The beloved puppeteer has had his own strings sizzled, but who’d do such a thing and why? For Flavia, the questions are intriguing enough to make her put aside her chemistry experiments and schemes of vengeance against her insufferable big sisters. Astride Gladys, her trusty bicycle, Flavia sets out from the de Luces’ crumbling family mansion in search of Bishop’s Lacey’s deadliest secrets.

Does the madwoman who lives in Gibbet Wood know more than she’s letting on? What of the vicar’s odd ministrations to the catatonic woman in the dovecote? Then there’s a German pilot obsessed with the Brontë sisters, a reproachful spinster aunt, and even a box of poisoned chocolates. Most troubling of all is Porson’s assistant, the charming but erratic Nialla. All clues point toward a suspicious death years earlier and a case the local constables can’t solve—without Flavia’s help. But in getting so close to who’s secretly pulling the strings of this dance of death, has our precocious heroine finally gotten in way over her head?

[03]

A Red Herring Without Mustard
A Flavia de Luce Novel
By: Alan Bradley
Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
Series: Flavia de Luce Mysteries, Book 3
Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 02-08-11
Language: English
Publisher: Random House Audio

Publisher’s Summary
Award-winning author Alan Bradley returns with another beguiling novel starring the insidiously clever and unflappable 11-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce. The precocious chemist with a passion for poisons uncovers a fresh slew of misdeeds in the hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey—mysteries involving a missing tot, a fortune-teller, and a corpse in Flavia’s own backyard.

Flavia had asked the old Gypsy woman to tell her fortune, but never expected to stumble across the poor soul, bludgeoned in the wee hours in her own caravan. Was this an act of retribution by those convinced that the soothsayer had abducted a local child years ago? Certainly Flavia understands the bliss of settling scores; revenge is a delightful pastime when one has two odious older sisters. But how could this crime be connected to the missing baby? Had it 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 another corpse—that of a notorious layabout who had been caught prowling about the de Luce’s drawing room.

Pedaling Gladys, her faithful bicycle, across the countryside in search of clues to both crimes, Flavia uncovers some odd new twists. Most intriguing is her introduction to an elegant artist with a very special object in her possession—a portrait that sheds light on the biggest mystery of all: Who is Flavia?

As the red herrings pile up, Flavia must sort through clues fishy and foul to untangle dark deeds and dangerous secrets.

[04]

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
A Flavia de Luce Novel
By: Alan Bradley
Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
Series: Flavia de Luce Mysteries, Book 4
Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 11-01-11
Language: English
Publisher: Random House Audio

Publisher’s Summary
It’s Christmastime, and the precocious Flavia de Luce—an eleven-year-old sleuth with a passion for chemistry and a penchant for crime-solving—is tucked away in her laboratory, whipping up a concoction to ensnare Saint Nick. But she is soon distracted when a film crew arrives at Buckshaw, the de Luces’ decaying English estate, to shoot a movie starring the famed Phyllis Wyvern. Amid a raging blizzard, the entire village of Bishop’s Lacey gathers at Buckshaw to watch Wyvern perform, yet nobody is prepared for the evening’s shocking conclusion: a body found, past midnight, strangled to death with a length of film. But who among the assembled guests would stage such a chilling scene? As the storm worsens and the list of suspects grows, Flavia must use every ounce of sly wit at her disposal to ferret out a killer hidden in plain sight.

[05]

Speaking from Among the Bones
A Flavia de Luce Novel, Book 5
By: Alan Bradley
Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
Series: Flavia de Luce Mysteries, Book 5
Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 01-29-13
Language: English
Publisher: Random House Audio

Publisher’s Summary
From award-winning author Alan Bradley comes the next cozy British mystery starring intrepid young sleuth Flavia de Luce, hailed by USA Today as “one of the most remarkable creations in recent literature”.

Eleven-year-old amateur detective and ardent chemist Flavia de Luce is used to digging up clues, whether they’re found among the potions in her laboratory or between the pages of her insufferable sisters’ diaries. What she is not accustomed to is digging up bodies. Upon the 500th anniversary of St. Tancred’s death, the English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey is busily preparing to open its patron saint’s tomb. Nobody is more excited to peek inside the crypt than Flavia, yet what she finds will halt the proceedings dead in their tracks: the body of Mr. Collicutt, the church organist, his face grotesquely and inexplicably masked.

Who held a vendetta against Mr. Collicutt, and why would they hide him in such a sacred resting place? The irrepressible Flavia decides to find out. And what she unearths will prove there’s never such thing as an open-and-shut case.

[06]

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches
A Flavia de Luce Novel, Book 6
By: Alan Bradley
Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
Series: Flavia de Luce Mysteries, Book 6
Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 01-14-14
Language: English
Publisher: Random House Audio

Publisher’s Summary
On a spring morning in 1951, 11-year-old chemist and aspiring detective Flavia de Luce gathers with her family at the railway station, awaiting the return of her long-lost mother, Harriet. Yet upon the train’s arrival in the English village of Bishop’s Lacey, Flavia is approached by a tall stranger who whispers a cryptic message into her ear. Moments later, he is dead, mysteriously pushed under the train by someone in the crowd. Who was this man, what did his words mean, and why were they intended for Flavia? Back home at Buckshaw, the de Luces’ crumbling estate, Flavia puts her sleuthing skills to the test. Following a trail of clues sparked by the discovery of a reel of film stashed away in the attic, she unravels the deepest secrets of the de Luce clan, involving none other than Winston Churchill himself. Surrounded by family, friends, and a famous pathologist from the Home Office – and making spectacular use of Harriet’s beloved Gipsy Moth plane, Blithe Spirit – Flavia will do anything, even take to the skies, to land a killer.

[6.5]
Not included ~ not in audible format ~ if you come across this post it 🙂
The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse
By: Alan Bradley

[07]

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust
Flavia de Luce, Book 7
By: Alan Bradley
Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
Series: Flavia de Luce Mysteries, Book 7
Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 01-06-15
Language: English
Publisher: Random House Audio

Publisher’s Summary
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 the captivating new mystery from New York Times best-selling author Alan Bradley.

[08]

Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d
A Flavia de Luce Novel, Book 8
By: Alan Bradley
Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
Series: Flavia de Luce Mysteries, Book 8
Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 09-20-16
Language: English
Publisher: Random House Audio

Publisher’s Summary
Hailed as “a combination of Eloise and Sherlock Holmes” by The Boston Globe, Flavia de Luce returns in a much anticipated new Christmas mystery from award-winning and New York Times best-selling author Alan Bradley.

In spite of being ejected from Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy in Canada, 12-year-old Flavia de Luce is excited to be sailing home to England. But instead of a joyous homecoming, she is greeted on the docks with unfortunate news: Her father has fallen ill, and a hospital visit will have to wait while he rests. But with Flavia’s blasted sisters and insufferable cousin underfoot, Buckshaw now seems both too empty – and not empty enough.

Only too eager to run an errand for the vicar’s wife, Flavia hops on her trusty bicycle, Gladys, to deliver a message to a reclusive wood-carver. Finding the front door ajar, Flavia enters and stumbles upon the poor man’s body hanging upside down on the back of his bedroom door. The only living creature in the house is a feline that shows little interest in the disturbing scene. Curiosity may not kill this cat, but Flavia is energized at the prospect of a new investigation. It’s amazing what the discovery of a corpse can do for one’s spirits. But what awaits Flavia will shake her to the very core.

[09]

The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place
A Flavia de Luce Novel
By: Alan Bradley
Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
Series: Flavia de Luce Mysteries, Book 9
Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 01-30-18
Language: English
Publisher: Random House Audio

Publisher’s Summary
“The world’s greatest adolescent British chemist/busybody/sleuth” (The Seattle Times), Flavia de Luce, returns in a twisty new mystery novel from award-winning and New York Times best-selling author Alan Bradley.

In the wake of an unthinkable family tragedy, 12-year-old Flavia de Luce is struggling to fill her empty days. For a needed escape, Dogger, the loyal family servant, suggests a boating trip for Flavia and her two older sisters. As their punt drifts past the church where a notorious vicar had recently dispatched three of his female parishioners by spiking their communion wine with cyanide, Flavia, an expert chemist with a passion for poisons, is ecstatic. Suddenly, something grazes her fingers as she dangles them in the water. She clamps down on the object, imagining herself Ernest Hemingway battling a marlin, and pulls up what she expects will be a giant fish. But in Flavia’s grip is something far better: a human head, attached to a human body. If anything could take Flavia’s mind off sorrow, it is solving a murder – although one that may lead the young sleuth to an early grave.

[10]

The Golden Tresses of the Dead: A Flavia de Luce Novel
Flavia de Luce Series, Book 10
By: Alan Bradley
Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
Series: Flavia de Luce Mysteries, Book 10
Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 01-22-19
Language: English

Publisher’s Summary
New York Times Best Seller

A finger in a wedding cake is only the beginning in this deliciously shocking mystery featuring Flavia de Luce, “the world’s greatest adolescent British chemist/busybody/sleuth” (The Seattle Times).

Although it is autumn in the small English town of Bishop’s Lacey, the chapel is decked with exotic flowers. Yes, Flavia de Luce’s sister, Ophelia, is at last getting hitched, like a mule to a wagon. “A church is a wonderful place for a wedding”, muses Flavia, “surrounded as it is by the legions of the dead, whose listening bones bear silent witness to every promise made at the altar.”

Flavia is not your normal 12-year-old girl. An expert in the chemical nature of poisons, she has solved many mysteries, sharpening her considerable detection skills to the point where she had little choice but to turn professional. So Flavia and dependable Dogger, estate gardener and sounding board extraordinaire, set up shop at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, eager to serve – not so simple an endeavor with her odious little moon-faced cousin Undine constantly underfoot.

But Flavia and Dogger persevere. Little does she know that their first case will be extremely close to home, beginning with an unwelcome discovery in Ophelia’s wedding cake: a human finger.

Praise for The Golden Tresses of the Dead

“Delightful…. The mysteries in Mr. Bradley’s books are engaging, but the real lure is Ms. de Luce, the irreverent youngster.” (The Wall Street Journal)

“A ghoulish question is at the heart of Bradley’s excellent tenth Flavia de Luce novel…. Bradley, who has few peers at combining fair-play clueing with humor and has fun mocking genre conventions, shows no sign of running out of ideas.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review)