The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Flavia de Luce is a precocious 11 year-old chemist and amateur sleuth. In the summer of 1950, she finds a dead bird on the doorstep of her family's crumbling manor house, a stamp affixed to its beak. Later that day, she comes across a dead man in the garden. For Flavia, these mysterious events are both frightening and exciting. She says, "I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn't. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life." Thus follows her investigation, a delightful coming-of-age mystery starring one of the most charming heroines ever written. This series is FABULOUS on audio; narrated by Jayne Entwistle.
More info →I Am Half-Sick of Shadows: A Flavia de Luce Novel
From the publisher: "It's Christmastime, and Flavia de Luce—an eleven-year-old sleuth with a passion for chemistry—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: But who among the assembled guests would stage such a chilling scene? As the storm worsens and the list of suspects grows, Flavia must ferret out a killer hidden in plain sight."
More info →