15 of 52 in my 2011 book blogging challenge.<\/p>\n
I adored the first book in this series<\/a>, but I liked The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag<\/a> even better. One again we have the delightful Flavia, eleven-year-old chemist and detective, showing us the world through her English, post-war eyes. <\/p>\n This time the mystery involves a puppeteer, a ring of drug dealers, a little romantic intrigue, and not one but two unexplained deaths. The story in this book is a little more adult than that of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie<\/a>, though Flavia is no more grownup. For example, she figures out who has had an affair with whom, but she doesn’t figure out what an affair is. <\/p>\n I think it is the fact that there is a little more irony as well as a little more intrigue in this book that makes me like it better than the first in the series. <\/p>\n There isn’t particular depth to these books. They just offer a lighthearted mystery along with a little slice of 1950s English life. They might not be eye-opening or shattering in any way, but they are thoroughly enjoyable. I read them while I happened to have a fair share of real-life stress going on. They made a perfect little escape.<\/p>\n