Flavia de Luce, the twelve-year-old chemist and amateur detective "with better than an average brain," is eager to turn professional. She and her father's valet, Dogger, have founded a detective agency, Arthur Dogger & Associates, and unexpectedly cut into their first case during the revelry at her sister Ophelia's wedding reception.

After an eventful ceremony with a missing best man and spontaneous ventriloquist act, spirits are high as Feely and her new husband head for the towering and beautifully iced wedding cake. But as Feely slices into the first piece, a scream rings out--the bridal cake contains a severed human finger. Delighted, Flavia wraps the finger in a napkin and whisks it away to her chemical laboratory. By studying the embalmed skin, the indentation of a ring, and the slope of the fingernail, she'll not only be able to determine the identity of the victim--but also point a finger at a killer

I love this series but I have mixed feelings. As usual I enjoyed the writing style and characters. It's always fun to spend more time in Flavia's head. In this case, her confusion over her pendulum of emotions (such as confidence to uncertainty, or joy to deep sadness) felt realistic and relatable. It's also great that Flavia now has Dogger as a full-time partner in crime (solving) that she can confide in. However, I felt rather indifferent about the actual mystery. While the science was fascinating, I never was overly concerned with figuring out what was going on. Even when the mystery was explained, the motives and chain of events weren't very clear to me.

Sigh, where has the time gone! Flavia seems so grown up in this book! She's slightly older than my daughter, but oh so more independent and mature! Not only is she dealing with family upheaval, she and Dogger have an official case to solve, or do they? When their client is no more, suddenly they have more cases than they can handle, or do they have 1 interlinked case? The local police are finally coming around as well to how Flavia's science is what new Scotland Yard espouses. Will the two meet and solve the case before them, before death strikes again? This is a fun page turner, and a welcome addition to the series!

Flavia de Luce is my favorite character of all time. Alan Bradley has really created something special in the de Luce family. The Golden Tresses of the Dead was a wonderful surprise. Since the events of the last book, Flavia and Dogger have built a special bond. They rely on each other for support and caring. Two broken people that have had such tragedy that continue on with that quintessential stiff upper lip.

Flavia as always find a mystery or a mystery finds her. This time it is a finger in her sister Feely's wedding cake. Who would do such a thing!!! Flavia has the presence of mind to hide the finger while others calm Feely down and the reception goes on. The next morning a client show up asking for help from Arthur Dogger and Associates. It seems some letters have gone missing from Miss Prim's residence. Could the two mysteries be connected?

Wonderfully executed mystery with characters you will cherish. This is a series that I always recommend in reader's advisory interviews.

I always love to read about Flavia's next adventure. This book did not disappoint. She is growing as a character and the author gets this point across in a subtle way. I look forward to,many more adventures with Flavia.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of the latest Flavia adventure. I just adore Flavia she is a strong young girl with a love of poisons and solving mysteries! "Golden Tresses of the Dead" did not disappoint...kept me hooked and I totally did not see the ending coming! Thank you to Alan Bradley for Flavia, Dogger, and all the other characters. If only I could spend some time at Buckshaw!

I often find myself handing this series to mystery lovers who are looking for something fresh. It is a delightfully different kind of mystery, and this latest installment does not disappoint.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of the book in return for an honest and fair review.
Bradley has written another excellent mystery starring the inimitable Flavia de Luce and her talented butler, Dogger. When a local woman is found poisoned, the investigation team goes into action to find the murderer. The reader is treated to the usual local color found in Bishop's Lacey, as well as a few new characters. As always, a pleasure to read, highly recommended.

How can you not love a book with the word "flibbertigibbet" describing someone?!?! I read the first Flavia de Luce book in 2009, and I have been hooked ever since. I love Alan Bradley's old school mystery style, and he has created such a character in Flavia. She is young teen, sleuth, and amateur chemist living in her sprawling family estate in 1950s England. Her small town of Bishop's Lacey occasionally has a murder or some other mystery pop up that Flavia cannot help but become involved in solving. She is dry and witty, and at times the things she says and thinks make me laugh out loud.

In the "Golden Tresses of the Dead", her older sister, Feely, has just been married. At her reception, she cuts into the cake to find a severed finger. This severed finger leads Flavia and Dogger, her mentor of a sort, off to solve a mystery which leads them another bigger mystery. I would recommend these books to adults of all ages plus advanced young readers needing something at a higher level, but without the worry of them reading anything with sex and/or bad language.

Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley
Missionary ladies, odd wicker cages, poisonings, quack remedies — and a finger in Feely’s wedding cake — all perplex the Discrete Investigations by Flavia and Dogger. Lessons in persistence, cleverness, lying and chemistry are intriguing, as are lessons in life and philosophy.
I especially liked Dogger’s calm and instructive interactions with young cousin Undine, insights into how he helped Flavia grow into the confident and competent individual she is. There are hints of an ongoing friendship with Collie, lovely to see Flavia cultivating a friend near her own age and showing such consideration for his feelings. I also hope for a reconciliation with the inspector’s wife Antigone. As Flavia is growing, learning a bit of necessary tact, and gaining others’ respect for her work, her future adventures continue to amaze and entertain.

So now we do (definitively: see here) have the final Flavia.

And it is quite... flat for me.

I'm never going to complain about a heavy focus on Dogger, which the tenth and final book in the Flavia series gifts us. Same with Gladys, who acted in the same endearing way she always does.

But they were the only two characters (other than Flavia herself) who were the most present originals; Flavia is virtually an orphan in this story, which is likely intentional and a pointed gesture to her growing up and how her life is changing, but it just felt to me like the rest of her family was unceremoniously ushered off the stage too early. Undine flashes in and out but I never liked her, have mostly chosen to ignore her, and she's a recent addition anyway. It felt like when you watch a television sitcom or drama and while you finish it all out, afterwards you realize that by the end they'd rotated the majority of the original cast out and it all just leaves you feeling bitter and sad and slightly cheated.

Back when I reviewed #9 (The Grave's a Fine and Private Place), I indicated that that one may have been the final in the series and I remember feeling like I was quite fine with that; I liked where that one ended and it was bittersweet and lovely and finely ended.

I still feel that way.

This one, while I acknowledge has much of the same characterizations and lovely writing readers have grown to love, felt like... well, it felt a bit like a contract being fulfilled, without much thought given to it being the last book. It felt like one of the three-stars in the middle of the series that I didn't regret reading, certainly, but was unmemorable and not quite fulfilling everything I've come to love about bright and dark and witty Flavia.

Random House generously provided an ARC. The book is released on January 22, 2019. Should you read it, particularly if you've read the entire series? Certainly - why not, if you've come this far? And it's not as if there aren't fantastic moments with Flavia and with Dogger and the two of them together. Just, unfortunately, don't expect it to be as good of an ending to the series as #9 was.

Excellent. Bradley is able to keep the series fresh while addressing the changes in Flavia's life and her growing up. I can't wait to see what happens with Undine, who up until now has mostly been the annoying little cousin. In book 10 we finally see Feely getting married. As she is cutting the wedding cake she cuts into a finger. Flavia is able to get the finger before any of the other guests see what has happened. She and Dogger search for the fingers owner. During their search, their new detective agency is hired to find some missing letters, and the family is asked to house some missionaries. Bradley weaves all of these stories and characters together artfully.

An interesting story with a very intelligent young British girl as the main character. She dabbles in investigations, criminal or otherwise, with her late father's valet and general dogsbody. He is also very intelligent and they do business under his name owing to her youth. This case has it's beginning when a severed digit is found in her sisters wedding cake and leads the pair on a merry chase, to include murder and fraud before the culprits are found out by the enterprising duo. The story takes place after WWII in England which gives it a nostalgic feel.

I have rated this book 3.5 stars.

I received an ARC from Netgalley for my unbiased review.

I was given a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

In the latest entry in the Flavia de Luce series, Flavia and her mentor (and father figure), Dogger, have started a private investigation business. This was a much less dark book than the last few books. Flavia had some cause to celebrate with her oldest sister getting married, but of course there is a mystery to solve, and she and Dogger are on the case with her trusty bicycle Gladys making appearances.

I always feel bad for Flavia because of the loss of her parents and the lack of closeness between she and her her sisters. She is such a solitary person, but in this book you saw more of a feeling of family between she and Daffy and she and Undine, a de Luce cousin who lives with them. There are also hints that Flavia is maturing, which it is nice to see the character growing.

This series is reminiscent of Agatha Christie, and I highly recommend it!

I continue to be delighted by the adventures of amateur chemist and sleuth Flavia de Luce! Poor Flavia's life is still quietly tragic, but she's a strong and brave and very plucky 12-year-old, with the mystery-solving powers of a much older detective.

Tenth and, I believe, final book in the Flavia de Luce series. Feely finds a finger in her wedding cake, and also a woman who asks Flavia's help in finding some stolen letters is found dead. Pretty typical of the series overall. I liked this series a lot more at the beginning. Lately I just find them more and more convoluted. Three stars.

Utterly charming and gleefully ghoulish, The Golden Tresses of the Dead is another knockout Flavia de Luce! I've seen this described as being the final book in this series, which is a bit sad but I'll deal with it by restarting the series and reading it all over again.

The Golden Tresses of the Dead starts off with a momentous occasion: Feely is getting married! Huzzah! However, when the wedding cake is cut, a severed human finger is found inside. How deliciously gruesome. "A church is a wonderful place for a wedding, surrounded as it is by the legions of the dead, whose listening bones bear silent witness to every promise made - and broken - at the altar." Pure poetry!

Arthur W. Dogger & Associates, Discreet Investigations, have had their very first case delivered right to them; Flavia neatly pockets the finger for further investigation while Feely is overcome by the vapors. Then, right after Feely's wedding day, Flavia and Dogger's newly minted firm receives their very first client. The Case of the Clue in the Cake and the Case of the First Paying Client are a go!

The clues lead Flavia and Dogger on railway adventures to cemeteries, to the lab for testing severed fingers and poisons, and to various places for picking locks and snooping. Flavia, of course, is in hog heaven hanging out with Dogger and conducting chemical tests in her beloved laboratory.

A big plus about this installment is that Flavia returns to Buckshaw and Bishop's Lacey, a setting I definitely missed in the last book. And while Feely has moved on to her honeymoon and new life, Undine has more of a presence in this book and I enjoy her and Flavia's rivalry.

Some favorite quotes:
"First poisons, and now malevolent spirits. And it wasn't yet ten o'clock in the morning!"

"I had been quite looking forward to a jolly good old-fashioned case of grave-robbing."

"I don't know if you've ever dissected a rat, but to me, there was only one word for it: exhilarating."

Isn't Flavia the absolute best?

Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC!

I always love reading another mystery involving the famous Flavia de Luce. In this installment of the series, their is a lot more focus on the relationship between Flavia and her new partner in crime solving, Dogger. The two of them work so well together and we also see a bit more of how Flavia is maturing.
I do miss reading about Flavia's extended family, but her dad has since died and the older sister is now off and married. Still another fun read and I always look forward to the witty humor in every book. I received a complimentary ebook from Netgalley.

Sweet ending to a wonderful series. Flavia never fails to solve or entertain and this was a perfect ending to this series. I agree with other reviewers that she might come back as an adult!

I love Flavia. This one was really good. In this, Flavia's sister, Feely gets married. Obviously, there is a severed finger in the cake. Then people begin dying and Flavia and Dogger begin one of their investigations, using science to solve the crimes. They are serious and humorous at the same time. I am especially beginning to enjoy the cousin, whose name I am completely blanking on. I think this series is great and young girls, especially, should be encouraged to read it. This one definitely lives up to the awesomeness of the series as a whole. I definitely recommend this.

The conclusion of this mystery was pretty rushed, which made it feel a bit like an afterthought. The detective agency itself also seems like a bit of an afterthought, since Flavia would've ended up involved no matter what. This was a fine read, but it does seem a bit like Bradley is running out of ideas for the series.