There was a time where I thought I would never get to read about Flavia again, I thought the tenth novel would end up being the last one. What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust was well worth the wait! It was delightful to visit Bishop's Lacey again and see what shenanigans Flavia would get up to this time. As a prolific reader I'm generally pretty good at anticipating where the plot is going but I will say that this book included one of the biggest plot twists I've ever experienced. I was not prepared and did not expect it. I hope Alan Bradley will continue to write about Flavia because she truly is one of my favorite main characters in all of literature.

Flavia is back we missed you. My favorite series I returns and I couldn’t be happier, this book is terrific. Fun, smart,
witty and intelligent just like Flavia along with Dogger, Mrs. Mullet and Undine. Loved this book.

What a treat to have Flavia back for another round of adventures! We have little irritating cousin Undine and the ever devoted Dogger assisting in the case where the beloved Mrs. Mullet has been accused of murder! The book also contains a very surprising twist in the story of Flavia’s immediate family. This is another worthy edition of the Flavia de Luce series, and I certainly hope it is an indication that the series will continue.

I think I'm at a slight disadvantage since this is the first book by this author I've read and it's one of a series. The plot contains lots of twists. The female character is bold and intelligent. Other characters have to grow on you.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Well, I don't know if this is the last Flavia de Luce mystery Alan Bradley is writing, but it's the last one I'm reading.

The trick of young protagonists is that they grow up if you give them enough story time to do so. Adults ideally grow as well, but I think we find more tolerance for an adult character, especially an adult detective in a series, who doesn't change much. A kid, though...there's a precedent for Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden to stay the same age forever, but those are not series for adults. The teenage-ness of those detectives is the magical "big kid" nature of looking up in age at teens, not looking down at them. Flavia de Luce has to progress in self-awareness to be satisfying.

Entire Cousin Undine, who allows Bradley to keep writing about a precocious, bratty little girl and also give Flavia a taste of her own medicine. I see why he's brought Cousin Undine into the series and also I don't really enjoy the result. "What if this was entirely about a more mature teenager" is not the series he wants to write. Okay. But as for what I want to read...well.

And one of the things that forced Flavia to grow up recently was dealing with death as real and immediate, dealing with dead people as people and not merely mysteries. This book has the kind of plot twist that I find unconscionable: it leans on a character's emotional reaction for pathos and growth and then pulls the rug out with "surprise, that person faked their own death." To avoid spoilers, sort of, I'm not saying which character it was who died and then turned out not to have died, but it was basically the worst possible choice for my enjoyment of the series. I was beyond annoyed and into angry and disgusted. If you don't hate that particular plot twist the same way as I do, you might still be entertained by this series despite Cousin Undine, or even because of her if your tastes run that way. Me, I'm done.

The other thing is that the reasoning for the faked death is related to the way that Bradley keeps leaning into secret super-spy networks as this series evolves, and frankly I find his secret super-spy networks super-tedious, so if anything could have made this plot twist worse, it's that it's done for very boring reasons. The more I learn about this super-spy network, the less impressed I am. So this is my stop, actually, this is where I throw Gladys the bicycle in the grass and wander away. The early books in the series are good, they're still there, you can read them. This one is a stinker, and not just because of the prevalence of fart jokes with Cousin Undine.

Alan Bradley has blessed us once again with another fantastic installment in the best mystery series ever. This book series has been an enduring favorite of mine since I read the first book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, way back in 2009. We thought the series concluded with book 10 in 2019, but happy day, we get this gem of a book as well.

The incomparable Flavia de Luce is such a treasure. In the tradition of these charming books, Bradley had me laughing out loud on repeat. I absolutely adore the dynamic between Flavia and her little cousin Undine. Their conversations are a riot! This book has it all- an intriguing murder mystery, laugh out loud moments, and charming characters. Do yourself a favor and add this to your TBR. If you haven’t yet started the series, you know what to do.

All the stars for this phenomenal book! Many thanks to Bantam Books for an e-ARC via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

The newest Flavia de Luce book does not disappoint. It has all the lovely things we've come to expect: murder, mystery, plot twists, scathing and humorous dialogue, and wonderfully described scenery. Flavia is once again put into a position where she must solve a murder to help a person dear to her. This time it's Mrs. Mullet. We get a little insight into her back story and that's always fun to learn more about a constant character. Undine is hanging around like a younger sibling we all love and hate at the same time. And Dogger is there as always to help when most needed. This story kept me intrigued and ended up being a really fast read. Another great Flavia mystery.

When Mrs. Mullet is accused of murder Flavia is on the case to get her housekeeper out of troubles. Adventures through Bucksaw and beyond with Flavia, Dogger, Gladys, Undine and the rest. Interesting secrets are uncovered, and Flavia happily investigates a murder.

It was so fun to spend time with Flavia again. She has matured but is as witty as ever. Her young cousin, Udine, took up the slack in pushing the limits of correct behavior and I enjoyed Udine very much. The mystery advanced the story of the de Luce family. Although it was not easy for Flavia to learn this information about her family, she coped with it well. I'm hoping there will be continue to be more in this series.

I was ECSTATIC to see that there was another installment of this series, one of my all time favorites. It did not disappoint. Flavia is as good as ever and she & Dogger's relationship is so wonderful. Undine is growing on me. I hope we get more!

Flavia is one of my favorite characters: bold, independent, smart, loyal, and funny. Her cousin, Undine, really grew on me in this novel; she reminds me of a young Flavia, though coarser. I also love the strong bond between Flavia and Dogger. He has become another character I look forward to reading more about. The mystery itself was good: not too complex but with just enough challenge. I can’t wait for the next in the series!

Celebrate, go ahead. Grab a copy of the newest Flavia deLuce book, find a corner and settle in for a treat.
Flavia is a smart, savvy, independent thinking young girl (when we are introduced to her in the first book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, she is eleven years old. ) She is a child, she is a girl, she is smart, she is independent and Alan Bradley celebrates all of that. God bless him.
I celebrate her. As we read these stories we can only compare Flavia’s early 1950s childhood with the life our children lead now. We could read of Flavia’s adventures and think they just can’t be real, that children just don’t have this kind of life. Well, no, not anymore but I certainly had the freedom to hop on my bicycle and leave home and think for myself during the day. I didn’t solve murder mysteries, but I solved my own daily dilemas.
We devoured Nancy Drew books when we were young, when we were just barely older than Flavia’s 11 years. We knew we couldn’t do what she did, with her freedom in her sporty roadster, but we believed we could when we read those books. I can’t remember parents being ‘concerned’ that their child was reading a mystery book and discouraging us from doing so. Nancy was our ‘smart girl.’ She inspired us.
And now, we have Flavia. Dear smart, clever, independent, book loving, science infused Flavia. Flavia’s expertise is chemistry. The girl is a wonder, more at home in her uncle’s antiquated laboratory than anywhere else. The murders she solves are crimes of poison. And this new book is no exception.
Flavia is excited by this murder, so to speak, because the culprit is a poison mushroom. She has always wanted to solve a poison mushroom mystery and this one is particularly important because Mrs. Mullet, the long time family cook, is accused of killing Major Greyleigh, the local former hangman, who died after eating poisoned mushrooms for breakfast, a breakfast which Mrs. Mullet cooked for him. It’s not looking good for Mrs. Mullet. Flavia knows for certain Mrs. Mullet would never be capable of killing anyone but circumstantial evidence points directly to her. Flavia is off and running to clear the family cook’s name. Flavia’s mode of transportation isn’t a sportscar, it’s her bicycle, Gladys.
Flavia is used to working alone, for the most part. Dogger, a close confidant of her late father is now the adult in her life, but she is also now learning to deal with her cousin, Undine, who now lives with Flavia and her sisters. Flavia is used to her freedom and not used to having Undine pop up here and there but Undine is showing promise so is tolerated.
I celebrate Flavia for many reasons. The books are great fun, mysteries of a different genre. Flavia is a young girl. We need to be celebrating smart young girls in adult situations as role models for our young girls. We should be handing these books to every early teen girl we know urging parents to do the same. But the books are shelved in the adult sections of bookstores and libraries, there is no cross shelving where they might catch the eye of anyone looking for a good read starring smart girls. We all read Nancy Drew but who does now? We need to celebrate and encourage Flavia deLuce to our girls. We need to celebrate smart. And while you are at it, just plain enjoy her for yourself.

So excited for a new chapter in Flavia's life - Bradley's wit continues to shine through, Flavia continues to sparkle with her signature blend of naivete and chemical genius, and if this one does end up being the final episode (as seems likely), it does a good job of wrapping things up just as Flavia begins sloughing off the trappings of childhood.

Flavia de Luce is back! Five years after book ten was published in 2019, after five years of fans asking Amazon when -- then woefully if -- Alan Bradley would write another book about the British post World War 2 precocious preteen whose mystery-solving talents run rings around the adult professionals, here it is.

"What Time the Sexton's Space Doth Rust" finds housekeeper Mrs. Mullet accused of murder, dogsbody Dodger mentoring Flavia and little cousin Undine becoming the thorn in Flavia's side she used to be to her sisters.

Flavia's repartee is as witty as Archie Goodwin's. Bradley is still one whale of a storyteller.

Don't take a pass on this series thinking it's for young adults. Readers from 6 to 96 will find something to love about Flavia.

What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust is the first Flavia de Luce book I've read and I found it to be totally entertaining! I can't tell you how often I laughed as I read things like this: "Scarcely breathing, we waited. Ages passed. Glacial ages. Eons." I think we can all relate to that kind of waiting!!

I absolutely loved the characters - especially the precocious amateur detective Flavia, her feisty young cousin Undine, and family friend/butler, Dogger! In this eleventh book in the series, the merry trio investigates the murder of a former public hangman. Murder via poisoned mushrooms? Flavia's on it!

Oh, and the Bambi reference in the book? SAME!!!

Many thanks to both #DelacortePress and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of #WhatTimeTheSextonsSpadeDothRust. This book is #11 in the #FlaviaDeLuce series, with the expected publication date of September 3, 2024.

#AlanBradley

Sadly, I am brand new to this delightful series. The previous entry was several years ago. Even reading this as a stand alone was a delightful experience, and the characters were interesting and vibrant, if not, on occasion, a bit nefarious. Flavia de Luce finds herself in what she fears
to be an unenviable position upon the arrival of Undine, arriving following the death of her mother. From the interesting death of Major Greyleigh, until we learn the good news that the culprit was not living amongst us the book is simply fun and hard to set aside. I now have the desire to read
to catch up, though I probably won’t have enough time .
My thanks to Random House Publishing Group [Ballentine Bantam] via Net Galley for the download copy of, this book for review purposes.

I really enjoyed this new chapter of the Flavia universe. The sleuthing was sparse and yet it wasn't. The small issue provided such groundbreaking and staggering information it really changed the direction of the series.
I must admit that I am still a little confused by the revelations.. I think I understand it all now but am not sure.

I look forward to where this series will go as Flavia (and Undine, and Dogger, and Mrs. M) continue entertaining me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. I love Flavia and have been following her many adventures. This is another excellent episode with her sleuthing. I like how Undine has become her little minion who is both annoying and helpful. This one is much more personal, what with Mrs. Mullet being accused of the murder, Undine being attacked, and other spoilery things that you need to read the book to find out.
This one, more than the others, does require the reader to know backstory of the family and be familiar with each of their roles. I’d recommend starting at the beginning of this series, but I found this installment to be everything I wanted from a Flavia novel. Yaroooo!

This review is immediately being posted to my Goodreads and Storygraph accounts.

It's been over 5 years since Alan Bradley wrote what I thought was going to be the final Flavia de Luce novel. I was so excited to hear that she's back and just as precocious as ever. Things were awfully dark when we last saw her, with her father dying and her feeling very alone. I love Flavia – she is the smartest and most cunning kid and this mystery series never disappoints.

What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust begins, of course, with murder. A local man and former hangman, Major Greyleigh, is found dead, and Buckshaw's own Mrs. Mullet is our prime suspect, as she was the one who cooked the breakfast mushrooms that killed him. Obviously, we know there’s no way that Mrs. Mullet would kill anyone without a good reason, and Flavia sets out to prove her innocence.

Flavia's efforts are ‘helped’ along by her trusty sidekick / annoying cousin Undine, who is hilarious. There is an incredible twist and surprise in this book that I will not spoil, but I definitely did not see it coming and it changes everything.

Overall, I enjoyed this one, though I missed the supporting characters, such as her sisters and the local townspeople, in the story. And there was only a bit of Flavia’s special passion, Chemistry, which is always fun. I can confirm that Alan Bradley is working on a 12th book and I am very excited to read it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust, which is scheduled to be published September 3, 2024.

"What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust" by Alan Bradley is another delightful entry in the Flavia de Luce series. With her characteristic wit and keen detective skills, Flavia unearths secrets in the quaint English village of Bishop's Lacey. Bradley's charming prose and clever plot twists make for a thoroughly enjoyable read. All I can say is welcome back my friends :)