This charming series of novels written by Alan Bradley is positively addictive. You can start at any point, with any of the three, but Flavia along with her family, friends and neighbors in the tiny British hamlet of Bishop's Lacey will surely capture your imagination, your sympathy, or your heart. Probably all three.Flavia is the most unusual eleven year old girl you could ever meet. Her interests are centered around chemistry, riding her bicycle (called Gladys) and escaping the evil clutches of her two older sisters who torture her at every turn. Ah, siblings. In this third action packed adventure Flavia starts out wanting to have her fortune told at the village fête and ends up burning down the tent of the gypsy fortune teller. Of course it was all an accident and Flavia does her best to make amends by seeing that Fenella Faa has a safe place to park her caravan while she recovers from the effects of the smoke she inhaled. And what better place than on the grounds of her family's estate, Buckshaw? Events begin to spiral into more and more unusual situations as Flavia begins to uncover facts of an ancient religious group, a kidnapped infant, valuable antiques disappearing and then reappearing, and a vicious attack, then a murder. All the while the police are pursuing their inquiries and Flavia is pursuing her own investigation. What is that smell of dead fish she seems to keep noticing?I enjoyed this book from start to finish. I had been looking forward to following along while this young detective solved the puzzles which seemed to keep mounting up and I certainly was not disappointed. The deeper Flavia went into the attack on Fenella the more questions were raised about other things going on in both Bishop's Lacey and other nearby villages. In the middle of it all hangs the very real life troubles of the de Luce family and their money problems. Flavia's father has to make some hard decisions and some sacrifices are necessary now, and more will surely be faced in the future. Come along into this wonderful world and meet Flavia's father, her sisters Ophelia and Daphne, Mrs. Mallet, Dogger, the doctor, the vicar, the police inspector and his sergeant and a host of neighbors both nice and not so nice. A small English village, an eleven year old girl, the 1950's and crime of many kinds. A recipe for adventure and delight.