WINNER OF THEAGATHA ARTHUR ELLIS DILYS DEBUT DAGGER AWARDS

Wonderfully entertaining . . . sure to be one of the most lovedmysteries of the year . . . [Flavia is] a delightful,intrepid, acid-tongued new heroine.Chicago Sun-Times

It is the summer of 1950and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath.

For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasnt. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.

BONUS: This edition contains aThe Sweetness at the Bottom of the Piediscussion guide and an excerpt from Alan Bradley’sThe Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag.