Book #21 - I Am Half Sick of Shadows

Book number 21 finished already, and we've not even reached March yet! I've set myself a target on GoodReads of 75 books this year... it tells me I'm 28% through this, and some 10 books ahead of schedule, perhaps I should've been more ambitious in my goal?!

Once again, I found myself delving into the world of Flavia de Luce, for book 4 of the series, 'I Am Half Sick of Shadows'. I thin this must be the shortest of the series so far, at just under 300 pages, so it was a nice quick read for me!

A couple of months have passed since the last grizzly murder, and christmas is coming! Yay! Somehow the de Luce family have managed to keep a hold of their estate despite financial woes, and their father has sold his soul and agreed for filming to take place in their home to provide much needed funds. The filming sees the arrival of a famous actress, and her entourage, as well as crew and the rest of the cast.

What happens next is disaster after disaster, as first a serious injury happens to one of the crew, and then following a performance at the house by the films two leads of that scene from Romeo and Juliet, which the entire population of the village attends, a blizzard causes the house to be cut off, and a subsequent murder takes place.

As with the first book, it's a fair way into the book that we discover the body, however the narrative flows so well, that I'd forgotten it was a murder mystery until it actually happened! As in the other books, Flavia's proficiency at chemistry comes to the fore, with two big experiments in this book, both of which eventually help in some way to solve the murder.

There was a change in this book that I liked, in that Flavia and her sisters appeared to put in place a Christmas truce, and rather than acting like they loathed each other, they appear to get on fairly nicely... I wouldn't say they like each other, but they certainly tolerate each other, and there's certainly a moment towards the end that portrays her sisters in a compassionate light, and I like it!

With the book being so short, and the murder coming so late into the book, I did feel that I didn't have time to get my head around clues and suspects before the big reveal, however I didn't let it get in the way of my enjoyment of the book. It's basically a Christmas Special, and while it may not be the strongest of the series in terms of the actual murder plot, it's light hearted and vastly enjoyable!

I am Half Sick of Shadows: 2.5cm

Total Read in 2020: 21 books, 63cm

Total left to read: 130cm

I make that about 1/3 of the way there!!!!