The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

So I've finally joined the rest of the world and introduced myself to 11 year old Flavia DeLuce. And what a wonderful introduction it was. I don't really know why it took me so long to read this book. For some reason I thought that it just wouldn't be a book for me, despite plenty of bloggers that I trust completely recommending it. But this year when RIP came around, I told myself I would read it. And now I'm dying to get my hands on the next two books that are coming out and the one coming in 2012!! This was a fantastic mystery. It had everything. We start with an intriguing plot focusing on postage stamps and their rarities, first introduced to us by a dead black bird turning up on the doorstep with a postage stamp attached to it's beak. And then we have some amazing characters. Like Ms. Flavia DeLuce herself - an 11 year old girl who's gifted in chemistry and who discovers a body laying in the cucumber patch outside of their house. It's Flavia who sets out to solve this mystery on her own getting herself into a bit of a rough patch here and there herself. And then there's the humor, the wit, the wonderful writing. All add up to a book that just made me so happy to read!!! It's not exactly a "spooky" book, but it is a perfect read for this time of year with some certainly sinister activity going on and more than enough mystery to go around. Glad I finally read this one and looking forward to the rest of the books in the series!!