“The Golden Tresses of the Dead”, by Alan Bradley

 

352 pages, Bantam, ISBN-13: 978-0345540034

*sniff* *groan* *choke* *whimper*

Well, the day I have been dreading for months has at last, sadly, arrived: the last of the Flavia de Luce novels, The Golden Tresses of the Dead, has been read, and I have no more tales to look forward to, for it would appear that Flavia and Alan are still enjoying that nice cup of tea – for seven years, as of this writing. But change has come to Buckshaw as a new organization – Arthur W. Dogger & Associates – has come into being in order to conduct “Discreet Investigations”…but we all know that it is Flavia who will be driving this bus (it was, after all, her idea, floated at the end of The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place).

And it begins with her sister Feely’s marriage to the long-suffering Dieter – and the discovery of a severed finger in the wedding cake. Soon after this inauspicious event, Flavia (or, officially, Dogger) get their first client in Mrs. Prill who asks the Detectives to find certain letters of hers that have been stolen. And so The Golden Tresses of the Dead gives us two mysteries almost right out of the gate and a mysterious client who is not all she appears to be. In many ways, this book felt like a return to the beginning of the series when it was fresh and new, with the added reimagining of Flavia & Co. embarking on a new adventure with her own detective agency.

Only…as much as I like Dogger, I like this book best when Flavia is on her own, as before; oh, I understand why the loyal Dogger has to be there – it would be difficult for a 12-year-old child to navigate the many places she needs to or to travel hither and yon as needs must, but Flavia seemed to manage a great deal of that before on her own and get away with it. And too often here she plays second fiddle to Dogger when, after all, the reason I read these books is to see Flavia’s chemical and detecting shenanigans and marvel at her chutzpah. If future books arrive after all that tea has been drunk, I hope to see Flavia take a more commanding roll, as before.

And I missed all the old gang from Bishop’s Lacey: Inspector Hewitt makes a brief appearance but then promptly buggers off for parts unknown (and never mind the other members of the constabulary, Detective Sergeant Graves and Detective Sergeant Woolmer, who have been MIA for several books); Mrs. Mullet is barely there; Denwyn Richardson, vicar of St Tancred’s, has disappeared, and the other denizens of this sleepy English village may as well never to have been. Hell, at this point I wouldn’t mind seeing Mad Meg again or Marmaduke Parr or whomever; one would think that Bishop’s Lacey has been evacuated and its inhabitants hidden with the mole men.

As for the future of Arthur W. Dogger & Associates, here’s hoping that other clients materialize and that Flavia will once again be given a longer leash to operate from. Perhaps her past associates – Aunt Felicity, Mildred Bannerman, Adam Tradescant Sowerby – will (as implied) reappear and assist Flavia in whatever mystery transpires. “If”, for Bradley’s 10-book deal has run through and we have had nothing new. I suppose I will have to reread and rediscover Flavia through her other adventures and cool my heals until such time as the teapot is empty and the denizens of Buckshaw stir once more to bring just a little justice to the world.