by Alan Bradley
Part of Flavia de Luce, book 4
First published 2011
Snow blankets Buckshaw as the De Luce family rents their ancestral home to a movie company. Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce and her sisters watch the transformation with fascination, but their excitement turns sinister when accidents plague the production. A fierce snowstorm traps everyone inside the estate, cutting them off from help. While Flavia works on her own scientific experiment to prove Father Christmas exists, a shocking murder shatters the holiday atmosphere. The young amateur detective must navigate the claustrophobic world of stranded actors, crew members, and family to uncover the killer. With the house sealed by snow and danger lurking in every room, Flavia races to solve the crime before Christmas morning arrives. The case tests her deductive skills against a backdrop of holiday traditions and family tensions, forcing her to balance her scientific curiosity with the urgent need to identify a murderer among their guests.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, crime, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, cozy, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-detective, locked-room-mystery
Setting: Buckshaw, England
Period: 20th-century
297 pages · Hardcover · Random House Doubleday