The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mysteryīy Alan Bradley, paperback 416 pages, Bantam, list price: $15 But it is the sense of search and discovery, the feeling that we might be learning invaluable detecting skills along with this brave captain turned unwilling clue hound, that makes this novel a treasure of a detective manual in the unlikeliest of places. Thankfully, the broad background history is perfectly balanced, and the characters as deep and multi-faceted as the ones in any good piece of literature. Along the way, he makes an important friend - the Watson to Alatriste's Sherlock Holmes - and solves the mystery that could bring three world powers to war. He's a captain, for Spain's sake! But guided by Arturo Perez-Reverte's assured pen, Alatriste quickly has to turn into one if he's going to find out why 17th-century messengers apparently sent by Fray Emilio Bocanegra, "president of the Holy Tribunal of the Inquisition," want him to murder two Englishmen who have come to Madrid, or face death himself. But since we do, too, it's nice that they make a point of taking us along for the ride one lesson at a time.īy Arturo Perez-Reverte, paperback 304 pages, Plume, list price: $15Īlatriste is not a detective. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, Jane Marple or Hercule Poirot. They had cool trench coats, impossibly original hats, and a comforting air of inevitability around their discoveries.īut in an era in which we're no longer sure of anything - not our own economies, and not even whether Twitter is a waste of time or the greatest invention since contact lenses - there's something to be said for stories about hero sleuths who don't know it all, but will do what it takes to learn.Īnd so the protagonists in the following modern detective procedurals have none of the self-assuredness of C.
Maybe it was the way they seemed to know their client's darkest secrets without being told, their apparent unflappability, or that they said things like, "If it is any point requiring reflection… we shall examine it to better purpose in the dark."ĭetectives could always be counted on to captivate us.
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