Book Review: Numb Were the Beadsman's Fingers by Alan Bradley

 Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this product, free of charge, from Ballatine Press, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it. All opinions are my own

A nun’s corpse leads beloved amateur sleuth Flavia de Luce to uncover decades-old secrets in this charming final novel in the New York Times bestselling series.

Synopsis:

In the cloisters of Golgotha House, a mere binocular’s-squint away from Buckshaw, a nun lies dead. When her fellow sisters prepare her corpse for burial, they discover that their companion has been living a shocking lie for years. The truth about her past, and the dark reasons she harbored for escaping it, are impossible to fathom.

Charged with cracking this mystery is the firm of Arthur W. Dogger & Associates (Discreet investigations)—consisting, of course, of the inimitable young Flavia de Luce and her faithful partner-in-detection Dogger.

Working under the eye of a glowering Mother Superior, Flavia and Dogger must uncover a decades-old crime and a secret that lies an ocean away—along with a trail of deception that lies closer to home.

Review: 

This is book 12 of the series, and probably the last one, as the author recently passed away. Flavia has grown quite a lot int the past 11 books, and in this book, she is more adult than ever in her thinking and actions. In this book she is tasked with multiple problems- helping her sister, who has returned suddenly with her new husband to the Hall, and working with Dogger on a case they have been tasked with. As they work on the case, Flavia realizes sometimes we do things for the right reasons, even though it appears to be wrong. As she applies it to her sister, the reader realizes how much she has matured and what she will be like as an adult on her own. It's a fitting tribute to the character and a touching send off from the author. Fans will probably be more entranced with the book, as it ends the series, but its a quick fall read for those new to the series.

About the Author:

Alan Bradley was the internationally bestselling author of eleven Flavia de Luce mystery novels and the memoir The Shoebox Bible. His first Flavia novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, received the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award, the Dilys Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Agatha Award, the Macavity Award, and the Barry Award, and was nominated for the Anthony Award. His other Flavia de Luce works include The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag, A Red Herring Without Mustard, I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Speaking from Among the Bones, The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust, Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d, The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place, The Golden Tresses of the Dead, and What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust, as well as the ebook short story “The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse.” Originally from Toronto, he lived on an island in the middle of the Irish Sea. He died in May 2026.