The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag

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This was the second in the Flavia de Luce Mystery Series by Alan Bradley. I read the first book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, last October (you can read that post here) and absolutely loved it. This second novel did not disappoint!
In this adventure, Flavia befriends a woman named Nialla, the assistant to a famous puppeteer who has taken his show on the road. There is a lot of mystery about them, especially after Flavia starts to suspect a connection between Rupert, the puppeteer, and a little boy who died under strange circumstances years before. When Rupert winds up dead, Flavia finds herself once again trying to solve the mystery herself.
Just as he did in the first book, Bradley does a spectacular job of building the setting and characters in a way that the reader is transported back to that time & place. There are lots of cultural references and language usage that make the entire setting on the page come to life. One particular reference actually made me rather jealous...Flavia reminisces at one point about her father taking her & her sisters to see John Gielgud as King Lear on stage in Stratford-upon-Avon...oh, how I would have loved that!
Just as I did The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, I heartily recommend The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag. The story is delightful (and deliciously dark) and one thing I love about these books is that they are clean...there is no gore or sex or bad language...just a good, slightly macabre mystery. I love this series :-) I'm not sure when the next is due out, but I can't wait!