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NATIONAL BESTSELLER – Amateur sleuth Flavia de Luce, along with her pestilent younger cousin, investigates the murder of a former public hangman and uncovers a secret that brings the greatest shock of her life. I love the Flavia de Luce novels! Flavia is the best female detective I ve ever read, full of realism, self-confidence, and emotion (in roughly equal parts), and her tales are hilarious, engaging, and occasionally heartbreaking. –Diana Gabaldon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Outlander series Flavia de Luce has taken on the mentorship of her odious moon-faced cousin Undine, who has come to live at Buckshaw following the death of her mother. Undine s main talent, aside from cultivating disgusting habits, seems to be raising Flavia s hackles, although in her best moments she shows potential for trespassing, trickery, and other assorted mayhem. When Major Greyleigh, a local recluse and former hangman, is found dead after a breakfast of poisonous mushrooms, suspicion falls on the de Luce family s longtime cook, Mrs. Mullet. After all, wasn t it she who d picked the mushrooms, cooked the omelet, and served it to Greyleigh moments before his death? I have to admit, says Flavia, an expert in the chemical nature of poisons, that I d been praying to God for a jolly good old-fashioned mushroom poisoning. Not that I wanted anyone to die, but why give a girl a gift such as mine without giving her the opportunity to use it? But Flavia knows the beloved Mrs. Mullet is innocent. Together with Dogger, estate gardener and partner-in-crime, and the obnoxious Undine, Flavia sets out to find the real killer and clear Mrs. Mullet s good name. Little does she know that following the case s twists and turns will lead her to a most surprising discovery–one with the power to upend her entire life.