The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches 

  - Alan Bradley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have fairly enjoyed the series so far, with its young, precocious (or rather genius) young sleuth. I am amused by her grand schemes, particularly of revenge on her sisters, which often come to nothing; as well as her unabashed sense of superior intelligence. In fact it is these quirks that make her likeable, they indicate a child's innocence despite the sharp brains; without these she would just be a stuck up snob. It is also refreshing to see a female amateur sleuth, however young, who is resourceful, intelligent and is able to get herself out of sticky situations, and does not often need to be rescued by the male leads.

Yet, the series seems to be losing steam now, with a huge build up ending up in a not-so-grand conclusion, and more bizarre events and unexplained inferences. In this book specifically, the plot eventually seems rather thin, the villain a caricature, and a long list on loose threads.

Despite the obvious conclusion, it was still fast paced and suspenseful. It would have been a 3.5 star one for me, but for some of these big holes  .... 

*** SPOILERS ***

Unanswered questions :
- Who was the traitor that Harriet had gone after? It is not likely to be Lena, since Dr Kissing said it was one of their own, and Felicity said that Lena was not in Nide
- Why did they all go to meet Dr Kissing that morning? If Lena was a part of Nide, despite counter-indications, but Felicity suspected her, why was she allowed to join them?
- How is it possible that the officials would ship the body of such a crucial spy without even a cursory search ?
- Why did the Colonel say "It was I, Harriet"? It seemed to be of some significance but never explained
- How did Inspector Hewitt catch on to Lena?
- How did it happen that some characters who had been implicated in crimes in previous books, were present and free here?

Annoyances:
- It is inexplicable that for all her intelligence, Flavia believes that she can revive her mother. And even more so is the fact that, with her passion and stubbornness, she would so be easily thwarted by the coroner from Home Office. This was a paper-thin plot device to allow Flavia to discover her mother's will.
- Why make Lena so thoroughly obnoxious? A sneaky villain would never draw attention to himself/herself like this. It would have worked much better without the abominable behavior and just the suspicious actions