100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Overnight NZ-wide delivery on in-stock orders 🚀

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows

The gripping fourth novel in the cosy Flavia De Luce series
4.09 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 38,267 ratings, 4,069 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
In I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley, young sleuth Flavia de Luce devises a cunning Christmas plan to trap Santa Claus. However, her holiday scheme is interrupted when a film crew arrives to shoot a movie at her decaying family estate. The plot thickens with suspense as a sudden snowstorm leaves a murder in its wake, and Flavia must use her detective skills to unravel the mystery amidst the chaos.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2799
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

If you enjoy intriguing mysteries and witty protagonists, this book may captivate you with its charming blend of crime-solving amidst a cosy, yet suspenseful, atmosphere. Set during the festive season, this crime and thriller novel promises to deliver both clever twists and a heartwarming narrative.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Cosy crime historical mysteries featuring Flavia de Luce - the teenage amateur sleuth you'll never forget. Perfect for fans of Midsomer Murders and Agatha Christie's Miss Marple.

Christmas is coming - but for Flavia de Luce, in the deep midwinter there's a murder to solve...

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

All is not well at Buckshaw, home of Flavia de Luce.

With the family finances in a parlous state, Flavia's father has, with deep misgivings, rented Buckshaw to a film company for location shooting. Naturally enough, director, crew and stars do nothing to endear themselves to the household—especially the servants—until, when a heavy snowfall cuts off Bishop's Lacey from the rest of the world, the actors are talked into staging a benefit performance in the parish hall.

But old jealousies surface, and the leading lady is murdered. Flavia, who has been enlisted to help out behind the scenes, finds herself up to her knees in snow—and murder!

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley is an intriguing tale of mystery and suspense set against the backdrop of a snowbound English village.

Series: Flavia de Luce Mystery

View all
  • I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
    All is not well at Buckshaw, home of Flavia de Luce. With the family finances in a parlous state, Flavia's father has, with deep misgivings, rented Buckshaw to a film company for location shooting. Naturally enough, director, crew and stars do nothing to endear themselves to the household—especially the servants—until, when a heavy snowfall cuts off Bishop's Lacey from the...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Speaking from Among the Bones
    The first thing I saw was a hand, and then the face, a ghastly inhuman mask... 'I do believe we've found Mr Collicutt,' I said. When the tomb of St Tancred is opened, no one expects to find the body of the organist, lying in a pool of blood, his handsome features covered by a gas mask. Eleven-year-old Flavia de...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
    For very-nearly-eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, the discovery of a dead snipe on the doorstep of Buckshaw, the crumbling de Luce country seat, was a marvellous mystery—especially since this particular snipe had a rather rare stamp neatly impaled on its beak. Even more astonishing was the effect of the dead bird on her stamp-collector father, who appeared to be genuinely frightened....
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches
    Was their killer still at large? Could their killer be here at Buckshaw...? Two deaths, ten years apart, give Flavia de Luce the distraction she needs at a time when her family are more remote and dysfunctional than usual. Especially when a bizarre series of deadly events is casting a long shadow over everyone at Buckshaw. For Flavia, a gruesome...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd
    The Flavia de Luce novels are now a cult favourite. Mail on Sunday CURIOSITY WON'T KILL THIS CAT... Twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce is back at Buckshaw at last, but her homecoming is overshadowed by news of her father's illness. Forbidden from visiting Colonel de Luce in hospital, Flavia busies herself in the village, but she soon makes a macabre discovery:...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • As Chimney Sweepers Come To Dust
    It all began with that awful business about my mother... Flavia de Luce's world is turned upside down when she is banished to Miss Bodycote's Female Academy in Canada — her mother Harriet's old boarding school. With its forbidding headmistress, intimidating teachers and bizarre rules, adapting to Miss Bodycote's could be a matter of life and death. But Flavia is...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
    I was lying dead in the churchyard... So says eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce - but soon a murder provides a gruesome distraction from her own death. A travelling puppet show arrives in the sleepy English village of Bishop's Lacey, and everyone gathers to watch a performance of Jack and the Beanstalk in the village hall. But a shadow is cast...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Golden Tresses of the Dead
    The Golden Tresses of the Dead introduces Flavia de Luce, the twelve-year-old chemist and amateur detective eager to turn professional. She and her father's valet, Dogger, have founded a detective agency, Arthur Dogger & Associates, and unexpectedly stumble into their first case during the revelry at her sister Ophelia's wedding reception. After an eventful ceremony with a missing best man...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • A Red Herring Without Mustard
    'You frighten me,' the Gypsy said. 'Never have I seen my crystal ball so filled with darkness.' So begins eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce's third adventure through the charming but deceptively dark byways of the village of Bishop's Lacey. What the fortune teller in fact claimed to see was a vision of Flavia's mother, Harriet, who died on a mountainside in...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The novel is part of the Flavia de Luce series and is highly praised for its entertaining and charming qualities, reminiscent of Agatha Christie and Midsomer Murders. Flavia is described as an enchanting and addictive character, with the book noted for its cleverness, wit, and gripping narrative. Set in 1950s England, it offers a unique take on the crime genre, featuring a young sleuth who combines precocity with endearing quirks.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781409118176

Publisher: Orion Publishing Co

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 08 November 2012

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Orion (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 22.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 258g

Pages: 320

About the Author

Alan Bradley was born into a family of storytellers who never stopped talking about the old days 'back home' in England - for which he is eternally grateful. He lives with his wife, Shirley, in Gozo.

Also by Alan Bradley

View all
  • Speaking from Among the Bones
    The first thing I saw was a hand, and then the face, a ghastly inhuman mask... 'I do believe we've found Mr Collicutt,' I said. When the tomb of St Tancred is opened, no one expects to find the body of the organist, lying in a pool of blood, his handsome features covered by a gas mask. Eleven-year-old Flavia de...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
    For very-nearly-eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, the discovery of a dead snipe on the doorstep of Buckshaw, the crumbling de Luce country seat, was a marvellous mystery—especially since this particular snipe had a rather rare stamp neatly impaled on its beak. Even more astonishing was the effect of the dead bird on her stamp-collector father, who appeared to be genuinely frightened....
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches
    Was their killer still at large? Could their killer be here at Buckshaw...? Two deaths, ten years apart, give Flavia de Luce the distraction she needs at a time when her family are more remote and dysfunctional than usual. Especially when a bizarre series of deadly events is casting a long shadow over everyone at Buckshaw. For Flavia, a gruesome...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd
    The Flavia de Luce novels are now a cult favourite. Mail on Sunday CURIOSITY WON'T KILL THIS CAT... Twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce is back at Buckshaw at last, but her homecoming is overshadowed by news of her father's illness. Forbidden from visiting Colonel de Luce in hospital, Flavia busies herself in the village, but she soon makes a macabre discovery:...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
    WINNER OF THE AGATHA • ARTHUR ELLIS • DILYS • DEBUT DAGGER AWARDS “Wonderfully entertaining . . . sure to be one of the most loved mysteries of the year . . . [Flavia is] a delightful, intrepid, acid-tongued new heroine.” —Chicago Sun-Times It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an...
    Paperback
    $5000
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • As Chimney Sweepers Come To Dust
    It all began with that awful business about my mother... Flavia de Luce's world is turned upside down when she is banished to Miss Bodycote's Female Academy in Canada — her mother Harriet's old boarding school. With its forbidding headmistress, intimidating teachers and bizarre rules, adapting to Miss Bodycote's could be a matter of life and death. But Flavia is...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
    I was lying dead in the churchyard... So says eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce - but soon a murder provides a gruesome distraction from her own death. A travelling puppet show arrives in the sleepy English village of Bishop's Lacey, and everyone gathers to watch a performance of Jack and the Beanstalk in the village hall. But a shadow is cast...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Golden Tresses of the Dead
    The Golden Tresses of the Dead introduces Flavia de Luce, the twelve-year-old chemist and amateur detective eager to turn professional. She and her father's valet, Dogger, have founded a detective agency, Arthur Dogger & Associates, and unexpectedly stumble into their first case during the revelry at her sister Ophelia's wedding reception. After an eventful ceremony with a missing best man...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • A Red Herring Without Mustard
    'You frighten me,' the Gypsy said. 'Never have I seen my crystal ball so filled with darkness.' So begins eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce's third adventure through the charming but deceptively dark byways of the village of Bishop's Lacey. What the fortune teller in fact claimed to see was a vision of Flavia's mother, Harriet, who died on a mountainside in...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

More from Crime & Thriller

View all
  • New Release
    Every Lake
    Scary stories are fun... until your life becomes one. When Alice was fifteen, her father killed Mia Heywood in their lakefront cottage before vanishing into the trees. At least that's what the locals think happened. Over a decade later, Alice has lost her job as a journalist, she's going through an expensive divorce and she desperately needs to sell the...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    It Could Have Been Her
    PREPARE TO BE HOOKED: The no. 1 Sunday Times and MULTI-million-copy bestselling author is back with a brand-new spine tingling thriller. It was the night she almost died. Jane Trevally, newly divorced and feeling a little lost, agrees to accompany a man she doesn't know to his house in the darkest corner of Hampstead Heath. She's offered a drink, goes in, and...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    26 Beauties
    The twenty-sixth thrilling novel in the globally bestselling Women's Murder Club series. Beautiful young women are disappearing by the dozen. A celebration is cut short when a concerned father crashes Detective Inspector Lindsay Boxer's party. His daughter is missing - and she's not the only one. DI Lindsay Boxer has been tracking a chilling pattern: a Jane Doe washed ashore,...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Secrets We Hide
    The stunning new North Falls thriller by the bestselling author of We Are All Guilty Here 'Quite simply, Karin Slaughter is the best of us' Dervla McTiernan Welcome back to North Falls -- a small town with big secrets. The house at 1601 Iris Drive looks like any other in the quiet, residential street. But rumours are rife about the Vickery...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Parkwood Murders
    They came for an escape, but can they escape a killer? Detective Nicola Bridge returns in another gripping and immersive mystery For its loyal guests, Parkwood Holiday Village in west Dorset is a haven- woodland walks, a tranquil lake, service around the clock. Until, just after midsummer, a body is found floating in the swimming pool. Detective Nicola Bridge, exhausted...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Hope Rises
    'BALDACCI IS STILL PEERLESS' - THE SUNDAY TIMES REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD . . . Walter Nash, working under the alias of Dillon Hope, is on the road to revenge after becoming an informant for the FBI against a global criminal operation headed up by Victoria Steers. Steers has ripped everything Nash held dear away from him....
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Slash
    A year after a brutal shootout left her lover dead, ex-police sergeant Honey Chalmers is a hot mess, drinking too much and eating too little, working casual gigs for a shady firm of private investigators — while holding conversations with a ghost. A desperate father asks her to investigate his missing son — a double-murder suspect last seen during the...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    A River Red With Blood
    The players call it the Game, and its aim is simple: to abduct and kill a stranger without getting caught. They're very good at it. They've been playing it for a long time. And they can keep playing as long as everyone sticks to the rules: No Killing Close to Home and No Killing Outside the Game. But those rules...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Shadow Step
    The new Detective Miller thriller from bestselling author Mark Billingham, full of tension, wit and incredible twists. The Shadow Step: One taken simultaneously by a pair of dancers facing the same direction, one of them behind and slightly shifted leftwards ('in the shadow') Typically, such a step perfectly demonstrates synchronized elegance. It showcases a couple in near telepathic harmony with...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Backorder
    Ships mid August
  • Blue Lightning
    New Release
    Blue Lightning
    Blue Lightning The fourth Shetland novel A remote island on lockdown. A killer on the loose . . . Shetland detective Jimmy Perez knows it will be a difficult homecoming when he returns to Fair Isle to introduce his fiancée to his parents. With the autumn storms raging, the island is cut off from the rest of the world. Then...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Red Bones
    New Release
    Red Bones
    Red Bones is the third Shetland novel featuring detective Jimmy Perez. Sometimes the dead won't stay buried... When a young archaeologist uncovers a set of human remains, the island settlers are intrigued. Is it an ancient find—or a more contemporary mystery? Then an elderly woman is shot in what appears to be a tragic accident in the middle of the...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Last to Drown
    New Release
    The Last to Drown
    Praise for Noelle W. Ihli: 'Hands down one of my favourite reads of the year' - FREIDA MCFADDEN 'A true classic in the genre' - LISA JEWELL 'A propulsive story that haunts and mesmerizes' - KARIN SLAUGHTER FIVE DAYS. TWENTY STRANGERS. NO PHONE SIGNAL. The rafting trip was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime. But now that Kaia's...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.