Alan Bradley (born 1938) is a Canadian mystery writer known for his Flavia de Luce series, which began with the acclaimed The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.
[2] However, Bradley confesses to having been a "very bad student",[1] particularly in high school,[2] spending his free time reading in the local cemetery because he felt he didn't fit in.
[2] Bradley's wife was listening to CBC Radio as Louise Penny, a Canadian mystery author, discussed the Debut Dagger fiction competition, run by the U.K. Crime Writers' Association and sponsored by the Orion Publishing Group in Britain.
In early 2007, Bradley entered the Dagger contest by submitting fifteen pages about the "girl on the camp stool" character, now named Flavia de Luce.
Upon his return to Canada after the award ceremony, Bradley took a few weeks off, and then spent seven months turning the submitted fifteen pages into a full-length novel.
The second installment (The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag) was published in March 2010,[3] the third (A Red Herring without Mustard) in February 2011,[4] the fourth (I Am Half-Sick of Shadows) in December 2011,[5] and the fifth (Speaking from Among the Bones) in January 2013.
[9] Since selling their home in Kelowna, British Columbia in 2009, Bradley and his wife Shirley have been traveling, hoping to spend time living in various places and visiting every country that is publishing his books.