Canadian author Alan Bradley, who was best known for the Flavia de Luce mystery series featuring an 11-year-old detective, died May 19, CBC reported. He was 87. A Toronto native, Bradley was raised in Coburg, Ont., attended Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Toronto Metropolitan University), and worked as a TV and radio engineer before getting a position at University of Saskatchewan, where he taught for 25 years and became the director of television engineering.
Bradley retired in 1994, moved to Kelowna, B.C., with his wife, Shirley, and began writing full-time, publishing short stories for children and adults, the memoir The Shoebox Bible, and the nonfiction book Ms. Holmes of Baker Street (with William A.S. Sarjeant).
In his late 60s, "an 11-year-old girl named Flavia de Luce first appeared on the page," CBC wrote. "Precocious and smart, Flavia was a minor character in a manuscript that captivated Bradley's wife. Shirley encouraged him to develop Flavia further and she ultimately became the protagonist of the bestselling mystery series bearing her name."
In a 2013 interview on CBC's The Next Chapter, Bradley said: "I'm almost ashamed to admit that she makes me laugh out loud because I don't know what she's going to do or what she's going to say. She just does it and I laugh and jot it down.... My wife Shirley will be sitting in the next room or at the other end of the same room and she'll say, 'Flavia's just done something outrageous'.... There is a sense of wonder I can remember from being 11. You are absolutely invincible. It's that age where you think that you can build a glider out of bed sheets and jump off the castle wall and you won't get hurt. You can do anything."
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, the first novel in the Flavia de Luce series, was immediately successful, winning numerous honors including the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger Award, the Dilys Winn Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Agatha Award, the Macavity Award, and the Barry Award. The 11 books in the series have sold more than six million copies and been translated into 36 languages.
In a 2024 interview on The Next Chapter, Bradley said his biggest accomplishment was the impact he had on the lives of readers who were inspired by Flavia: "I've just been absolutely flattened by letters and e-mails from girls of Flavia's age who have said that they've decided to go into science.... Now that the first book has been out for 16 years, I'm beginning to hear from girls who graduated, who are now very advanced in science. I think that's a wonderful achievement, inspiring young people to go into the sciences."
His Canadian publisher for the series was Doubleday Canada. In a statement, Kristin Cochrane, CEO of Penguin Random House Canada, said: "Alan's extraordinary imagination, generosity of spirit, and wonderful craft as a storyteller brought joy to readers in Canada and around the world for more than 15 years.
"I am joined by colleagues across Penguin Random House Canada in our appreciation for Alan's great books, and our admiration for the care with which he shared Flavia with the world. We are profoundly grateful for the privilege of publishing Alan Bradley and will continue to celebrate his remarkable legacy by ensuring his stories endure for generations to come."
The final installment in the Flavia de Luce series, Numb Were the Beadsman's Fingers, will be published November 3, and a movie adaptation of the first book appears around the same time.