The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE

A Delacorte Press Book / May 2009

Published by Bantam Dell

A Division of Random House, Inc.

New York, New York

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents

either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events,

or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2009 by Alan Bradley

Delacorte Press is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.,

and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bradley, C. Alan, 1938–

The sweetness at the bottom of the pie / Alan Bradley.

p. cm.

eISBN: 978-0-440-33846-8

1. Detectives—England—Fiction. 2. Motherless families—Fiction.

3. Sisters—Fiction. 4. England—Fiction. I. Title.

PR9199.4.B7324S94 2009

813′.6—dc22

2008041787

www.bantamdell.com