History Literature / FlaviaDeLuce

* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Zig-zagged with Flavia. She's without a doubt a scientific genius, extremely observant, and shockingly manipulative in some of her social interactions. But at the same time, she has all of the enthusiasm, stubbornness and overconfidence of your average pre-teen, and sometimes, it comes back to bite her. She also solves murder cases and performs tricky chemistry experiments... all while still believing in Santa Clause.

* IncestIsRelative: Mildly. Buckshaw is not Haviland's property, but Harriet's -- she was already a de Luce before their marriage, presumably a more or less distant cousin.

* RaisedCatholic: While religion is not extremely prevalent in Flavia's life, she prays occasionally, kneels before the altar when she enters a church, and is pretty well-versed in Sunday school knowledge.

* CoolBike: Flavia's preferred method of transportation, a bicycle she inherited from her mother. Harriet used to call it ''l´Hirondelle'', but Flavia baptized it ''Gladys'' and often thinks of it as if it had a personality.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Carl Pendracka gives Ophelia a pair of fine nylons for christmas -- in the early 1950s in England, those are hard to come by; as such, both Carl and Ophelia think it's a very considerate and generous gift. And then there's indignant Colonel de Luce, pre-war generation, who witnesses what he considers a cocky young man gifting his daughter with ''undergarments'', which is why he burns the nylons on the spot, bewildering Carl and sending Feely into tears.

* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: ''The Golden Tresses of the Dead'': Human finger in [[spoiler:Ophelia's wedding cake]] -> [[spoiler:a crime ring which robs the graves of the famous and sells the dust of their bodies with the promise of inheriting the corpses' talent]].

* WellDoneDaughterGirl: Flavia wishes dearly to one day have a chance to make her father proud, but as things are, he doesn't even always acknowledge the existence of his daughters.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Zig-zagged with Flavia. She's without a doubt a scientific genius, extremely observant, and shockingly manipulative in some of her social interactions. But at the same time, she has all of the enthusiasm, stubbornness and overconficence of your average pre-teen, and sometimes, it comes back to bite her. She also solves murder cases and performs tricky chemistry experiments... all while still believing in Santa Clause.

* YoungestChildWins: Of the three de Luce sisters, it's Flavia who [[spoiler:gets sent to boarding school in Canada to be trained as a potential future spy, about to be part of the "Nide" to which her family belongs]]. Ophelia and Daphne, who are barred from this part of their family's heritage, resent her for it, but Flavia herself isn't entirely happy with her fate, either. [[spoiler:She also inherited Buckshaw from her mother Harriet.]]

* CoolTeacher: Mrs. Bannerman, Flavia's chemistry teacher in Canada whom she befriends quickly [[spoiler:and who stays in touch with her when Flavia has returned to England due to being involved with the nest of the colchicus]].

* SecretLegacy: Flavia's upcoming involvement with the [[spoiler:nest of the colchicus, a sort of spy web that's played a role in the World War and is still present and active]], a position she inherited from her mother and gets introduced to by her aunt Felicity. Interestingly, while Flavia is still young, not yet fully informed about everything, and a bit of a wild card because she's so headstrong, she's already expanding on her legacy by building up her own web of acquaintances to people of interest, such as the police, overseas relations to Canada, famous authors, the movie industry, and even the government.

* YoungestChildWins: Of the three de Luce sisters, it's Flavia who [[spoiler:gets sent to boarding school in Canada to be trained as a potential future spy, about to be part of the "nest of the colchicus" to which her family belongs]]. Ophelia and Daphne, who are barred from this part of their family's heritage, resent her for it, but Flavia herself isn't entirely happy with her fate, either. [[spoiler:She also inherited Buckshaw from her mother Harriet.]]

* AffectionateNickname: In their better times, Flavia calls her sisters Ophelia and Daphne "Feely" and "Daffy".

* CoolBike: Flavia's preferred method of transportation, a bike she inherited from her mother. Harriet used to call it ''l´Hirondelle'', but Flavia baptized it ''Gladys'' and often thinks of it as if it had a personality.

* BigDamnHeroes: Dogger and the two older sisters de Luce at the end of ''"The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie"'' [[spoiler:as they crash with the Rolls Royce straight through the wall of an old barn to save Flavia from a murderer]].

* CoolCar: The Rolls Royce Phantom, which belonged to Flavia's mother Harriet and stands in the garage almost entirely unused ever since she died. Though Flavia expressed her wish that, one day, Dogger will teach her driving with it.
* CoolTeacher: Mrs. Bannerman, Flavia's chemistry teacher in Canada whom she befriends quickly [[spoiler:and who stays in touch with her when Flavia has returned to England due to being involved with the nest of the colchicus.]]

** At the end of ''"Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd"'', [[spoiler:he succumbs to a severe pneumonia, leaving the girls orphaned and devastated.]]

* DudeMagnet: Flavia's sister Ophelia is seventeen (later eighteen) years old and a ProudBeauty with a bunch of admirers: [[BoyNextDoor Ned Cropper]], police sergeant Giles Graves, former prisoner of war Dieter Schrantz from Germany who's now a farmhand / English teacher to be, and self-confident American Carl Pendracka. There's also [[DirtyOldMan her former piano teacher]] who apparently made inappropriate comments, which is why Feely quit the lessons. [[spoiler:In ''"The Dead in their Vaulted Arches"'', she gets engaged to Dieter.]]

* HairColorDissonance: For some reason, the book covers show Flavia with black hair which is prevailing in fan art of the character, too... despite Flavia describing herself as ash blonde in ''"The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie"''.

* KidDetective: Every novel is about Flavia investigating a new case that's usually tangled up with a long, obscure past of the people involved. She's eleven, in later novels twelve years old.
* LastKiss: [[spoiler:Flavia kisses her mother Harriet's corpse when the latter is brought home; it's also the first and only kiss Flavia ever gives her mother due to having been a baby when Harriet disappeared.]]

* MouthyKid: Flavia all the way. Inspector Hewitt especially is annoyed with her habit to investigate crimes she has no business being involved with, but fact is that Flavia usually solves mysteries quicker and more unfailingly than he does.
* {{Nephewism}}: From the end of ''"The Dead in their Vaulted Arches"'' on, Flavia's little cousin Undine starts living on Buckshaw with her uncle and cousins on Buckshaw [[spoiler:because her mother died in a flight attempt after her crimes were exposed.]]
* NeverFoundTheBody: Harriet, after she disappeared in Tibet during mountaineering ten years before the start of the series. [[spoiler:At the end of ''"Speaking from Among the Bones"'', her corpse is found and brought home to be buried in the next book.]]
* OldMoney: Family de Luce was this once, but by now, they have barely enough money left to pay the cook, Mrs. Mullet. Buckshaw is nearly permanently threatened with bancruptcy.
* OpenMouthInsertFoot: Flavia once, during a visit at police inspector Hewitt's and his wife Antigone's place, asks in a joking manner why they haven't any children yet. Antigone gets very sad and admits they [[LawOfInverseFertility have tried for a long time]]. Flavia is still deeply ashamed of this months later.
* ParentalNeglect: Downplayed and strangely specific. Colonel de Luce makes sure his daughters go to church regularly and that they all have decent manners, has their health taken care of, employs a cook so they'll be fed, and he fights tooth and nail so they can keep Buckshaw, no matter how bleak their finances look. However, he's emotionally distant and hardly ever talks to the girls about any personal matters. The three sisters are, for the most part, well-behaved, healthy, and balanced, and they're also aware that their father does indeed love them. But when it comes to expressing genuine feelings towards someone, they have ended up just as clogged as the Colonel.

* SecretLegacy: Flavia's upcoming involvement with the [[spoiler:nest of the colchicus, a sort of spy web that's played a role in the world war and is still present and active]], a position she inherited from her mother and gets introduced to by her aunt Felicity. Interestingly, while Flavia is still young, not yet fully informed about everything, and a bit of a wild card because she's so headstrong, she's already expanding on her legacy by building up her own web of acquaintances to people of interest, such as the police, over-sea relations to Canada, and people who are involved with famous authors, the movie industry, and even the government.
* ShipperOnDeck: While not being too overt about it, Flavia had hoped a little bit that, of all of Ophelia's admirers, she would choose Sgt. Graves, if only so Flavia would have a police sergeant as her brother-in-law and could discuss crimes with him. However, she's also not above promising to arrange clandestine meetings between her sister and Dieter, Carl Pendracka, or Ned Cropper, depending on from whom she needs information right now. [[spoiler:When Feely gets engaged with Dieter, Flavia is not particularly antagonistic to him, either, seeing as he's such a NiceGuy.]]

* SnowedIn: Happens to Buckshaw in ''"I am Half-Sick of Shadows"'', which provides the isolated circumstances for both the crime and the upcoming investigations -- no one can reach or leave the mansion due to the snow.
* TheresNoPlaceLikeHome: When Flavia is sent to a boarding school in Canada in ''"As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust"'', her priority is getting herself kicked out of school so she can return home to Buckshaw.

* WrongNameOutburst: In ''"The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie"'', Colonel de Luce accidently calls Flavia "Harriet" during a talk, lost in his memories and not immediately realizing that he's talking to his daughter there, not his wife. Flavia doesn't call him out on it because she doesn't want to interrupt his reminiscences.
* YoungestChildWins: Of the three de Luce sisters, it's Flavia who [[spoiler:gets sent to boarding school in Canada to be trained as a potential future spy, about to be part of the "nest of the colchicus" to which her family belongs.]] Ophelia and Daphne, who are barred from this part of their family's heritage, resent her for it, but Flavia herself isn't entirely happy with her fate, either. [[spoiler:She also inherited Buckshaw from her mother Harriet.]]

* WrongNameOutburst: In ''"The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie"'', Colonel de Luce accidently calls Flavia "Harriet" during a talk, lost in is memories and not immediately realizing that he's talking to his daughter there, not his wife. Flavia doesn't call him out on it because she doesn't want to interrupt his reminiscences.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Hard to tell with Flavia because she's still so young, but while she describes twice what might be a bit of a PrecociousCrush on two different men, she also has a tendency to start gushing about women whom she thinks are particularly beautiful, graceful, or impress her with their charm or wits (like Antigone Hewitt and Mildred Bannerman).

* CoolTeacher: Mrs. Bannerman, Flavia's chemistry teacher in Canada whom she befrieds quickly [[spoiler:and who stays in touch with her when Flavia has returned to England due to being involved with the nest of the colchicus.]]

** At the end of ''"Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd"'', [[spoiler:he succumbs to a severe penumonia, leaving the girls orphaned and devastated.]]

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: The titles of the novels, which are lines of songs, poems, dramas, or nursery rhymes that either play a role in Flavia's life or can in some way be reöated to the current case.