The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley

Flavia's sister is getting married and she has mixed feelings about that.  She's glad she's happy and she's sad she's leaving.  As they cut the wedding cake, her sister breaks down.  She has a good reason.  She found a finger in the cake...

Delacorte Press and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published January 22nd.

Flavia being Flavia immediately takes away the finger and works on getting her sister back to the reception.  She'll examine the finger later.

Flavia is very interesting character.  She's young but she's also scientific.  She knows what kind of tests to run for poisons.  Her partner in crime is intelligent and helps her learn more all along the way.  The cake has been guarded so the finger had to have been added that day while it sat in the reception room.  Whose finger was it?

And why was their latest client poisoned?  After all, they were pretty sure she was lying to them about the case she wanted them to pursue.

There is a doctor who plays at being mentally disabled, the Vicar's wife is worried about the church's accounting records, and there aren't many clues.  As they determine the poison and wonder about the two missionary ladies staying with them temporarily, they keep trying to find the murderer...

Flavia always ends up too close to danger in her quests for the truth.  Youth isn't very cautious.  But Flavia and her partner do solve the mystery, even if it makes the inspector a bit unhappy.