I Am Half-Sick of Shadows (Alan Bradley)

This is the third Flavia deLuce novel, and I'm afraid the charm is fading. Eleven-year-old Flavia once again gets caught up in the murder of a movie star in her very own home, and finds clues nobody else sees and is almost, but not quite, murdered herself. The trouble is that there are no new ideas here. Flavia is still obsessed with chemistry, especially poisons. Her father is still distant, mourning the death of his wife a decade ago. Flavia's older sisters still torment her, and vice versa. Handyman Doggery is still mysteriously competent. But aside from these constant elements, the story was unsatisfying. Too many things cropped up and petered out into nothing. (What was the story with the stars personal assistant? Why was she so bullied by and afraid of the star? Why did the spotlight fail at the crucial moment? None of this, and more, went anywhere.) I still enjoyed the story,  but I won't be reading more of them.