Alan Bradley (born 1938) is a Canadian mystery writer known for his Flavia de Luce series, which began with the acclaimed The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. == Early life and engineering career == Bradley was born in 1938 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was brought up with two older sisters in the small town of Cobourg. When Bradley was a toddler, his father left the family and his mother raised the children alone. Bradley learned to read at an early age, partly because he was a sickly c…