Flavia is around twelve years old and the youngest child of Inigo and Katya Upcott. She lives with her parents and her older brother, Gus, in Lismore Road in Hampstead.

We first meet Flavia when Strike and Robin visit her home to conduct an interview with her mother, who is Josh Blay’s (and previously Edie Ledwell’s) agent. Described as having “long dark hair,” Flavia “wore thick-lensed glasses and a fleece onesie patterned like a Christmas pudding, with a sprig of holly on the hood” (The Ink Black Heart, Chapter 33).

She is berated by her father, Inigo, for coming near him when she is ill, as he has to be careful not to contract any illnesses due to his ME. He later describes her as “our problem child.”

Strike and Robin have a chat with Flavia after they leave the house. Flavia is on her way to visit her neighbour’s puppies. She tells them she wants to be a detective and goes on to give them various pieces of information, some of which later prove useful to solving the case (The Ink Black Heart, Chapter 34).

Let’s hope Flavia got a puppy of her own in the end.