Kerry Greenwood

[michelesbooksplus]

Is anyone else familiar with this Australian Author?  She has a few different styles/themes in her works, the one I prefer is the 'Phryne Fisher' series.  She has written about 20 novels in this series, based in early 1900's Melbourne Australia.  The character is a very out-going, single-minded female with very few inhibitions.  She produces a great variety of story lines in each volume.

[chesilbeach]

The first three Phryne Fisher books were on offer on the Amazon Kindle Daily Deals on Friday, so I bought them, but haven't started them yet, so I'll have to come back and let you know how I get on with them! I haven't come across any of her other books yet though.

Edited May 13, 2013 by chesilbeach

[chesilbeach]

Here's my review of the first book in the series:


Miss Phryne Fisher Investigates by Kerry Greenwood
(also published under the names Cocaine Blues and Death by Misadventure)

Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk)
Bored socialite Phryne Fisher leaves the tedium of the London season for adventure in Australia!

Tea-dances in West End hotels, weekends in the country with guns and dogs... Phryne Fisher - she of the grey-green eyes and diamante garters - is rapidly tiring of the boredom of chit-chatting with retired colonels and foxtrotting with weak-chinned wonders. Instead, Phryne decides it might be amusing to try her hand at being a lady detective - on the other side of the world!

As soon as she books into the Windsor Hotel in Melbourne, Phryne is embroiled in mystery: poisoned wives, drug smuggling rings and corrupt cops... not to mention erotic encounters with beautiful Russian ballet star Sasha de Lisse; England's green and pleasant land just can't compete with these new, exotic pleasures!

Review:
I've often said I'm not a fan of the crime genre, but when I find quirky detectives like Miss Phryne Fisher, in period settings like 1920s Melbourne, and an intriguing plot, I'm hooked! I loved the setting - I'm a fan of everything Australian, and would love to go back and visit again, so to travel to that country along with Phryne was a delight. The descriptions of the fashion, food and drink, the commentary on the society, and the elements of social history are all seamlessly wrapped up in the decadent world that Phryne inhabits. She's clearly intelligent, but with a wilful streak that sees her follow her own path and find her own amusement to avoid the boredom of wealth with no purpose in life, she takes to investigations like a duck to water. Fantastic page-turning story, I absolutely loved it! I already have the next two downloaded from when they were on offer a few weeks back, and I can see myself reading the whole series eventually, and it looks like it's already up to book 19, so that should keep me going for a while.

[chesilbeach]

Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood

Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk)
Whether foiling kidnappers' plans, walking the wings of a Tiger Moth or simply deciding what to wear for dinner, Phryne handles everything with her usual panache and flair!

Here, the 1920's most glamorous detective flies even higher, handling an abduction and a murder with style and ease... all before it's time to adjourn to the Queenscliff Hotel for breakfast. Whether she's flying planes, clearing a friend of homicide charges or saving a child from kidnapping, she handles everything with the same dash and elan with which she drives her red Hispano-Suiza.

Review:
The second book in the eeries, and time for Phryne to set down roots in her new life, so with a new house and a few new characters to introduce, we're beginning to see the regulars who will return every story, and I loved how her world is now rounding out. Another great story, full of derring-do, with that touch of glamour, and the unconventional detective solves the mystery where I never would have guessed how it was done, and kept me entertained throughout.

[chesilbeach]

Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood

 

Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk)

When Phryne Fisher arranges to go to Ballarat for a week, she eschews the excitement of her Hispano-Suiza for the sedate safety of the train. But as the passengers sleep, they are all overcome by chloroform poisoning.

 

In the morning Phryne is left to piece together all the clues: a young girl suffering from amnesia, the body of an old woman missing her emerald rings and rumours of white slavery and black magic... the last thing Phryne was expecting of this train journey was that she will have to use her trusty Beretta .32 to save lives!

 

Review:

A change of scenery in this third instalment sees Phryne caught up in a murder investigation on board a train.  Although it seemed fairly obvious who was responsible for the crime from the beginning, there was lots of to and froing between different suspects to keep the reader guessing, but Phryne solves the mystery with her usual style and panache, and a suitable disdain for convention.

 

I'm really enjoying this series, the twenties setting is glamorous and extravagant with a seedy underside to society at all levels, and a larger than life heroine with a razor wit and a sharp intelligence.  The family of characters that are developing add colour and interest, as well as supporting Phryne in her life, loves and her investigations.  

 

I'm trying not to download that next book immediately after finishing each story, as I fear that I would just devour the whole lot in one go, and then be left bereft by the loss.  As it is, I'm trying to restrict myself to one a month from now on, so I've got a couple more weeks to wait before I treat myself to the next in the series.

[chesilbeach]

Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood

 

Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk)

A very young man with muddied hair, a pierced ear and a blue tattoo lies cradled in Phryne's arms. But sadly it's not another scene of glorious seduction - this time it's death.

 

The Honourable Miss Phryne Fisher, beautifully dressed in loose trousers, a cream silk shirt and a red-fox fur has just had her windscreen shot out inches in front of her divine nose. But worse is the fate of the pale young man lying on the road, his body hit by bullets, who draws his final blood-filled breath with Phryne at his side. Outraged by this brutal slaughter, Phryne promises to find out who is responsible. But Phryne doesn't yet know how deeply into the mire she'll have to go - bank robbery, tattoo parlours, pubs, spiritualist halls and the Anarchists.

 

Along this path, Phryne meets Peter, a battle-scarred, sexy Slav, who offers much more to her than just information. But all thoughts of these delights flee from Phryne's mind when her beloved maid, Dot, disappears. There's nothing Phryne won't do to get her back safely.

 

Review:

Another cracking story in this historic crime series from Kerry Greenwood. The action starts on the very first page with Phryne's windscreen being shot out, and immediately she is drawn into the world of the Anarchists. Everyone in Phryne's world gets involved, and the danger is very real for her household, including the girls and Dot. I really enjoy immersing myself in 1920s Melbourne with her bohemian, exciting lifestyle, and the juxtaposition of the wealth versus the poverty is evident again in this story.

 

I have now been able to watch one of the television episodes based on the series, as this was the first I'd managed to read and have recorded. Although I did quite enjoy it, with only 40ish minutes to adapt a full novel, there was so much left out or changed, that I felt it lacked the excitement of the full blown story in the novel. I'm even less of a fan of television crime and detective series than I am of the book version, and it needs to be something very quirky to attract my attention, and I don't think I'll be bothering with any more of the television version of these books. I will definitely be continuing with the book series though!

[Little Pixie]

 

I have now been able to watch one of the television episodes based on the series, as this was the first I'd managed to read and have recorded. Although I did quite enjoy it, with only 40ish minutes to adapt a full novel, there was so much left out or changed, that I felt it lacked the excitement of the full blown story in the novel. I'm even less of a fan of television crime and detective series than I am of the book version, and it needs to be something very quirky to attract my attention, and I don't think I'll be bothering with any more of the television version of these books. I will definitely be continuing with the book series though!

 

I watched the TV show via YouTube (   ) and they ran to 50 or 52 mins ; I watched a bit of the show on Alibi and thought they`d cut bits out to fit the time slot in the UK.

[chesilbeach]

Thanks, that's useful to know.  I'm not a fan of watching stuff on YouTube though, and even with the extra 10 minutes or so, I still think there would be too much missing for me.  I'll stick to the books, I think!

[Little Pixie]

Thanks, that's useful to know.  I'm not a fan of watching stuff on YouTube though, and even with the extra 10 minutes or so, I still think there would be too much missing for me.  I'll stick to the books, I think!

 

I am going to get those books at some point, I`m glad they seem worthwhile.

[Little Pixie]

3 of the Phryne Fisher books for £4.99 on The Book People.  

[Echo]

I'm reading a collection of the first three novels in the Miss Fisher series. I've finished Cocaine Blues, which I liked, and now I'm on to Flying Too High. I've always loved mysteries, especially Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes (one of my favorite tidbits is that Miss Fisher adds the letter "B" to her house number, which is 221, as an homage to Holmes).

 

I was turned on to this series because of the TV series, which is brilliant (I'm addicted and have seen every episode).

[chesilbeach]

I'd forgotten I'd been reviewing the books here. I finished book seven in the series last week. I'm still enjoying them, but I still haven't watched the television series as I wanted to read the books first. Good to see someone else reading and enjoying them too!

[Kylie]

I'm pleased you're a fan, Echo. I think the show is rather under-rated over here.

 

I've only read the first book so far, and I really liked it. I have most of the books on my TBR pile, so I really should start the next one, especially because I've lately been in a mood to read these types of mysteries (like Alan Bradley, Ben Aaronovitch, MRC Kasasian).

[bookmonkey]

I want to read those books, too.  They seem to be hard to get hold of at my library.  I enjoyed the TV show.

[chesilbeach]

I want to read those books, too.  They seem to be hard to get hold of at my library.  I enjoyed the TV show.

 

I've had trouble getting hold of them too.  I wanted to get them on Kindle, and when I first started, they were all available, then after I'd read a few, a lot of the books in the middle of the series disappeared from Amazon.  It looks like they are re-issuing them - I thought it was to tie in with the television series, but they seem to be taken a long time to do it, so I'm slowly finding them available again.  The library copies were hit and miss as to which ones of the series they had, which is really frustrating.  Surely, as a library, if you're going to buy books in a series, you have to buy and maintain the whole series?  I know the don't have limitless funds, but it's just so frustrating!!!!