Review by Booklist Review
The 16 Phryne Fisher mysteries have been appearing steadily in the U.S. over the last several years in mostly random order. This latest to land here was the fifth of the series to be published in Australia (in 1993). It finds the uncontainable, outspoken Australian flapper and private eye trying to figure out who murdered a dance-contest participant and why. As usual, it's the setting--Australia in the 1920s--that sells the story. Fisher herself, as always, is a thoroughly modern heroine, sharp-tongued, self-reliant, and more than able to handle herself when push comes to shove. Greenwood assumes we have read the previous entries in the series, and that we are familiar with the supporting cast (including Mr and Mrs. Butler, who are Phryne's, well, . . . butlers), but she provides enough explanation to keep us from feeling lost. Australian crime fiction is becoming increasingly popular in North America, but Greenwood's series, thanks to its sparkling evocation of how the 1920s roared Down Under, manages to stand apart from the crowd. Anyone who hasn't discovered Phryne Fisher by now should start making up for lost time. --David Pitt Copyright 2007 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
While fans of Australian author Greenwood's light and humorous Phryne Fisher mystery series (Cocaine Blues, etc.) may expect the plot to be subordinate to the heroine's displays of wit and libido, the degree to which that is the case this time out makes this a less successful entry than most. The action begins dramatically as Bernard Stevens, a participant in a dance marathon, drops dead in a Sydney nightclub, just before the end of the competition. Fisher, an amazingly self-possessed and competent amateur sleuth, happens to have been nearby at the time, and soon is involved in the investigation. When her date vanishes, after slipping away from the scene of the murder, ostensibly to compose himself, she's hired by his mother to trace both him and his brother, a veteran of the worst trench warfare of WWI. The period is, as always, well-portrayed, but the resolution of the whodunit will disappoint some. (Apr.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Elegant Phryne Fisher visits the Green Mill jazz club with a foppish acquaintance and is once again a witness to murder. The gentleman half of one of the last two couples still standing in a 1920s Australian dance marathon falls dead at the feet of Phryne Fisher (Death at Victoria Dock, 2006, etc.) and her partner Charles Freeman. As Phryne's old pal Police Inspector Jack Robinson arrives to investigate, squeamish Charles goes off to the gents and quietly disappears from the club. Phryne, chatting with the attractive bandleader Tintagel Stone, barely notices his absence. When Charlie remains missing, Phryne is hired by his hysterical and unpleasant mother to find him and his brother Vic, who was shell-shocked during the war and has retreated to an unknown mountain hideaway. Phryne enjoys a dalliance with Tintagel, helps the marathon winners claim their prize, gets Charlie to turn himself in and discovers the murderer, but decides not to mention it to Jack until she returns from a dangerous plane trip to track down Vic. She encounters many a delightful character, including a potato-loving wombat, enjoys a brief fling with Vic and returns to Melbourne a satisfied woman. Despite the joys of traveling Australia with the delightful Phryne, readers may be somewhat less satisfied by this messy mystery. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
