Publishers Weekly
10/23/2023
Greenwood brings back socialite and amateur sleuth Fisher for a breezy 22nd cozyish mystery (after 2020’s Death in Daylesford) set in 1920s Melbourne. Miss Fisher is busy juggling a host of cases: a Chinese laborer has been murdered; a peeping Tom has been leaving nasty anonymous letters in her mailbox; someone has been embezzling funds from a charity for the blind; and a prominent socialite has been killed during an elaborate party at his home. This time out Miss Fisher’s three adopted children—Ruth, Mary, and Tinker—pitch in to help their mother sniff out clues and tail suspects. Their assistance leaves Miss Fisher free to visit her lover, Lin Chung, drop by her seamstress to order fabulous gowns for her teenage wards, and enjoy high society gatherings. Newcomers may be less than satisfied by the lackadaisical pacing and fondness for fashion over crime solving, but those who’ve grown fond of Miss Fisher over the decades will get what they came for: lavish outfits, dashing romance, and fantasies of wealth. This is a diverting romp. Agent: Sandra Buol, Allen and Unwin. (Nov.)
Kirkus Reviews
2023-09-09
The fearless and soignée Phryne Fisher investigates several mysteries as intriguing as they are perilous in post–World War I Australia.
In addition to excellent taste in clothes and men, the Honourable Miss Fisher has something else: a disdain for rules that’s served her well as a private investigator. She can tell that something’s bothering Dot Williams, her lady's maid and companion, who reveals that an anonymous letter reading only REPENT! was left in Phryne’s mailbox, kicking off the first of her investigations. Her two adopted daughters, Jane and Ruth, are helping out at the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind for a school project, and one of the teachers asks Jane to use her math skills to check over the institute's books, where it seems "there's something amiss." Meanwhile, Phryne drops in on Jeoffrey Bisset, a lecturer in classics and English, who invites her to dinner at his home in Williamstown the next evening. When the time comes, they enjoy each other more than the food, but Phryne finds herself involved in opium smuggling when an after-dinner stroll reveals a man stabbed to death on the beach. Phryne’s sometime lover Lin Chung, a respected leader in the Chinese community, is called to identify the body and resolves to look for whoever’s smuggling opium, a scourge in the community. Phryne sets her adopted son, Tinker, to investigate the anonymous letter while Jane and Ruth try to sniff out an embezzler at the Institute for the Blind. Reserving for herself the dangerous job of tracking down the murderous smugglers with a little help from her friends, Phryne uncovers some surprising answers.
The always delightful heroine and her sleuthing family do not disappoint in this mélange of mysteries.
