Murder In The Dark

Phryne Fisher #16

by Kerry Greenwood

"One of the most exciting and dangerous of the adventures into which Phryne's fabulous and risky lifestyle has led her" ― Kirkus Reviews It's Christmas, and Phryne has an invitation to the Last Best party of 1928, a four-day extravaganza being hosted at the Werribee Manor House by the Golden Twins, Isabella and Gerald Templar. Phryne is of two minds about going. But when threats begin arriving in the mail, she promptly decides to accept the invitation. No one tells Phryne Fisher what to do. At the Manor House, she is accommodated in the Iris room. At the party she dallies with two polo-playing women, a Goat lady (and goat), a large number of glamourous young men, and an extremely rude child called Tarquin. The acolytes of the golden twins are smoking hashish and dreaming. The jazz is hot and the drinks are cold. Heaven. Until three people are kidnapped, one of them the abominable child. Phryne must puzzle through the cryptic clues of the scavenger hunt to retrieve the hostages and save the party from further disaster.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Crime, Australia, Audiobook

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Kerry Isabelle Greenwood was an Australian author and lawyer. She wrote many plays and books, most notably a string of historical detective novels centred on the character of Phryne Fisher, which was adapted as the popular television series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. She wrote mysteries, science-fiction, historical fiction, children's stories, and plays. Greenwood earned the Australian women's crime fiction Davitt Award in 2002 for her young adult novel The Three-Pronged Dagger.

Reviews

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Honorable Phryne Fisher undertakes some sleuthing into the threats to the life of the delicious but dishonorable Gerald Templar, newly arrived to Australia from Paris. Gerald and Isabella Templar — known as the Golden Twins — have transported their sybaritic posse of lesbian lovelies and handsome young men with them and are now staging a four-day Last Best Party of 1928 to welcome 1929. Phryne knew the Templars and their lavish, scandalous parties from her days in Paris, but she’s of two minds as to whether to attend the hedonistic spree — until someone tries to warn her off with a venomous coral snake. Fierce Phryne therefore determines to head to Werribee Manor and unmask the villain — preferably roughing him up in the process.

While nearly ever Phryne novel provides a glimpse into Phryne’s own sybaritic side, Murder in the Dark dwells heavily on that part of her. In addition, there’s an intriguing puzzle as Phryne, with the aid of a new boy-toy named Nicholas Booth, tries to discover who wishes to harm the gorgeous Gerald and why. This 16th novel seems more dreamy and sensuous than usual (I know that’s promising a lot!), and longtime readers will enjoy its change of pace; that said, newbies to the series will find this novel a great introduction to the fabulous Phryne.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review. And special thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for reissuing the fabulous Phryne Fisher in paperback and Kindle editions for a new generation to devour.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, Phyrne deals with multiple mysteries and an international professional killer. Away from Dot and the rest of the household at the last greatest party of 1928...a party where I'd have spent most of my time missing the planned events as I've never been into over use of alcohol (or the use of narcotics at all).

For this being the "best" party of 1928...well with murder, kidnapping...and the really bad redecorating job done on the stately (but formally lovely) old mansion, well could be questionable.

Still a good yarn, (with the usual caveat) enjoy.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wait, what? The thing that really threw me with this book is that this is Phryne’s first Christmas in Australia?! This is the sixteenth book or so, and eventful as Phryne’s life is, it seems a little bizarre that everything that’s happened so far has taken less than twelve months. Especially given the time passing during Lin Chung’s trips and such in Death Before Wicket. And this would mean Dot’s courtship with Hugh Collins isn’t that long after all — which seems odd, having got the feeling they were going at a glacial pace!

Still. This was pretty fun, although the setting was bizarre. Not because it was Christmas-in-July-weather, though that is a weird thought, but the whole house party and the sex parties and the general sea of implied queerness; at times, I wondered if it was just going to degenerate into a story all about sex, though it never quite went there. (No more than the other books, anyway.) This time, Phryne has to deal with a serial killer, but weirdly that didn’t change the tone much.

Overall, I’d have to say I found this instalment a little uneven — it’s fun to read, but I know some of the other books are better.

Originally posted here.

[Merry · Rating 3 out of 5]

First let me say that I am a HUGE fan of the tv show (now cancelled). I have listened to the first book and really enjoyed it. So, I went into this one thinking this would be a great audiobook to listen to on a road trip with hubby as he also liked the show. Well.....as soon as we got home, he said he was done as he had lost interest (a dead giveaway was that we were not listening to the book much while driving). I soldiered on....the problem with the book was that nothing was happening. Great writing and fantastic narrator about not much of anything. By the time stuff started happening I had forgotten who the characters were, and I didn't care anymore. Really is a 2.75*

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder in the Dark by Kerry Greenwood is the 16th book in the Phrynne Fisher Mystery series. Phrynne is invited to the Last Best party of 1928 being held by the Templar twins, and starts to receive threats in the mail and finds that the twins have also been threatened and a hired killer has infiltrated the party. An interesting book although the party and the twins were a bit strange. Miss Fisher was on her own for most of the book, with her usual help playing a more peripheral role. Fast paced and entertaining, although a bit more weirdness than usual.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am beginning to think the Phyrne Fisher books are like Nancy Drew. While the same author's name appears on each book, they are in fact written by different people. Or maybe they were edited by different people.

Of the half dozen or so books in this series I have read, this one is far and away the worst. It's still fun, but not as much fun as some of the others. Some of the ends are never tied up. But more importantly, the writing is definitely weak compared to some of the others.

So, if you're going to read all of the books...fine. But if you are only planning to read a few, this is one you can skip.

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars this time. This is the 16th in the Phryne Fisher series and normally I listen to these as audiobooks, because I enjoy Stephanie Daniels’ voice. This time however, I decided I’d try to whip through it in written form on the cusp of New Year’s Eve (which is when the story is set).

I’ve listened to most of the last 10 Phryne Fishers in the series as audiobooks. I know I miss things when I listen to books, but as I’ve listened, I’ve assumed that these books occur over the course of several years. So I’m not sure whether years are specifically mentioned in other books, but it is only now - in book 16 - that I’ve come to realise that all these other books (all 16!) have apparently been set over no more than the course of the last 12 months!! In the first chapter, Phryne says to Lin Chung “It’s my first Christmas here. It really doesn’t seem right, the sun shining and the birds singing at Christmas, which is in the heart of winter at home.”

I did go and have a read of the preview of Cocaine Blues - book number 1 in the series - to see if there was any mention of a year (I couldn’t find one), but it starts with Phryne in the UK and then coming out to Australia. I don’t actually remember that, so I might have to re-read it sometime!

Kerry Greenwood always has a few lines of something relevant at the beginning of each chapter, initially I liked how the beginnings of each in this started with a few lines of a Christmas carol or song or a recipe for a cocktail(!) and I thought all the chapters were going to begin with similarly Christmas/New Year-themed offerings, but it was a random mix, in the end - poetry, lines from Gilbert & Sullivan, jazz songs, a Bible verse…

And finally, about the story itself - I think this was the oddest Phryne I’ve read so far. I’m very glad I wasn’t listening to this one, because I couldn’t keep track of it when I was reading the words with my own eyes!! There were a couple of beautiful twins - Gerald and Isabella - who everyone worshipped, for some reason I never quite fathomed - it sounded like they were running some sort of cult...and yet not quite... I don't know, and I don't really care, but I do hope my next, Dead Man's Chest (because I've already read number 17 - Murder on a Midsummer Night - out of order) is an improvement on this one!

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book 5 stars because it was exactly what I wanted: a romp, a good, fun, light read that cheers and inebriates...particularly if you make up any of the cocktail recipes at the end of each chapter!

Phryne Fisher is up to her usual tricks in this episode. Lin Chung doesn't want her to attend a weekend house party held by a group of Bright Young People. Reason enough for her to insist on going--but an attempt on her life by an unusual if beautiful method decides the issue: she's going. Not least because she expects her would-be murderer to be there! He'd better watch out, because Phryne is on the warpath; she's gonna find out who's naughty or nice, and woe betide the naughty ones. Add a Mideval feast, a Japanese enkai, and a desert-song party to the mix, along with "pure" orgies and plenty of hash, and you've got a real Christmas cracker of a book. Nerine makes a cameo appearance and more than one red herring adds savour to the sleuthing. Enjoy!

[Jeannine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I’m done with Phryne. I love her character and her little family. This is another one of the bizarre installments in the later part of the series that take Phryne away from the family we love so much. She’s at a four-day long party that drags on and on.

The first part is fantastic, especially the scene where Ember the cat saves the day. As soon as she gets to the party, everything grinds to a halt.

What a disappointment.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

What was intriguing about this book was that it is set in the 1920s and in Australia. The main character Phryne Fisher is unique in her freedom and views of life. She is basically a good person who definitely indulges herself, and I found that I liked her.

The author did allow the reader to solve some of her "puzzles"--the killer was a bit obscure, but there were other mysteries that wrapped up nicely.

However, this was not a book that I could easily pick up. I was often bored by it. I didn't like all the characters--and some from previous books were not well incorporated into this one. There was a lot of lazing around and hedonistic exploration which didn't really lend much to the story line.

All in all, I doubt I'll read another book in this series.

[Lorna · Rating 2 out of 5]

An entertaining mystery, but I don't understand why the two orgy scenes were necessary... I don't really consider myself a prude, and sex in books is fine and can aid a story, but really? Orgies? I had already gathered that the planned murder victim, Gerald, was rather hedonistic based on the sumptuous setting, lavish entertainment, and the array of beautiful young men he surrounded himself with. Did not need the extra help on this one.

I did enjoy the riddles Phryne had to figure out along the way. Greenwood has a fun way of intertwining several mini mysteries into one larger case. It's neat to see how they all relate, and how each wraps up in its own way and time.

[Chris Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure this is going to be the last of my Phryne Fisher books. While the mysteries are interesting enough, the peripheral story lines bog the books down. In this case, poems, descriptions of charades and incredibly drawn out descriptions of events which had no bearing on the plot. As I neared the end of this book, I found the absolute refusal of the author to wrap things up frustrating and downright annoying - I get it, the author did a lot of research. I don't need to know all of it!

[Lizpixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Hon Phryne Fisher series so much. I was reading another book but hit a wall with it, I picked this up and flew through it. They're just so readable. If you ever find yourself in a slump, pick up one of these books and it will bring you right out of it.
Phryne and her family have been celebrating Xmas when she receives an invitation in the mail to The Last Best Party of 1928, a four day decadent extravaganza at Chirnside Manor in the Victorian hills. Whilst contemplating her answer, she receives a coral snake in a package which almost kills her along with a message to stay away from the party. Which of course, instantly has her packing her bags for a stay in the country. While partying with jazz singers, stockmen & women plus assorted nymphs & nymphettes, a child is snatched, another is missing and Phryne finds herself on the trail of a hired killer who's the most ruthless villain she's ever faced.

[Gottfried Neuner · Rating 2 out of 5]

I normally like the Phryne Fisher Mysteries, but this one was one of Greenwood's lesser works. So forgettable indeed that I put it on my to-read list again, because I forgot I already had read it. Imagine my surprise when I started reading and this book seemed familiar. Uncanny.
Phryne is at a party of some decadent cultists she knew in Paris. The party is grand and the whole book seems more focussed to show off how awesome the party is, and forgets about the mystery for large parts of the novel.
The book kind of trickles along until it comes to a conclusion that can be seen as an end.
At least it wasn't "Blood and Circuses".

[Mawson Bear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enormous fun. Lots of suspicious threads going on with glimpses into the lives of saints, cocktail recipes and Victorian era poetry along the way. Also an orgy, of sorts. And I completely failed to guess Whodonnit. Well, I had a suspect but dropped them so that can't count. Witty descriptions, and a good relaxing read that is not just for fans of the redoubtable Miss Phyrne Fisher. Also the brave cat Ember saves the day at one point, so what's not to love.

[Ed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much going on in "Murder in the Dark" and much of it not that interesting. Phryne Fisher is her usual delightfully insouciant self but she is stuck in the middle of a several days long house party full of characters who are more annoying or distracting than interesting. Not one of Greenwood's better efforts.

[Jazzy Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phryne Fisher does it again!

[Dillwynia Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes you just need something that is light and easy – I find this particularly so when doing long haul flights. My retention of complex ideas is restricted to dealing with immigration and customs of foreign countries. Of late I had been surrounded by books that were ideal for contemplation and philosophical thought, so I dropped them, although they weren’t completed, for this fun read.

The Phryne Fisher series are rarely a disappointment. I would say this wasn’t the best of the series, but most certainly wasn’t the least. Greenwood always makes an effort to find some particular topic or interest that obsessed the folks in the 1920s and uses it as a theme. This time is the concept of free love is introduced; glamorous people having an entourage that pander to their whims; and the use of drugs before the contemporary prohibition. These themes are well played out in the novel: they are educational without detracting from the mystery or being preachy.

The activities of the 3 day party were fun, with lots of characters that would also grace a Vance Palmer or Kylie Tennant novel. The threats and riddles I found forced. The style of riddle reduced the number of possibilities of who could be writing such notes and of course, I was able to work out who, just not the why. The villain is well done – to say more would be a spoiler – and was unexpected. The unexpected assistant was a deft touch and created in such a way that they may return.

I liked imagining how Greenwood was inspired by a place to set a story around it - in this incidence Chirmside Park outside of Melbourne. In a subtle way, it dealt with the changes in the squattocracy after the 1890s Depression, and the changing times and finances in Europe in mid to late 1920s.

[Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

The mysteries kept me guessing. Some I figured out and some I did not. Phryne was in full bloom with her wit, her sexual appetite, and her smarts. While Dot, Ruth, Jane, etc played small parts, they were present which made me happy since the last book was just Phryne and Dot. I'm almost to the end of the series. :(

[Stacie Haden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite in the series

Australia 1928

[Danceangel · Rating 4 out of 5]

As entertaining as it ever gets. Thank you Kerry Greenwood for giving us the taste of luxury life and best parties in 1920s, and what a great taste it is, spiced by murderous intrigue!

[EB · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this one last night b/c I needed to fall asleep! I'm just past 2h - abt 25% in. Am thinking maybe Phryne stories should only be for bedtime. This one is lovely and sweet b/c it's abt Xmas. Oh - I was trying to remember if there's a mystery yet. Sort of. Phryne is at a multi-day, residential, bohemian post-Xmas party - we're finally leaving 1928! - and we're trying to figure out (1) who is threatening one of the co-hosts (a bro/sis pair) w/ death and (2) who is trying to keep Phryne away from said party. Some characters we've met before reappear (e.g., Eliza Fisher and her partner, Lady Alice) and at first I thot the host being threatened, Gerald Templar, was the same brother from book 1 - the Russian ballet dancer. Since he was also elegant and dazzling and close w/ his sis. But no. That was Sasha de Lisse.

It's a fun story - at least, b4 we get to this weird party - IDK how the party will go, but can say the 1st part was fun - b/c we got to see the characters away from Phryne, celebrating Xmas w/ their fam. We met Ces's ENORMOUS fam and saw his fiancee meet them for the first time; Bert and his dad have a Xmas meal w/ Bert's aunt; Dot is with her parents and at least 1 sib (the sister from Sydney); and not only are the Butlers visiting their daughter and her new baby but we also learn their names - Tobias and Aurelia! Ruth cooks an entire Xmas dinner for Phryne's lot and everyone is happy. It's wonderful.

There's a LOT of singing, tho :( The VERY FIRST LINE of chapter 2- after the beginning-of-chapter quote - is a song! So is the beginning of Chapter 2 (0h27:45). At least they're Xmas carols. More (non-Xmas) at 0h43:30 and the opening of Chapter 5 (1h58). Alas!!

UPDATE @ END:

So. Much. Singing. in this story. More timestamps: 2h14:30, 2h19:30, 2h23, 3h17 (Ch8 opener), 4h28 (Ch11 opener), 5h14 (Ch13 opener), 5h45, 5h45:30, 6h41:30, 6h30, 6h52, 7h57:30, 7h58, 7h58:30

This was another mediocre Phryne story. Not bad but also not superlative. I think I'm less interested when the full cast isn't present (the Butlers, Dot, Ruth + Jane, Ces + Bert, Lin; even Jack Robinson). I like how they all interact together and support each other. (Ces + Bert of course are my favorite.) This was almost 100% Phryne which was... meh.

A point of departure in this book compared to others: other ppl were having more sex than Phryne! In fact, in the company of the Templars and all their peeps Phryne seemed downright conservative. Not only did Phryne have a surprisingly small amount of sex but, despite having plenty of opportunity, she gave it a miss until the very end. And even then it wasn't especially... convincing? Worth waiting for. (With Nicholas, natch.) This passage from Ch15 (also below) seems like a good summary of Phryne's position re: sex in this book: "Ice cream was reliable. Young men were not." A different kind of physical pleasure.

Also at one point there was an orgy? In addition to a session where ppl pleasured each other but didn't have orgasms? At any rate - lots of sex. Lots and lots and lots of sex. More than in other books. Only in this book the ppl having sex weren't Phryne.

This book also had a LOT of storylines and mini-mysteries. Who was threatening Phryne? Who was threatening the Templar brother? Where was Marigold? Where was Tarquin? Who would win at polo? Was Nicholas who he said he was? Who was leading Phryne around w/ the riddles? Who had thrown the Lin cousin into the lake and would Phryne avenge him? The plethora was distracting; I wasn't especially invested in any of them. Which was fine b/c none were especially well-resolved. I.e., none were dramatic or challenging or... engaging? The mystery parts of the story felt phoned-in. The character development and descriptions, however, were superb (see many bookmarked passages below). Mystery, tho - not so much.

Things I was confused about:

(1) To what extent was Nicholas *truly* an inexperienced ingénue (he was v young) and to what extent was he pretending (b/c he's a spy)?

(2) The night that Tarquin went missing Phryne said that in the morning it would be easy to find him by following the trail of broken glass. But then the next morning she *didn't* follow the trail... and no one else did, either. That seems like a significant oversight??

Other misc. notes:

* I appreciated the very hard anti-hunting line Phryne drew in Ch11.

* There are so many references to "Wind in the Willows"! Which I had a copy of when I was little, and I tried to read it, but I was never interested. Perhaps I should now tho?? (Well, I just read a v short summary on Wikipedia - no need to read the whole book. Also, no wonder I wasn't interested when I was a kid - it seems pretty boring. I bet it was boring in 1908 when it was written - so even MORE boring in the 1980s and 90s. It *is* the 15th most popular book in the UK, tho - a "classic" of British literature.)

* The ending is v "Singin' in the Rain" - the ensemble is recruited to be voices for the silent film stars back in Hollywood. Since the silent film stars have wacky / unpalatable voices.

* Instead of letters b/t chapters it was Dot reading to Jane and Ruth about saints and other Christian things (I didn't pay v close attn to that b/c - well, Xian).

Passages I've bookmarked:

0h32:15 (Ch 2) - They [Jane, Ruth, and dog Molly] truffled thru the wrappings together looking for more jellybeans. [emphasis mine - I love this verb and also IIRC have quoted it from a Phryne book b4?]

1h49 (Ch 4) - He [Phryne's father] yelled louder because it is well-known to English ppl that foreigners only *pretend* to speak those nasty foreign tongues but really understand English if it is shouted loudly enough. 🤣😂🤣

4h13:30 (Ch10) - Phryne knew who she was and what she was and she liked all of her.

4h15:30 (Ch10) - Phryne was branded on his mind. The day that had contained Phryne and wasabi had to be unforgettable.

4h16 (Ch10) - "Why hide her [Marigold]?" asked Nicholas.
"Use your loaf," said Phryne. [emphasis mine - what a lovely turn of phrase!]

5h45:30 (Ch14) - Nicholas was as fascinated as a bird before a snake with the added advantage that Noreen would not eat him - well, probably not. At least, not all at once.

5h47:40 (Ch14) - Phryne had always liked parlor games [e.g., charades]. They had been the only harmless amusement of her childhood. Even her ne'er-do-well father had sometimes joined in.... They had provided, for a little while, a factitious but cozy sense that the Fishers were actually a family rather than the collection of bloody-minded, self-absorbed individualists that they were. [the fantasy of family - in my family, too]

5h49 (Ch14) - ...came onstage with a longbow made of a curtain rod. He raised an imaginary arrow - Phryne's favorite kind... [emphasis mine - silly, charming detail]

5h57 (Ch14) - Phryne rocked in the cradle of the deep, half asleep, not consciously thinking [emphasis mine - love this description of floating in the lake]

6h08 (Ch15) - She ate more ice cream. Ice cream was reliable. Young men were not. [Phryne's POV when Nicholas went off w/ Noreen]

6h12:30 (Ch15) - She and Bunjee Ross had got into the sweet sherry. The next day she had been expelled again but she would have welcomed being executed, she felt so sick.... That was the last hangover she had had. Phryne didn't like pain. It hurt. She avoided it whenever she could. And if that meant not drinking that fifth cocktail then there it was. It was an imperfect universe. But a very pretty one this morning. [There's so much happening here! Feeling so sick she'd welcome death... (YES AM FAMILIAR), the absurdly simple and obvious statement about not liking pain (simple and obvious but not said enough!), the universe being imperfect (YES), then a sudden pivot to the momentary beauty of the imperfect universe. Bodies (internal) and early mornings (external) kind of smashed up together into one huge surprisingly coherent thought.]

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best in the stories about Phryne, but not too bad all the same.

I can't help thinking back to the first few books in this series and making a bit of a character comparison of Phryne Fisher then and now. It's hard to tell if it's the character who's mellowed or the author. For sure Phryne seems much less of floozy than she did in the first couple of books (I know, I know, she's "free spirited" and more comfortable with her sexuality than the average 1920's lady), but it's hard to tell if that's because she has a bit more self control after becoming settled with her wonderfully make-shift family and a reoccurring lover, or if it's because the author has been focusing more on the mysteries and less on her attempt to shock the reader by throwing her character at every pretty male in the book. Perhaps a little bit of both. I think the books benefit from it, whatever the cause may be.

Oh, and only one instance of "artlessly" in this book! It has to be a record!

[April]

I absolutely *adore* Phryne Fisher, and almost all of the books are thoroughly enjoyable. This one has one problem that really pulls me out of my enjoyment briefly, though - the author’s distain and utter loathing for vegans/vegetarians comes through in one scene between the cook and Phryne (just as it does in her Corinna Chapman mystery, “Forbidden Fruit”). I’m not sure why she has so much hate for people who don’t want harm to come to living beings - maybe she met one preachy vegan once who was a really poor spokesperson? In any case, that one scene (and the majority of Forbidden Fruit) feels like an anti-vegan/vegetarian manifesto, which is pretty jarring when the rest of the book is so good.

[Jenne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the decadent midsummer New Year's house party weekend, but I missed having the regular characters around, a bit.

[Paul Juniper · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't like this book. I don't care what happens to the characters. I just want it to be over. Contrived and boring.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The solution of the twins financial problems made me roll my eyes so hard I think I sprained something.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has the usual host of Greenwood characters, well-delineated, so that you don’t get confused (though it helps to have read another one in the series recently), and it has the usual ambiance, and mise-en-scene, and wide range of strange people (stranger than usual in this one). It’s set in a country mansion that exists in reality half-an-hour from Melbourne, but Greenwood has taken some liberties with the place.
The story is about a major party (The Last Best Party) which is spread over several days one Christmas, and involves endless amounts of food, heaps of guests, musicians, and other sundries. It also includes some pretty strange goings-on, which Phryne, being the lady she is, indulges in pretty fully. A brother and a sister, constantly referred to as ‘gods’ because of their singular beauty, have put the party on, and they’re attended on by a bunch of male and female acolytes, some of whom get in on the action. There’s a very odd little boy by the name of Tarquin, a missing little girl called Marigold, and a jazz singer called Nerine – who’s so short-sighted she has to be prevented from slipping off the edge of the stage. And then there’s Nicholas, who’s obviously more than he seems, but what is that ‘more’?
Greenwood has a knack of drawing her characters clearly, and only very occasionally did I mistake one name for another. She delights in detailing how food is made and eaten, what clothes look best (especially on Phryne, who is compared the film star Louise Brooks at one point), what the surroundings contain and so on. The book is a trifle overlong, but it’s not because Greenwood is ever a dull writer; perhaps there’s just too much information. And it’s certainly a more compact mystery than the other Phryne Fisher I read not long ago.

[Tiina · Rating 4 out of 5]

1928, jõulud. Phryne Fisher saab kirja, milles ähvardatakse suure ohuga, kui ta juhtumisi peaks minema Aasta Viimasele Parimale Peole. Mitte miski ei mõju ahvatlevamalt, kui keeld või tugev soovitus, nii et Phryne otsustab peokutse just nende hoiatuste tõttu vastu võtta. Peol selgub, et korraldaja on saanud ähvarduskirju, kadunud on üks väike tüdruk ja peagi kaob ka üks väike poiss. Selles raamatus pakub Phrynele abi salapärane Nicholas, kes käitub nagu võmm, aga kellele on Jack Robinsoni nimi tundmatu.

Raamat oli jälle hea! Mind hämmastab, kui ühtlaselt hea terve see sari minu jaoks siiani olnud on. Selles raamatus oli ka päris mitu kokteiliretsepti, kellele meeldib mainitud sööke ja jooke ise ka järgi proovida. Sarja tavalisi tegelasi oli seekord vähe, nagu osades raamatutes ikka, nii et minu jaoks ta polnud see kõige-kõigem osa. Sellegipoolest väga mõnus! Neli raamatut veel jäänud!

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder in the Dark (Phryne Fisher, #16) by Kerry Greenwood is another romp through late 20s Victoria - with larger-than-life characters from all walks of life (including a goat lady, polo teams, jazz musicians etc).

The Templar twins have arrived in Australia from Paris and have invited Phryne to the 'Last Best Party of 1928' - a five-day extravaganza with food, music, intoxicating substances, games, and cosplay. But someone warns Phryne to stay away, while Gerald Templar is receiving death threats. Phryne must mingle with the crowd to uncover the potential assassin, while enjoying the entertainments and dalliances on offer.

I enjoyed the mystery, though I was not at all surprised by the reveals. I enjoyed the characters and the depiction of 1920s society and was happy that the risqué elements didn't take over the plot. Too little Jack Robinson though (the TV series has spoiled me) and I did find the slow pace in the investigation given two missing children rather peculiar but overall a good read.