Phryne Fisher Mysteries series - author   novel   crime   mystery  
First known date: 1989- Issue Details: First known date: 1989-... 1989- Phryne Fisher Mysteries
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Adaptations

form y separately published work icon Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Deb Cox , Ysabelle Dean , Michael Miller , Liz Doran , Shelley Birse , Elizabeth Coleman , Kelly Lefever , Jo Martino , Chris Corbett , John Banas , Kristen Dunphy , Kris Wyld , Belinda Chayko , ( dir. Tony Tilse et. al. )agent Byron Bay : Every Cloud Productions , 2011 Z1783698 2011 series - publisher film/TV crime

'Based on the novels of Australian author Kerry Greenwood. Our lady sleuth sashays through the back lanes and jazz clubs of late 1920s Melbourne, fighting injustice with her pearl handled pistol and her dagger-sharp wit. Leaving a trail of admirers in her wake, our thoroughly modern heroine makes sure she enjoys every moment of her lucky life.'

Source: Inside Film and Television website

Includes

y separately published work icon The Lady with the Gun Asks the Questions The Ultimate Miss Phryne Fisher Collection Kerry Greenwood , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2021 21059764 2021 selected work novella

'The elegant Miss Phryne Fisher returns in this scintillating collection, which features four brand-new stories.

'The Honourable Phryne Fisher - she of the Lulu bob, Cupid's bow lips, diamante garters and pearl-handled pistol - is the 1920s' most elegant and irrepressible sleuth.

'Miss Phryne Fisher is up to her stunning green eyes in intriguing crime in each of these entertaining, fun and compulsively readable stories. With the ever-loyal Dot, the ingenious Mr Butler and all of Phryne's friends and household, the action is as fast as Phryne's wit and logic.' (Publication summary)

1
Cocaine Blues Kerry Greenwood , Melbourne : McPhee Gribble , 1989 Z537659 1989 single work novel crime mystery
— Appears in: Kokainovyj Bljuz [and] Kolodec 1991;
'It's the end of the roaring twenties, and the exuberant and Honourable Phryne Fisher is dancing and gaming with gay abandon...Bored by the endless round of parties and in search of excitement, she sets her sights on a spot of detective work in Melbourne, Australia. And so mystery and the beautiful Russian dancer Sasha de Lisse appear in her life. From then on it's all cocaine and communism until her adventure reaches its steamy end in the Turkish baths of Little Lonsdale Street.' (Source: back cover, 1989 edition)
2
y separately published work icon Flying Too High Kerry Greenwood , Ringwood : McPhee Gribble , 1990 Z410646 1990 single work novel crime mystery

The 1920's most talented and glamorous detective, Phryne Fisher, handles a murder, a kidnapping and the usual beautiful young men with style and consummate ease - and all before it's time to adjourn to the Queenscliff Hotel for breakfast. (Source: back cover, 1990 edition)

3
y separately published work icon Murder on the Ballarat Train Kerry Greenwood , Ringwood : McPhee Gribble , 1991 Z194640 1991 single work novel crime mystery 'When the 1920s' most glamorous detective, the Honourable Phryne Fisher, arranges to go to Ballarat for the week, she eschews the excitement of her red Hispano-Suiza racing car for the sedate journey by train. But as the passengers sleep they are poisoned by chloroform gas. Phryne is left to piece together the clues'. (Source: back cover, 1992 edition)
4
y separately published work icon Death at Victoria Dock Kerry Greenwood , Ringwood : McPhee Gribble , 1992 Z270151 1992 single work novel crime mystery After having her windscreen shattered by a bullet and discovering that bullets from the same gun have entered the body of a beautiful seventeen year old not to mention having her clothes ruined as she holds a bleeding, dying boy Phryne Fisher is outraged and swears to track down the young man's killer. In doing so she stumbles across the plans for a bank robbery and possible massacre and when her maid Dot is kidnapped nothing can distract Phryne from revenge.When someone shoots out her windshield while she is driving home late at night and she finds a young man dying on the tarmac just outside the dock gates, Phryne Fisher sets out to find out who is responsible, following a trail that leads her into the midst of a bizarre mystery involving bank robbery, tattoo parlors, spiritualism, anarchists, kidnapping, and murder.

There are some things that Phryne Fisher finds intolerable. Having her windscreen shattered by a bullet as she is driving past Melbourne's Victoria Dock...or discovering that bullets from the same gun have entered the body of a beautiful seventeen year old. Not to mention the ruin of her fur and lingerie as she holds the dying, bleeding boy...Phryne swears she will track down the young man's killer, and in doing so stumbles across the plans for a bank robbery and possible massacre...But then her beloved maid Dot is kidnapped and nothing can distract Phryne from revenge.' (Source: back cover, 1992 McPhee Gribble edition)

5
y separately published work icon The Green Mill Murder Kerry Greenwood , Ringwood : McPhee Gribble , 1993 Z165588 1993 single work novel crime mystery

'Gorgeous in her sparkling lobelia-coloured georgette dress, delighted by her dancing skill, pleased with her partner and warmed by the admiring regard of the banjo player, Miss Phryne Fisher had thought of tonight as a promising evening at the hottest dancehall in town, the Green Mill. But...in jazz-mad 1920s Melbourne, Phyrne finds there are hidden perils in dancing the night away - like murder, blackmail and young men who vanish.' (Source: back cover, 2005 Allen and Unwin edition)

6
y separately published work icon Blood and Circuses Kerry Greenwood , Ringwood : McPhee Gribble , 1994 Z384127 1994 single work novel crime mystery

'Phryne Fisher is bored. So when she is asked to investigate some strange goings-on in Farrell's Circus and Wild Beast Show, her curiosity gets the better of her. Stripped of her identity, wealth and privileges, Phryne takes a job as a trick horse-rider...But what connects the circus with the particularly nasty murder in Mrs Witherspoon's house for paying gentlefolk?...Piecing together fragments from the seedy underworld of twenties Firtzroy and the eccentric life under the big top, Phryne proves her mettle yet again, aided only by her wits, an oddly attractive clown, and a stout and helpful bear.' (Source: back cover, 1994 edition)

7
y separately published work icon Ruddy Gore Kerry Greenwood , Ringwood : McPhee Gribble , 1995 Z281429 1995 single work novel crime mystery

'The glorious Phryne Fisher returns to the spotlight in her seventh adventure. Running late to the Hinkler gala performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore, Phryne Fisher meets some thugs in dark alley and handles them convincingly before they can ruin her silver dress.

'Phryne then finds that she has rescued a gorgeous Chinese, Lin Chung, and his grandmother, and is briefly mistaken for a deity. Denying divinity but accepting cognac, she later continues safely to the theatre. But it's an unexpected evening as her night is again interrupted by a most bizarre death onstage.

'What links can Phryne possibly find between the ridiculously entertaining plot of Ruddigore, the Chinese community of Little Bourke St or the actors treading the boards of His Majesty's Theatre? Drawn backstage and onstage, Phryne must solve an old murder and find a new murderer and, of course, banish the theatre's ghost, who seems likely to kill again.' (From the publisher's website.)

8
y separately published work icon Urn Burial Kerry Greenwood , Ringwood : Penguin , 1996 Z227518 1996 single work novel crime mystery 'Super-sleuth Phryne Fisher is sojourning at Cave House, a Gothic mansion in the heart of Gippsland mountain country. But she soon discovers that her host is receiving death threats, someone is setting lethal traps and the parlourmaid has been strangled to death...How does this connect with a pair of young lovers, an extremely eccentric swagman and an angry outcast heir? Just who is responsible for the mysterious funerary urns which keep appearing around the house?...Phryne's search draws her deep into the darkest dungeons of the house and of the limestone Buchan Caves. Who knows what she will unearth this time.' (Source: back cover, 1996 Penguin edition)
9
y separately published work icon Raisins and Almonds Kerry Greenwood , St Leonards : Allen and Unwin , 1997 Z29674 1997 single work novel crime mystery In investigating the poisoning of a young man in a bookshop at the Eastern market, and the wrongful arrest of one Miss Sylvia Lee, Phryne Fisher is plunged into a world of Jewish politics, alchemy, poison and chicken soup. Ultimately it is her stealth and wit which solve the crime - and all for the price of a song. (Source: LibrariesAustralia)
10
y separately published work icon Death Before Wicket Kerry Greenwood , St Leonards : Allen and Unwin , 1999 Z315789 1999 single work novel crime mystery Phryne Fisher's plans for her Sydney sojourn begin to go awry when Phryne's maid discovers her thoroughly respectable sister Joan has left her family for the murky nightlife on the cross. And then postponed again because Phryne is definitely not the woman to say 'no' when two delightful young men are on their knees, begging for her help in finding their friend innocent of theft. It all sounds simple enough. But when greed and fear are the motivating factors, people become ruthless and Phryne quickly finds herself enmeshed in blackmail, secrets, lies and the dangerous influences of deep magic. (Source: LibrariesAustralia)
11
y separately published work icon Away With the Fairies Kerry Greenwood , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2001 Z819471 2001 single work novel crime mystery It is the 1920s in Melbourne and Phryne Fisher 'is asked to investigate the puzzling death of a famous author and illustrator of fairy stories. To do so, Phryne takes a job within the women's magazine that employed the victim and finds herself enmeshed in her colleague's deceptions. But while Phryne is learning the ins and outs of magazine publishing...her personal life is thrown into chaos' with 'a series of mysterious assaults and warnings'. (Source: back cover, 2001 Allen and Unwin edition)
12
y separately published work icon Murder in Montparnasse Kerry Greenwood , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2002 Z965738 2002 single work novel crime detective mystery 'Seven Australian soldiers, carousing in Paris in 1918, unknowingly witness a murder and their presence has devastating consequences. Ten years later, two are dead...under very suspicious circumstances. Phryne's wharfie mates, Bert and Cec, appeal to her for help. They were part of this group of soldiers in 1918 and they fear for their lives and for those of the other three men. It's only as Phryne delves into the investigation that she, too, remembers being in Montparnasse on that very same day. While Phryne is occupied with memories of Montparnasse past and the race to outpace the murderer, she finds troubles of a different kind at home. Her lover, Lin Chung, is about to be married. The effect this is having on her own usually peaceful household is disastrous.' (Source: back cover, 2002 edition)
13
y separately published work icon The Castlemaine Murders Kerry Greenwood , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2003 Z1040329 2003 single work novel crime mystery 'Phryne Fisher, her sister Beth and her faithful maid, Dot, decide that Luna Park is the place for an afternoon of fun and excitement with Phryne's two daughters Ruth and Jane. But in the dusty dark Ghost Train, amidst the squeals of horror and delight, a mummified bullet-studded corpse falls to the ground in front of them. Phryne Fisher's pleasure trip has definitely become business. Digging to the bottom of this longstanding mystery takes her to the country town of Castlemaine where it soon becomes obvious that someone is trying to muzzle her investigations.' (Source: back cover, 2003 edition)
14
y separately published work icon Queen of the Flowers Kerry Greenwood , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2004 Z1119840 2004 single work novel crime mystery It's 1928 and St Kilda's streets hang with fairy lights. Magic shows, marionettes, tea dances, tango competitions, lifesaving demonstrations, lantern shows, and picnics on the beach are all part of the Flower Parade. And who else should be chosen to be Queen of the Flowers but the gorgeous, charming and terribly fashionable Hon. Phryne Fisher. However, Phryne needs a new dress and a swimming costume, and she also needs a lot of courage to confront her problems: a missing daughter, the return of an old lover, and a young woman found drowned at the beach at Elwood. (Source: back cover, 2004 edition)
15
y separately published work icon Death By Water Kerry Greenwood , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2005 Z1196443 2005 single work novel crime mystery 'The nice men at P&O are worried. A succession of jewellery thefts from first-class passengers is hardly the best advertisement for their cruise liners, particularly when it is likely that a passenger is doing the stealing. Phryne Fisher, with her Lulu bob, green eyes, Cupid's bow lips and Chanel travelling suits, is exactly the sort of elegant sleuth to take on a ring of jewellery thieves aboard the high seas - or at least, aboard the SS Hinemoa on a luxury cruise to New Zealand. With the Maharani - the Great Queen of Sapphires - as the bait, Phryne rises magnificently to the challenge. There are shipboard romances, champagne cocktails, erotic photographers, jealous husbands, mickey finns, blackmail and attempted murder, all before the thieves find out - as have countless love-smitten men before them - that where the glamorous and intelligent Phryne is involved, resistance is futile.' (Source: back cover, 2005 edition)
16
y separately published work icon Murder in the Dark Kerry Greenwood , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2006 Z1296170 2006 single work novel crime mystery

'It's Christmas, and Phryne has an invitation to the Last Best party of 1928, a four-day extravaganza being held at Werribee Manor House and grounds by the Golden Twins, Isabella and Gerald Templar. She knew them in Paris, where they caused a sensation. Phryne is in two minds about going when she starts receiving anonymous threats warning her against attending. She promptly decides to accept the invitation - after all, no one tells Phryne what to do. At the Manor, she is accommodated in the Iris room, and at the party meets two polo-playing women, a Goat lady (and goat), a large number of glamorous young men and a very rude child called Tarquin. The acolytes of the Golden Twins are smoking hashish and dreaming, and Phryne finds that the jazz is as hot as the drinks are cold and indulges in flirtations, dancing, and mint juleps. Heaven.

It all seems like good clean fun until three people are kidnapped, one of them the abominable child, and Phryne must puzzle her way through the cryptic clues of the scavenger hunt to retrieve the hostages and save the party from disaster.' (Publisher's blurb)

17
y separately published work icon Murder on a Midsummer Night Kerry Greenwood , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2008 Z1544084 2008 single work novel crime mystery The fabulous Phryne - she of the Lulu bob, Cupid's Bow lips and a pearl-handled pistol in her garter - is back! The 1920s most elegant and irrepressible sleuth returns for her seventeenth adventure. Melbourne, 1929. The year starts off for glamorous private investigator Phryne Fisher with a rather trying heat wave and more mysteries than you could prod a parasol at. Simultaneously investigating the apparent suicide death of a man on St Kilda beach and trying to find a lost, illegimate child who could be heir to a wealthy old woman's fortune, Phryne needs all her wits about her, particularly when she has to tangle with a group of thoroughly unpleasant Bright Young Things. But Phryne Fisher is a force of nature, and takes in her elegant stride what might make others quail, including terrifying seances, ghosts, Kif smokers, the threat of human sacrifices, dubious spirit guides and maps to buried pirate treasure. (Source: LibrariesAustralia)
18
y separately published work icon Dead Man's Chest Kerry Greenwood , Sydney : Allen and Unwin , 2010 Z1726031 2010 single work novel crime mystery

'Dot unfolded the note. "He says that his married couple will look after the divine Miss Fisher . . . I'll leave out a bit . . . their name is Johnson and they seem very reliable." Phryne got the door open at last. She stepped into the hall. "I think he was mistaken about that," she commented.

'Travelling at high speed in her beloved Hispano-Suiza accompanied by her maid and trusted companion Dot, her two adoptive daughters Jane and Ruth and their dog Molly, The Hon Miss Phryne Fisher is off to Queenscliff. She'd promised everyone a nice holiday by the sea with absolutely no murders, but when they arrive at their rented accommodation that doesn't seem likely at all.

'An empty house, a gang of teenage louts, a fisherboy saved, and the mystery of a missing butler and his wife seem to lead inexorably towards a hunt for buried treasure by the sea. But what information might the curious Surrealists be able to contribute? Phryne knows to what depths people will sink for greed but with a glass of champagne in one hand and a pearl-handled Beretta in the other, no-one is getting past her.' (From the publisher's website.)

19
y separately published work icon Unnatural Habits Kerry Greenwood , Sydney : Allen and Unwin , 2012 Z1900397 2012 single work novel crime mystery 'The decidedly raven-haired Miss Phryne Fisher returns to delve deep into the dark cellars of Melbourne. 1929: pretty little golden-haired girls are going missing in Melbourne. But they're not just pretty. Three of them are pregnant, poor girls from the harsh confines of the Magdalen Laundry. People are getting nervous. Polly Kettle, a pushy, self-important Girl Reporter with ambition and no sense of self preservation, decides to investigate--and promptly goes missing herself. It's time for Phryne and Dot to put a stop to this and find Polly Kettle before something quite irreparable happens to all of them. It's a tale of convents and plots, piracy, murder and mystery . . . and Phryne finally finds out if it's true that blondes have more fun.' (Publisher's website)
20
y separately published work icon Murder and Mendelssohn Kerry Greenwood , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2013 6434540 2013 single work novel crime

'The divine and fearless Miss Phryne Fisher returns in her 20th adventure in a vastly entertaining tale of murder, spies, mathematics and music.

'To the accompaniment of heavenly choirs singing, the fearless Miss Phryne Fisher returns in her 20th adventure with musical score in hand.

'An orchestral conductor has been found dead and Detective Inspector Jack Robinson needs the delightfully incisive and sophisticated Miss Fisher's assistance to enter a world in which he is at sea. Hugh Tregennis, not much liked by anyone, has been murdered in a most flamboyant mode by a killer with a point to prove. But how many killers is Phryne really stalking?

'At the same time, the dark curls, disdainful air and the lavender eyes of mathematician and code-breaker Rupert Sheffield are taking Melbourne by storm. They've certainly taken the heart of Phryne's old friend from the trenches of WW1, John Wilson. Phryne recognises Sheffield as a man who attracts danger and is determined to protect John from harm.

'Even with the faithful Dot, Mr and Mrs Butler, and all in her household ready to pull their weight, Phryne's task is complex. While Mendelssohn's Elijah, memories of the Great War, and the science of deduction ring in her head, Phryne's past must also play its part as MI6 become involved in the tangled web of murders.

'A vastly entertaining tale of murder, spies, mathematics and music. ' (Publisher's blurb)

21
y separately published work icon Death in Daylesford Kerry Greenwood , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2020 19846429 2020 single work novel mystery

'Surrounded by secrets, great and small, the formidable Miss Phryne Fisher returns to vanquish injustice.

'When a mysterious invitation arrives for Miss Phryne Fisher from an unknown Captain Herbert Spencer, Phryne's curiosity is excited. Spencer runs a retreat in Victoria's spa country for shell-shocked soldiers of the First World War. It's a cause after Phryne's own heart but what could Spencer want from her?

'Phryne and the faithful Dot view their spa sojourn as a short holiday but are quickly thrown in the midst of disturbing Highland gatherings, disappearing women, murder and the mystery of the Temperance Hotel.

'Meanwhile, Cec, Bert and Tinker find a young woman floating face down in the harbour, dead. Tinker, with Jane and Ruth, Phryne's resilient adopted daughters, together decide to solve what appears to be a heinous crime.

'Disappearances, murder, bombs, booby-traps and strange goings-on land Miss Phryne Fisher right in the middle of her most exciting adventure.' (Publication summary)

22
y separately published work icon Murder in Williamstown Kerry Greenwood , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2022 24977204 2022 single work novel crime

'Accustomed to both murder and dalliance, Australia's favourite detective, the inimitable Miss Fisher, returns in a case that will test her courage and judgement to the full.

'When the redoubtable Miss Phryne Fisher receives threatening letters at her home, she enlists the unflappable apprentice Tinker to investigate. But as the harassment of Phryne threatens to spin out of control, her lover, Lin Chung is also targeted.

'Meanwhile, Dot begins to fear that her fiance, newly promoted Sergeant Hugh Collins, has gone cold on setting a date for their wedding.

'Phryne's clever daughters, Ruth and Jane, begin their own investigation into suspiciously dwindling funds when they are sent to help at the Blind Institute.

'None of this is quite enough to prevent Phryne from accepting an invitation to a magnificent party at the house of the mysterious Hong. When the party is interrupted by shocking tragedy, Phryne gathers all of her unerring brilliance to track down the miscreants. With some unlikely assistance, Phryne is in a race against time to save a pair of young lovers from disgrace and death.' (Publication summary)

Works about this Work

Mother of Invention : Agatha Christie, the Middlebrow Detective Novel and Kerry Greenwood's Postcolonial Tribute Series Jilly Lippmann , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Ageless Agatha Christie : Essays on the Mysteries and the Legacy 2016; (p. 145-160)
Phryne Fisher : A Postcolonial Female Detective in Ruddy Gore (1995) Caty Ribas , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: Coolabah , no. 20 2016; (p. 48-66)
'Kerry Greenwood’s The Phryne Fisher Mystery Collection is formed by 19 novels set in 1928-1929 Australia and its main character is the Hon. Phryne Fisher, a young beautiful intelligent rich woman who works as a private detective. The seventh novel of this collection is Ruddy Gore (1995), which presents one of the most relevant characters in the series: Lin, and which includes a turning-point in the protagonist’s life.This article analyses the depiction of Miss Fisher as a postcolonial detective in the late 1920s Melbourne, and focuses on the constructs of gender and ethnicity in the creation of Miss Fisher and of Lin. This novel was adapted as a TV episode, aired by the Australia Broadcasting Corporation in 2012. This article also explores the way Phryne is depicted in the episode and how she interacts with some of the characters. The article aims to find out whether the adaptation creates a female detective as author Kerry Greenwood had envisioned, and whether this character breaks stereotypes or follows them.' (Publication abstract)
The Cut of Her Gib Glynis Traill-Nash , 2013 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 5-6 October 2013; (p. 8-9)
Now for the Movie Anneli Knight , 2013 single work column
— Appears in: Australian Author , April vol. 45 no. 1 2013; (p. 26-29)
'When the film producer calls, asking to option your book, many authors feel a shiver of excitement. Five or even ten years later, many of them are still waiting. The process of adaptation can be even more tortuous than writing a book in the first place as prominent authors tell Anneli Knight.'
Fearless Phryne Takes on the Small Screen Lawrence Money , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 2 April 2012; (p. 16)
Bookmarks : Why 13 is Greenwood's Lucky Number Jason Steger , 2004 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 22 May 2004; (p. 6)
First Voice : Kerry Greenwood Kerry Greenwood , 2006 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 14-15 April 2006; (p. 25)
On Phryne Fisher Kerry Greenwood , 2004-2005 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Mystery Readers Journal , Winter vol. 20 no. 4 2004-2005; (p. 27-28)
Kerry Greenwood's 'Rewriting' of Agatha Christie Sue Ryan-Fazilleau , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 7 no. 2007; (p. 59-70)
'In this article, I examine Australian crime writer Kerry Greenwood's first 15 novels in the Phryne Fisher series, published between 1989 and 2005. Throughout this series, Greenwood clearly signals the interlocutory relationship between her novels and those of Agatha Christie. I therefore focus my study on how and to what end she "rewrites" Christie.' (Author's abstract)
Reading Kerry Greenwood : The Fisher Queen of Australian Crime Writing Toni Johnson-Woods , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: Fact and Fiction : Readings in Australian Literature 2008; (p. 269-284)
Last amended 11 Nov 2013 11:31:42
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