Introducing the Honourable Phryne Fisher

Phryne Fisher #1-3

by Kerry Greenwood

Meet Phryne Fisher, the 1920s’ most elegant and irrepressible sleuth, in her first three adventures bound together in one great value volume. This is the perfect way to introduce your friends to your favourite and most stylish sleuth—or to catch up on some of Miss Fisher’s earlier career. Our unflappable, unconventional and uninhibited heroine, The Honourable Phryne Fisher, leaves the tedium of English high society for Melbourne, Australia, and never looks back. In her first three adventures, she encounters communism, cocaine, kidnappers, and murderers. Phryne handles everything—danger, excitement and love—with her inimitable panache and flair, and still finds a little time for discreet dalliances and delicious diversions. This brilliant omnibus volume presents Cocaine Blues, Flying Too High and Murder on the Ballarat Train.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Historical Mystery

576 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

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

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

When my world gets a little tight, I go visit Phryne Fisher. The woman who inspired me to look for Louise Brooks online and by extension inspired my haircut may not be the best plotter in the world, but I don't read the Fisher books for the plots (and a good thing it is too, sometimes). No; I read them for the ambience, the lovely clothes, the lush food (those boxes of hand-dipped chocolates!), the perfumes and interior decoration. For a few hours I can be there in her world. Others go to Hobbiton or Hogwarts or even Oz; I bop off to 1928 Melbourne. No wonder Phryne tends to pick up a waif or stray in every volume. Who wouldn't want to go live with a fabulously wealthy, beautiful woman set on enjoying life?

This omnibus is revealing to the re-reader; Dot's surname is Bryant in Cocaine Blues; by Murder on the Ballarat Train it has mysteriously become Williams. She also starts out as a poor vicar's daughter and later is born and bred a Catholic! All of Phryne's detection supposedly takes place in the course of 1928; it must have been quite a busy year for her! She mysteriously gets younger as the books go by; one minute she is obviously knocking 30 (as in Vol 3 she is said to be "older" than the 27-yr-old client) and later we are told that she "ran away from school" to become an ambulance driver. In Vol 2 however, she apparently finished school without the running-away-to-France-to-help-war-effort. Never mind. ETA: I recently read in a factual biography that the British authorities wouldn't allow women under 21 to go to France to participate in the war effort as VADs etc. Did she lie about her age?

And--just a side note--any reader with any knowledge of spoken Greek knows that a name transliterated as Phryne would not be pronounced to rhyme with "briny", but rather "Free-nay." But then again, having heard what British and Australian expats do to Spanish on a regular basis, if they decide it's "Fry-knee" then in their world, it is.

ETA: Guerlain still makes "Jicky" perfume, but at over a hundred bucks a bottle, it's not something I'll be gifting myself soon.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've fallen in love with the glittering 1920s world of Phryne Fisher, Australian lady detective - the gorgeous clothes, the kaleidoscope of lovers, the drama and mystery and peril. Now that I've watched 2 seasons of the TV series and read this omnibus comprising the first 3 novels, it's inevitably time to compare the two. I was exposed to the show first, so I spent most of the first book huffing, "wait what, that's not what they look like/how it happened/related at all to what was on TV!"

The characters have been flipped, turned upside down; for example, TV Detective-Inspector Jack Robinson: his default is set to smolder, closely seconded by exasperation towards a certain lady detective. He's witty, caring and protective, and a gentleman who's actually a good person. The spark between Jack and Phryne could set her drapes on fire. I love him only slightly less than I love Phryne, because I adore strong women in amazing clothes, but there's room in my heart also for handsome, slightly broody men. Now here's his description in the book:

[Jack] looked up as she entered; an undistinguished youngish man with mid-brown hair and mid-brown eyes and no feature which one could remember more than three minutes after he had gone.

That's it?! No mention of his piercing gaze or expressive face or the very fine way he wears a trenchcoat? I almost cried (while completely cognizant that it's shallow to mourn a character for being less pretty). Plus he interacts with Phryne a total of 5 times. Over 3 books. With minimal flirting! So much teeth-gnashing, but the lack of Jack made me start treating the books as a completely different creature with passing, almost accidental, similarities to the show. And I quickly fell in love.

Phryne unbuttoned the brocade robe. 'If you try to take me to any station,' she declared in a cold, remote voice, 'you will have to take me like this.' She dropped the robe and stood revealed, quite naked, pearly and beautiful.

Phryne is who I want to be when I grow up and invent enough time travel to get me to 1920s Australia. She has piles of money, drives real fast, adopts orphaned children and kittens, solves crimes and rights injustices, and never, ever does what anyone tries to tell her. She's not all saintly though, her maid Dot describes her accurately as "vain, promiscuous, and vague", and she runs away screaming (elegantly, of course) from romantic emotional entanglement. Her sexploits have been, to date, sleeping with a Russian dancer and contemplating a threesome with his sister, seducing the neighborhood doctor, and initiating the sexual education of a university rower (he cried). I'm a fan of her ridiculous sensuality and take-no-prisoners attitude, and again, I'd emulate her if possible (my husband, who enjoys the show, would understand).

Another aspect I love is how Phryne assembles her family-of-choice: Bert and Cec, cab drivers who offer wheels and detecting help; Dot, her one-time homicidal but now loyal and very happy maid; Mac, a badass female surgeon; Mr. and Mrs. Butler, an adorable and aptly named couple who help around the house; Jane and Ruth, two orphan girls, and Ember, one disgruntled kitten. Together they make up this diverse crime-busting family where bad guys are confronted, victims are consoled, and there's always tea on hand. Phryne's support group may be slightly scandalized by her ways, but they take care of her. I'm really looking forward to their development and cameos in the rest of the series.

Finally, I'm a sucker for clever writing, and this series is hilarious. "There was no point in getting angry with them. The Russians were as amoral and attractive as kittens." Or, "Isola stood up. She was clothed in a long, white, closely pleated gown. A collar of bright turquoise beads covered her shoulders, and her magnificent breasts lifted the fabric so that it fell uninterrupted to the floor. She looked like a lewd Corinthian column." Enough said.

There's this sense that Phryne will always sashay into the fray and emerge unscathed, which doesn't make for great literature, but does give the series a comforting quality, like a warm, exquisitely fashioned blanket. I know exactly what to expect, a badass woman doing badass things with her badass posse, which suits me fine. I can't wait to visit her world again.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved these books. I stumbled across them through the BBC series of the same name and was delighted to find out that they were out there in print! I read some of the reviews before I cracked them open and I am happy that I did that. One reader stated that the best way to read it was to view it as separate from the series and I completely agree. I loved the series as much as the books, but there is a lot of difference in the two.

Both star Miss Phryne Fisher, a young woman who grew up desperately poor but her family has come into money. Now she has become an amateur detective who is (of course) uncommonly good at solving the old mystery or two. She gathers loyal servants and faithful friends by her open mindedness and her kind spirit. I loved that and I thought that the plots of the mysteries were very well done.

I do get a little tired of how amazing she is. She grew up dirt poor and yet, in the few years since she come into money, she has learned to fly, to fight, to drive, and a million other things. That got a little unrealistic for me. But I can't wait to read more of these books and see what else she gets herself into.

[Nolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

As delightful as the TV series, actually even more so. No idea why these books aren't famous enough worldwide. Phryne and her crew are the most endearing set of characters you'll ever come across in a murder mystery.

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is always fun, sexy and clever when the Honourable Phryne Fisher is around and what a terrific introduction to the free-wheeling, unflappable young private investor in Australia. These three stories — the first in the series by Kerry Greenwood — are well-written with snappy dialogue and good descriptions of the time period, 1928, and the characters. There is little that you can say about these other than they are a very enjoyable read and have you craving more.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've watched the "Miss Fischer Mysteries" on Netflix and loved them. I wanted to read the first book in the series by Kerry Greenwood and compare the TV show with the book. The book I read included the first 3 of the series - and they were all great!! Greenwood creates very believable and lovable characters (and some not loved - usually the villains), helps a Yank like me understand Australia in the 1920s and appreciate the people there, and writes wonderful mysteries. Who cares that I figured out the murder well before the end of each respective book? It was a joy reading about Phryne and how she became a woman detective, well before her time.
If you've watched the Netflix series, then this is a great book to read as it will go into more details than the series covered.

[Regina · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved it because it is so evocative of an era gone by, with witty, tongue in cheek dialogue and vivid characte s, especially our outrageous and brilliant heroine.

[Yune · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confession: I watched the TV show first (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries) and adored it from the second episode on; the books felt a bit like a letdown in comparison, but my expectations were probably all askew.

This is the omnibus edition of the first three books in a series featuring Phyrne Fisher (I know, the name): a wealthy, fashionable woman in Australia in the 1920s, whose keen observational skills and seemingly careless flouting of social conventions allow her to investigate mysteries.

There's a lot to like about Phryne, who is welcome at the highest tiers of society after the Great War decimated a number of people between her father and a title. She is conscious of her privilege, but this doesn't stop her from exercising it; she stays at the finest of hotels and spends extravagantly, to her maid's horror. But said maid, Dot, is one for whom Phryne secured not only a position but revenge, when Dot's previous employer turned her away without a reference after a son tried to rape Dot and blamed it on her.

Phryne carries a Beretta .32, which tips her from rash to merely reckless on some of her escapades, and has no compunction about recruiting help as she needs it (although she remains firmly in the forefront). She makes the acquaintance of cab drivers, police inspectors, and members of parliament as necessary. She also sleeps freely with men, to her household's amusement, without any intention of commitment. One of her cases leads to the arrest of an abortionist butcher, while she makes clear she doesn't actually judge the women who go to such folks.

But as undeniably competent and free-spirited as she is, I never quite built up the same sense of deep loyalty that I did to her television adaptation. I suspect that part of this is because it's more fun to watch the whirlwind that is Phyrne move through the world, than it is to follow her thoughts. The writing and the plot weren't particularly inspired, either.

Recommended if you enjoy the time period or a refreshingly independent woman lead, but I suspect this won't do the trick for hardcore mystery fans.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book consisted of the first three Phryne Fisher mysteries. I'd looked forward to reading the books as I had enjoyed the Australian TV series, based on the books, so very much. The first book, Cocaine Blues, was satisfactory. I felt that Kerry Greenwood was maybe trying a bit to hard to throw too much into the story. Having said that, it was most entertaining, Phryne is a larger-than-life, sexy, intelligent, full of action womana and does everything with great gusto and flair. She also has a heart of gold and will do everything in her power to help someone she feels is being abused or mistreated. The second two stories were much better; Kerry seemed to have found her pace with these next two; Flying Too High and Murder on the Ballarat Train. Still larger than life, the stories flowed better and were more controlled. I still love Phryne and also her surrounding cast; the lovely Dot, the irrepressible Bert and Cec and her house staff, Mr and Mrs B. Very entertaining stories and enjoyable to read.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhh the books are so good too! A little formulaic, though this is more in structure than in the cases themselves. But even the cases that they did use on the show are so different from how they were adapted that they're totally worth reading. They're quiite a bit darker, though not ina way that I found salacious. Phyrne herself remains a goddamn treasure who I love and whose wardrobe I want to steal. Even in the books when she bagged a new beautiful young man, I was like, "GIT IT." I may now have a genuine addiction to these books.

[Veronica Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy pleasure reading, for those lazy afternoons in. Colourful descriptions and interesting cases, albeit sometimes predictable. Enjoyable over all :)

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I set my expectations before even opening this omnibus: I will not let myself compare the books to the TV show. They are two separate entities, and will forever be separate in my mind.

Yeah. That lasted all of 20 pages, and a fat a lot of good it did for me.

I couldn't separate the two, no matter how much I tried, or how desperately I wanted to. The characters were mostly the same (though Jack is depressingly different, and where did Mrs. Butler come from?), but I found myself turning each page hoping that Hugh would be introduced. Alas no - the lovely, naive and highly entertaining Constable Hugh Collins was nowhere to be found.

Okay, so I lied. I was able to compartmentalize the two a bit. Removing the TV show from the books, while still overlaying the faces of the characters I love from the show. That was about the best I could do.

The surprising thing is that, though I've seen all three series twice through now, knowing what was coming didn't impact my intense enjoyment of the book. No, having no Phryne/Jack connection took care of that, thank you! Knowing whodunnit, knowing how they did it, knowing how it would end - you'd think that'd make me want to set the book down in frustration.

But here's the thing - the plot of these three, sure - they were mostly the same. But, as in all great stories, there was so much detail given in the pages that could never make it to the screen. It'd either be lost in translation or worse, labeled as inconsequential and end up on the cutting room floor. So while I knew what was coming, I didn't know ALL of what was coming.

That penultimate scene with Phryne and Sasha in the bathhouse, by golly! That is certainly not what played out in the show, and it was steamy enough (har, har) to make me blush.

But that's what I'm referring to - the why behind the mystery was laid out completely different via the word than what we experienced via the show. It may have been darker, more sinister, or more lewd, but it varied enough that it wasn't like I was reading the script.

I also felt like we got a lot more exposure to characters like Mac (love her in the show, but she kind of disappeared on us in Series 3), Cec and Bert. They're definitely hearty characters in the book, which I appreciate, given they are some of the characters I wanted to see more of in the show.

The thing I like best, though, is the fact that these stories give me one more chance to step into Phryne's world, in all its glitter, danger, champagne and dancing. The characters might not be exactly the same, the cases might not come around the same path, but the world is still as opulent and fascinating as what I know from the show. And since the show is no more, this is an escape that feels like coming home to old friends.

[COL(ret.) Frank J. Stech, PhD · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Honorable Phryne Fisher, Kerry Greenwood's delightful Flapper-Era sleuth, is favorably compared to Dorothy Sayer's detecting Lord Peter Wimsey, another extremely successful and enjoyable series. Upper-class, Roaring Twenties, utterly British, all cloche hats, racing motor cars, and monocles. Some English majors will have fun comparing and contrasting these two charming icons of an age past.
While Lord Peter was very much to the manor born, Phryne Fisher comes to her wealth and position though the tragedies of the Great War and its aftermaths, including the pandemic Spanish Flu. Born dirt poor in the Australian outback, her father inherits his (and her) wealth and position, as those standing between him and the Manor House die off. A natural-born adventuress, The Honorable Miss Fisher fully enjoys the opportunities her inherited advantages offer her. She is very much the liberated girl of her times and there are few savory morsels of life she dares not sample. By the time she returns to her Australian homeland and her hometown of Melbourne, she has skills and abilities any fictional detectives would envy, style all the flappers of the Roaring Twenties try to emulate, culture that opens the best houses in Melbourne to her, and wits and charm that might turn even Lord Peter's noble head. And the looks, money, and joie de vivre to relish it all. Oh, and a heart of gold. What's not to love?
Plot? Story? Details of the mysteries she falls into solving? Oh, posh! Take three parts Wimsey, one part Miss Marple (forty years younger), a dash of the Thin Man's lovely Nora and her banter, and three drops of Fu Manchu--shake with crushed ice, and serve up, garnish with a diamond swizzle.
Sound photogenic? Guess what? Phryne has her own highly successful series of TV movies.
This three novel collection is the perfect introduction to the lovely, sexy, always enjoyable Honorable Phryne Fisher, her coterie of exotic friends, the lip-curling dastardly villains, and Kerry Greenwood's classic British mystery series.

[Agnesxnitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first three Miss - or rather the Honourable Phryne Fisher novels!
'Unflappable, unconventional and uninhibited, the Honourable Phryne Fisher leaves the tedium of English high society for Melbourne, Australia and never looks back. In her first three adventures, Phryne handles everything - danger, excitement, and love - with panache and flair, and still finds time for discreet dalliance and delicious diversions.
In 'Cocaine Blues', the London Season is in full fling at the end of the 1920s, but Phryne cannot face any more flower arranging, polite coversations with retired colonels or dancing with weak chinned men. She decides it might be rather amusing to try her hand at being a lady detective in Melbourne, Australia. From the time she books into the Windsor Hotel, Phryne is immediately embroiled in exotic and erotic mystery.
In 'Flying Too High', Phryne handles a murder, a kidnapping, and the usual array of beautiful young men who cluster around her with style and consummate ease - and 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 searching for a kidnapped child, she employs the same dash and elan with which she drives her beloved red Hispano-Suiza.
In 'Murder on the Ballarat Train', the glamorous Phryne, accompanied by her loyal maid, Dot Williams, decides to travel to the country by train, but the last thing she expects is to have to use her trusty Beretta .32 to save their lives. Soon a restful country sojourn turns into the stuff of nightmares; a young girl who can't remember anything, rumours or vile white slavery, and the body of an old woman missing her emerald rings.'

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good friend recommended the television series "Miss Fisher Mysteries" and mentioned that it was based on a set of books. I've watched the first two seasons and have started season three, as much for the gorgeous outfits Phryne wears as for the character and mystery. I had to start reading the books. They books are enjoyable, especially since the author does take time to describe Phryne's clothes. There are major differences between the two formats (Inspector Robinson is not a love interest in the books, for instance), mainly that the mysteries are more thoroughly fleshed out in the books--in the TV show there are some leaps of conjecture not based on anything that we viewers could see. I find that Phryne's character does show more depth and vulnerability in the show than in the book. They are two different types of entertainment and I enjoy them both.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last mystery was my favourite! I did figure out who the killer was, but one thing I really like about these books is that the whodunnit isn't necessarily the most important part of the story! Character growth and storytelling is huge - there's so many characters that a lot of time is spent just showing them interacting with each other, and that's my favourite part of these books.
I love Phryne's family that she's built here, and her complete acceptance of both Jane and her friend is ideal. I want a rich lady to adopt me too LMAO
All the style and luxury of Phryne's life is so well described that I can picture the rooms she walks through. Greenwood definitely loves the setting she's picked for her characters.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of the show on PBS, so the characters were like old friends in a way. I like that this one book has the first three books of the series in one volume. However, they were a little different compared to the show. Mr. Butler described Phryne as a vamp. I would say she is a vamp with a heart of gold. I was a little disappointed by the lack of rapport between Phryne and Det. Insp. Jack Robinson in the books compared to the show. The plots could have been better and I caught some incongruities but it was delightful and quick to read.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introduction completed!

Phryne, a woman with a never ending supply of cash and je-ne-sais-quoi. She adopts waifs and strays, kittens included, and insists on a high level of propriety. Taste - impeccable!
So, being bored with all the things, becomes a lady detective. Her cases bring her into contact with the detritus of life, some are arrested and others "adopted" for future use.
These stories are fun and easy reads about 1920's Melbourne and its seedier side of life. Can't wait for more!

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the 3rd book in this compilation, Murder on the Ballarat train, as I had already read the other two. Phryne Fisher and her maid Dot are travelling to Ballarat on the train when all the 1st class carriage is sent to sleep by chloroform. Phryne wakes up and saves everyone, except for one old woman who is found murdered, and Phryne is asked by her daughter to find the killer. A quick and easy holiday read.

[Cecilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the books!! I was left out wanting to keep reading the next stories. I watched first the TV show so it can be a bit hard not to look for similarities. As usual in my case, I love more the characters in the books than in movies or TV, but it's a good job with the series. She's fun, independent and very open minded for the time that all happens in the books.

[Krissy Pydynowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like short, mystery books, this is a good series. The only thing with this book is do not put it down after the first book. As someone reading it in the United States, the first book has a lot of Australian speak that makes it difficult to get through. However, it gets much better in the second book. They are also short books, so it makes for an easy read.

[Latika Deo · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this era of #metoo, this is a wonderful book to read. Phryne Fisher is a woman ahead of her times, which dates back to 1920's. Newly re-arrived in Melborne to put use her sharp wit and observational skills as a private detective, it is not sleuthing skills that mesmerizes you, rather it is her panache and gumption that makes you admire her the most.

[Laura Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great summer read. Not too demanding, fun main character, slightly risque in parts. Phrynee is definitely over-the-top, not afraid to take risks, and delighting in the rewards that come with them. This book actually contains the first three stories in the series and is a good introduction to the situation.

[Courtney Coombs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid entertainment. Nothing groundbreaking as far as mysteries go, but Phryne is a satisfying figure of female empowerment and self-sufficiency. Also offers a different perspective from the also-great TV series.

[Candy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Came across this series as a result of the television show, which I only discovered through my local library. Have to say I will attempt to catch up on the adventures of Miss Fisher and crew. Lovely historical fiction novel with great insight and interesting characters.

[Leesgoodfood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first found Phryne Fisher Murder Mysteries on PBS, and loved them. Then found my library has most of the books! As always, there are differences between book and film, but Phryne's essential nature and attitude remain the same.
Reading my way through these!

[A. J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful introduction the the Incomparable Honorable PF. Three stories, so you more than get your money's worth. I am continuing, since we've got 'em all. You can watch the production on YouTube, also. Ms. Essie Davis is fine.

[GothChickVibing · Rating 4 out of 5]

delicious

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Enjoyed second most of the three, but by the third, was not very enthused.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable; I read this after watching the TV series, so my Phryne looks a lot like Bessie Smith.