The Honourable Phryne Fisher is a wealthy, glamorous, and fearless detective in 1920s Melbourne, Australia. Born to an aristocratic family, Phryne (pronounced FRY-nee) has traveled the world, driven ambulances in World War I, and arrived in Melbourne in 1928 with a determination to enjoy life and fight injustice.
Phryne is unconventional by any era's standards. She drinks, she drives fast, she has lovers (though the books keep things tasteful), and she refuses to be constrained by social expectations. She is also genuinely compassionate and uses her wealth and privilege to help those who lack power. Her household includes her maid and companion Dot (a devout Catholic who provides a wonderful contrast to Phryne's freethinking ways), two adopted daughters, and various friends and allies.
Kerry Greenwood's research into 1920s Melbourne is meticulous, and the books bring the era to vivid life — the jazz clubs, the fashion, the social upheaval, the lingering effects of the Great War. The Australian setting makes these books distinctive in a genre dominated by American and British settings.
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