After my re-read of Amelia Peabody, I was in the mood for a historical mystery with a little more spice, so what better than Miss Fisher? Like all red-blooded humans, I’m pretty obsessed with Phryne. For those who may not know (how? why? examine your life choices, people) the Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries are an Australian-set series of books about a lady detective in 1928. She is fabulous, adventurous and super sexy. There are also 3 seasons of TV based on the series. (Netflix. Watch right now, I mean it.)
The books are quite different from the excellent TV series. For one, no Jack + Phryne True Love. The Jack character in the books is an older, happily- married inspector and his role is NOT to have combustive sexual chemistry with Phryne (which is ridiculous obviously but it is what it is). So instead she has sex with basically every single other human male she encounters. What I love about Phryne is that she is basically the female James Bond and just unabashedly sexual while brilliantly and fabulously adventuring. (Full disclosure: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a whole James Bond film but he seems to have that same perfect skill-set, perfectly handsome, perfectly charming thing going on.) I find if I binge-read too many of the series, her perfection gets a little aggravating but the occasional foray into her fab life is wildly entertaining. It’s the ultimate escapist adventure, in small doses.
In this book, Phryne and Dot, along with Phryne’s occasional (but never exclusive) lover Lin Chung and his manservant Li Pen, are off on holiday to an isolated country mansion. The party is very English Country House style, even in Australia. There are old ladies (with a delightful Agatha Christie cameo character) and hearty girls, elegant boys, Surrealist poets, lady novelists, Marxist labourers, a butler! (how I love a mystery with a butler) and various house maids. I think this particular story is a love letter to Agatha Christie, to be honest. It has all the elements of a Christie story with bonus Phryne sexy times.
I enjoy the Miss Fisher books. They are well-written, entertaining mysteries in a fun historical setting. Phryne is an extraordinary character. I enjoy the TV series much more though. I like the slightly different path the show is on. That sexual chemistry with Jack is amazing. Her outfits are fabulous. It’s the rare case where the TV show is better than the books. But the books are worth checking out.