Phryne Fisher comes to TV

I don't watch a lot of TV. Don't get me wrong. It is always on, but usually just in the background. Even when there is something I think I would like I tend to record it and never actually get around to watching it! I am however sure that will not happen when Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher is shown after being  adapted for TV as a series! I have been trying to find a dedicated trailer but haven't been able to. Instead, you can see a short glimpse of the series in this clip, starting at 1:50.




As soon as there is a proper trailer I will be sure to share it.

Based on just that glimpse the casting seems pretty good, it looks good so hopefully it is!

Along with the TV series, the books in the series are all being rereleased with tie-in covers. Over the years there have been a lot of different cover incarnations for this series. Some have been good, some not quite so! I thought it would be fun to do a bit of a comparison of a couple of the books showing you the cover that my book had when I read it, then my favourites which are the cartoon style covers (oh so much fun and totally fitting the series in my opinion and then the TV tie in.

The first book in the series is Cocaine Blues and here are the three covers:

And here are the covers for the fourth book in the series, Death at Victoria Dock:

To see more of the new TV tie in covers check out http://www.phrynefisher.com/

Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood

It's the end of the roaring Twenties, and the exuberant and Honorable Phryne Fisher is dancing and gaming with gay abandon. But she becomes bored with London and the endless round of parties. In search of excitement, she sets her sights on a spot of detective work in Melbourne.

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.

One of my reading goals for 2007 is to read some more Australian authors, something I haven't done very much of at all this year! Kerry Greenwood lives in Melbourne, like me, and uses many locations in Melbourne as part of her books.

This book is the first of the Phryne (pronounced Fry-knee to rhyme with briny) Fisher mysteries that are set in the latter stages of the Roaring 20's. The author does a fantastic job of bringing a sense of time and place to the story, with both the locations that are still in the city (like the Windsor Hotel where she bases herself on her arrival from England) and the others that are no longer there like the Turkish baths of Little Lonsdale Street.

Phryne is a young, wealthy and independent young lady, but she hasn't always been that way, having been born in a poor suburb in Melbourne. Her family came into wealth when some distant family members died, and suddenly her father found himself a member of the aristocracy. Life changed dramatically for Phryne, but she still remembers what it was like before, and this gives her a heart for the destitute, the deprived. Within days of arriving in England, she has found herself a young lady to be a made, become friends with a couple of lovable larrikins with a decided bent towards communism who come in very handy at several stages throughout the book.

It is only when she realises that she is being framed for drug possession that Phryne realises how much danger she may really be in, but it doesn't stop her from taking loads of risks in trying to expose the Mr Big of cocaine smuggling.

A very entertaining read. I am very much looking forward to reading more in this series.

I really like the Phryne Fisher website as well - it gives a very good feel to the setting of the 1920's!

Rating 4/5.5


Originally posted on my blog in December 2006

Spotlight on: Phryne Fisher Mysteries by Kerry Greenwood

Set in Melbourne in the late 1920's, the Phryne Fisher mysteries by Kerry Greenwood feature the delightful Lady Phryne Fisher, an independently wealthy, strong willed, fun loving young woman having a ball during the decadent time that was the late 1920's.











Whilst Phryne (pronounced Fry-knee as in rhymes with briny) is now a very wealthy young lady around town, she hasn't forgotten her humble beginnings and childhood when her family were very poor. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that her father inherited a title as a result of the death of the other people in line during WWI, she would be living a very different life. Phryne remembers exactly what it was like to struggle to find the next meal, and to wonder where money is going to come from, and she therefore has a great deal of empathy for many of the poor souls that she comes across in her work, to the extent that several of them find a place in her permanent household.


Phryne excels at living her life to the fullest...whatever that means. She has a penchant for danger, champagne, beautiful clothes, dancing and beautiful young men, and sees fit to indulge whenever she can, and always manages to track down the villains...no matter what kind of case she is investigating!



For me, one of the great joys of reading this series is to read the descriptions of Melbourne (which is where I live) as it was back then. In the last book I read, Greenwood described passing the fields between Preston and Reservoir - these two places are suburbs of Melbourne, and if you try to drive between the two of them, all you will find is traffic, shops and houses - no countryside left at all in that part of town!

The most recently released covers in the series really capture the personality of the main character and are gorgeous to look at!



The books in the series so far are:

Cocaine Blues
Flying Too High
Murder on the Ballarat Train
Death At Victoria Dock
The Green Mill Murder
Blood and Circuses
Ruddy Gore
Urn Burial
Raisins and Almonds
Death Before Wicket
Away with the Fairies
Murder in Montparnasse
The Castlemaine Murders
Queen of the Flowers
Death by Water
Murder in the Dark