Book Review

Cocaine Blues: A Phryne Fisher Mystery by Kerry Greenwood

We’re big fans of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries here at the Bitchery. When I picked up the first book in the series that the TV show is based on, I had high hopes. As usual the book is better than the movie…er, TV show.

Phryne Fisher is an investigator in 1920’s Melbourne with an amazing wardrobe, cash to burn, a bob that I’m a jealous of, and a taste for adventure. Cocaine Blues opens with Phryne solving a diamond theft at her parents’ dinner party. And by solving a diamond theft I mean kind of rolling her eyes, sipping her cocktail, and saying “Obviously he did it, you guys,” while pointing to the villain with her cigarette.  That’s Phryne. She’s never ruffled and I suspect only sweats during sex.

Phryne’s detective skills are so impressive that a couple hires her to check on their grown daughter, Lydia. Lydia married and moved to Melbourne, and since then has been suffering from strange ailments. Whenever she comes home, she gets well, but when she goes back to her husband, she falls ill again. Mom and Dad suspect foul play.

Phryne’s looking for a new adventure, and being a detective in Australia sounds like just the thing. So she boards a ship with all her amazing clothes and takes off.

When she gets to Melbourne, a lot of things happen, and that’s why I didn’t give the book an A. There’s the main mystery–what the fuck is up with Lydia–which seems to be related to a possible cocaine ring. There’s another mystery involving a man performing illegal abortions on desperate young girls and leaving them to die from hemorrhaging or septicemia. There’s a deposed Russian princess and two Russian ballet dancers who seem to be involved in trouble. There’s a young housemaid Phryne rescues and takes on her lady’s maid.

A lot of these subplots were set up to introduce secondary characters who play a role in the series, but it was a lot to fit into one book and detracted from the main mystery. In fact, I cared far less about Lydia’s mystery illness as I did about the illegal abortionist running around town.

Greenwood makes up for it, though, with superb writing. Her books are just fun to read as the style of her narrative reflects Phryne’s irreverent nature. Here are some gems:

Phryne leaned on the ship’s rail, listening to the sea-gulls announcing that land was near, and watched for the first hint of sunrise. She had put on her lounging robe, of a dramatic oriental pattern of green and gold, an outfit not to be sprung suddenly on invalids or those of nervous tendencies–and she was rather glad there was no one on deck to be astonished.

And:

Lydia hinted, dabbing at her unreddened eyes with a perfectly white, perfectly dry handkerchief, at sexual perversions too grim for words. Phryne pressed a little, hoping that words might be found, but Lydia just shook her head with a martyred expression and sighed.

Even the way Greenwood describes simple things is unique: “She was innocent or gloves, hat or coat,” and “a jazz orchestra was damaging the night…”

This is one of those books that’s a pleasure to read, every word slipping along seamlessly. It’s like good oolong tea–smooth and subtly bold and delicious.

This book does contain sex (although not particularly graphic) and references to rape and how illegal abortions were performed (pretty much the same way they still are). There’s no real blood or gore; it’s a detective story that relies on deduction and observation rather than thrills. I’m not sure if that makes it a cozy mystery or not, but I’m finding lately that I’m more drawn to historical mysteries where good solid detective work solves the case, rather than some device like a physic medium heroine or a high tech forensics team. I like it when the heroine rubs her chin and says “Well, clearly Basil did it because of the teal lint on his shirt collar!” Call me old fashioned, I guess. The more mysteries I read, the less impressed I am by tension created by a serial killer who is immediately known and the pickling of human eyeballs than I am by the suspense of the killer being hidden among a group of seemingly everyday people.

One thing that might bother readers is that Phryne is an over-the-top heroine. She races cars, flies planes and was taught knife fighting skills by “Apache masters.” She was also super poor before her dad found out he was part of the aristocracy. I could see some people bitching that she’s a Mary Sue. I love it, though. I mean, Jack Ryan and Jack Reacher and John Puller and fucking Jason Bourne are all Mary Sues and no one cares. Also they all have J names, like missing members of the Duggar clan.

The only thing the TV show does better is the clothes, simply because we can see them. The books describe Phryne’s amazing wardrobe in glorious detail, but getting to actually see the clothes is a treat.

So if you have some time to yourself, I highly recommend pouring a cocktail, lighting a gasper, and opening up Cocaine Blues. It’s just tons of fun.

Note: Cocaine Blues is also on sale for 99c at most vendors!

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Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood

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  1. Elspeth says:

    I love Phryne, but I would also recommend Kerry Greenwood’s other detective series about Corinna Chapman, a baker who lives in a a smalle apartment building with a roof garden. Greenwood really comes into her own with the quirky one-liners in these books, starting with Earthly Delights.

  2. Persnickety says:

    The Phryne books are fun, but it takes a couple more before she really hits her stride. From about book three or four they become a lot better. But always enjoyable

  3. Persnickety says:

    Forgot to add- many of the later books have cocktail recipes (and occasionally food) at the back, high are also to be found on her website.
    http://phrynefisher.com

  4. Sandra says:

    Following the mention here of the TV series, I remembered that I had picked up the first two books after they were featured in a Daily Deals post at DA, but never got around to reading them. I dug them out and glommed through the first six over the New Years weekend. I was a big fan of cozy mysteries at one time (Charlotte MacLeod comes immediately to mind), and I’m really enjoying them so far.

    I’ve had to do some research on people, places and events that Greenwood mentions casually in passing, but learning is never a bad thing. I spent hours following Wikipedia links from the article on the Siege of Sidney Street. Then I looked up Petrushka, which led to me spending more hours on YouTube watching Mikhail Baryshnikov dance (Mischa, big sigh). Which led me to Loretta Chase’s Two Nerdy History Girls blog…. and so it goes.

  5. SB Sarah says:

    @Sandra:

    Isn’t that the best, when you fall down the rabbit hole of reading about history online? I spent a solid hour reading about Guam and American Samoa yesterday because curiosity and HTML links are the enemy of productivity for me.

  6. D. Kirk says:

    I watched the shows first and fell in love with the production quality. the first book I gave up on after pure boredom but maybe I’ll give them another try. great review. Thanks.

  7. VerityW says:

    I *love* the Phryne Fisher books – I discovered them in 2013, binge read them and then read them all again last year. I have some issues with the TV series (Phryne is too old, Jack is not meant to be a love interest, where is Lin Chung!) but it’s perfectly good fun viewed in isolation of the books.

    I wrote about why I love Phryne last year – but it basically centres around the fact that she’s a woman with agency doing stuff for herself and not relying on men to do things for her/figure things out/complete her. She knows what she wants and she’ll got and get it rather than sit around and wait for it to happen. The full post is here – if anyone’s interested: https://verityreadsbooks.wordpress.com/2014/07/25/series-i-love-phryne-fisher-mysteries-by-kerry-greenwood/

  8. Vicky says:

    I think some of the “taught knife fighting by the apache” things is a nod to detective serials of the times, so I take it as period flavor. A great show and series!

  9. cleo says:

    I didn’t have the same reading experience at all. I wanted to like this book, but I just couldn’t get into it or finish it.

    To me, Phryne read as the Mary Sue-iest of all Mary Sue detectives and, probably more importantly, I didn’t care about her. I couldn’t relate to or connect with any of the characters and I didn’t care enough about the mystery to keep reading to find out what happened.

    I can see why other readers love this book, but it really didn’t work for me.

  10. cleo says:

    @D. Kirk – I’m glad I’m not the only one who was bored by this book.

  11. Barb in Maryland says:

    Re: Apache
    That was period slang for Parisian crooks. Our Phryne lived in Paris after WWI. And picked up some useful skills.
    I am a great fans of the books and prefer them, generally, to the TV series. If I think about the TV show, I think of it as ‘alternate universe’ Phryne, then I’m okay with it. Besides, as Carrie said, the clothes!We get to see the clothes!

  12. Dancing_Angel says:

    The first few books aren’t nearly as good as the ones in the middle of the series. I accidentally picked up one of the middle books first, and when I went back to read the earlier books, it really struck me how bad they were.

    Phryne is definitely a Mary Sue character, and sometimes the coincidences in some of her books are completely over the top and even had me rolling my eyes. I HATED her latest book, but all of the other ones in the series, from about Death before Wicket on, are quite entertaining. The books are also self-contained, you don’t have to read the others in the series unless you want to.

  13. Love, love Phryne – although I have been listening via audiobook these days and can highly recommend them, especially for the trips in the car. The voice reader has just enough dry amusement as Phryne to pull it off, and the other characters come alive. Well worth searching out.

  14. Lora says:

    I LOVE the Phryne Fisher books! LOVE THEM! I didn’t enjoy Ruddy Gore or Death Before Wicket particularly but I’ve read them all plus the Corinna Chapmans (I find Corinna much more annoyingly Mary Sue, Phryne simply gives no fucks. None at all). Great escapist fun and they make me feel sophisticated. Thanks for the terrific review.

  15. kisah says:

    This is why I love historical mysteries – they require the hero/heroine to use their brains & the resources of the time, & I can get lost in the historical descriptions….I haven’t started this series yet cause I know it will ring all my catnip bells, & with my TBR shelves threatening to topple me…..but I know I won’t be able to resist the pull.

  16. Loup says:

    The thing to remember with Phryne is she was deliberately written by Greenwood to be a female The Saint or James Bond. Or Batman, to a certain extent, but that’s my reading rather than the author talking about her intent.

    And I tend to be on the Seanan Maguire end of things when ‘Mary Sue’ is applied to a female protag in her own series.

  17. j says:

    “I mean, Jack Ryan and Jack Reacher and John Puller and fucking Jason Bourne are all Mary Sues and no one cares.”

    THANK YOU. I am so damn sick of those “Gary Stues” being WORSHIPPED by male readers who make fun of romance as “women’s fantasy”.

    What do they think those guys are? Everyone’s afraid of them, they get laid ALL the time by adoring women who pant after them and never want more… Yeah, that’s REAL!!!

  18. kitkat9000 says:

    I’ve been reading this series since it first hit our shores-and love it. I agree that the earlier books are a little rough around the edges but I don’t care. Nor do I care that she’s a Mary Sue. She is an adult woman taking care of herself in every way that matters- including sexually. It’s a treat to read about someone that self-assured, capable and confident.

    I tried to watch the series but couldn’t. The actress, although good, is too old. I wouldn’t have cared about her age if they hadn’t made so many other unnecessary changes (Mrs Butler is gone, Phryne’s sister is dead, Lin Chung is MIA and Jack is her main, possibly only, love interest.) In the books, she is Lin Chung’s concubine but still takes other lovers. She is VERY liberated. She neither apologizes nor excuses. As someone else said, she gives no fucks. Well, considering the number of her lovers, she kinda does- but it’s a different kind of fuck! She absolutely does not give the first good damn about what other’s think of her. She’s angst free and it is so refreshing to read.

  19. kitkat9000 says:

    OK, just happened upon the review for the tv series and it seems I’m wrong about Jack being her only love interest. Mea culpa. In my defense, I watched the first 3 episodes and stopped because of the differences. Have caught occasional glimpses of other episodes while at my mom’s. Still stand by the rest of my comments.

  20. Shanna says:

    I’ve been binging on these lately (read the first one, then ran across the TV series, then picked up the rest of the books). I think of them as Nancy Drew for adults (and I LOVED Nancy Drew when I was a kid. I wanted to BE Nancy Drew). They’re short, quick reads, so there’s not a big problem with not wanting to put the book down before the mystery is solved. The heroine is hyper-competent and gets to showcase a new skill in each book, though she’s a bit older than Nancy, so she’s had more life experience to develop all these skills. She deals with even the trickiest situation with grace and aplomb without freaking out at all. And there’s the fun cast of secondary characters she gathers along the way. Then throw in a dash of James Bond, with the attractive lover(s) for each story, many of whom who are never seen or mentioned again.

    When I was a kid, I got through a few tough situations with schoolyard bullies by thinking “what would Nancy do?” and now if ever I’m in trouble, I may find myself channeling Phryne.

  21. harthad says:

    After becoming addicted to the TV series, I read Cocaine Blues, which I enjoyed for all the reasons Elyse mentions, and Flying Too High, which I thought was a dreadful bore. (Wisely, the TV series skipped that one in its adaptations, and I wish I had skipped it too.) I’m giving the books one more chance with Murder on the Ballarat Train, which I just started.

    Yes, Phryne can be annoyingly perfect (which is what I take the “Mary Sue” criticisms to point to). She’s gorgeous, smart, sexy, confident, brave, and resourceful. She never has to worry about money, has a hot car, a killer wardrobe, and a seemingly endless array of obscure skills. She’s been everywhere and done everything. As others have pointed out, that makes her not too different from James Bond, whom I also love, despite all the silliness.

  22. K says:

    I just recently stumbled upon the Phryne Fisher series at the library will browsing through the mp3 audiobook cds. I started completely out of order and began with ‘Raisins and Almonds’. The reader (Stephanie Daniel) was excellent, and so I started reading and listening all out of order.

    I don’t find Phryne to be anymore Mary Sue than Jack Reacher so her being so super competent and smart is not a problem for me. Also? I really enjoy the clothes. 🙂

  23. katerina says:

    I love the Fisher books but to me the mystery is secondary. Half the time I don’t even care about it. What I am eager for every time is reading about Phryne’s life and life in general in late 1920’s Australia. That is something that Greenwood wells as, especially descriptions of food and clothing. She is also fantastic at creating fully rounded out characters. And there is also something very fun about reading an unapologetic Mary-Sue.

  24. Ursula L says:

    Phryne’s father doesn’t just “discover” he’s aristocracy. The horrors of WWI kill off several heirs between the impoverished father and a wealthy title.

    WWI really saves Phryne from being too Mary-Sue. She isn’t just an amazing driver, flyer etc. because she is. These are skills she earned, working as an ambulance driver and flying a plane during the war. Latter books develop this more, including PTSD. The single decision to run away from home and volunteer on the front leads to everything else that Phryne is.

    It helps to look up the slang used, as well. For example, “Apache” in this case does not mean that Phryne studied fighting with Native Americans, but rather refers to the European slang of calling street criminals “Apache”, based on stereotypes of Native American violence. So her learning fighting from an “Apache” refers to a European connection, again, part of her life during and just after WWI. She isn’t someone who went globe-trotting to teach herself to be badass, she picked it all up in the violence and chaos of the war and its aftermath, when she had to either learn to be tough or head home to a pampered, boring life.

    (These were the first books in years where I actually had to look up vocabulary that was either unfamiliar or seemed to be familiar words being used in an unfamiliar way. I love it!)

  25. […] this book was a pleasure to read. As the ladies at Smart Bitches Trashy Books summarized, “It’s like good oolong tea–smooth and subtly bold and delicious.” It […]

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