 |
Author: Kerry Greenwood, 2003.
Genre: Period Fiction. 1920s Australia. Crime Fiction. Cozy Mystery.
Other Details: Unabridged Audiobook (8 hrs, 14 mins). Read by Stephanie Daniel.
Phryne Fisher, her sister Beth, and her faithful maid, Dot, decide that Luna Park is the place for an afternoon of fun and excitement with Phryne’s two daughters, Ruth and Jane. But in the dusty dark Ghost Train, amidst the squeals of horror and delight, a mummified bullet-studded corpse falls to the ground in front of them. Phryne Fisher’s pleasure trip has definitely become business. Digging to the bottom of this longstanding mystery takes her to the country town of Castlemaine where it soon becomes obvious that someone is trying to muzzle her investigations. With unknown threatening assailants on her path, Phryne seems headed for more trouble than usual. Meanwhile, Phryne’s lover Lin Chung has his own mystery to solve. Feuding families and lost gold fill his mind until he learns that Phryne herself has become missing treasure. synopsis from Poisoned Pen Press website.
In this outing the mystery of the mummified corpse that engages Phryne's attention is matched by a family mystery dating back to the Australian Gold Rush of the mid-19th Century for her lover Lin Chung.
In addition, we meet Phryne's sister Eliza, who has arrived on the doorstep from London with no explanation. Phryne has a rather difficult relationship with her sister and her mood towards her is reflected by whether she refers to her as either Beth or Eliza; depending on whether she is behaving like the little sister Phryne recalls from childhood or the rather annoying woman she has become in the intervening years.
So overall a family-themed series of mysteries and I felt one of the best in the series to date.
