Blood and Circuses

I love historical mysteries, and the Phryne Fisher series is absolutely my new favorite indulgence. Phryne is a great character, a clever detective, and I'm dazzled by the world she inhabits--Australia in the 1920s. In Blood and Circuses, the Honorable Miss Phryne joins a traveling circus to investigate some suspicious happenings on behalf of some carnival sideshow friends of hers. It's a brilliant and tawdry world, and she learns stunt-riding as she explores the ins and outs of a working circus. Years ago, I read an old book about a boy who wanted to run away and join the circus--it was the old-time equivalent of running away to Hollywood, I guess. Exciting, glamorous and totally different from "real" life. Joining the circus in Australia in 1928 seemed like the same thing. This was my favorite so far of the Phyrne Fisher stories--I'm reading them in order--and definitely a treat. A satisfying mystery, a virtual journey in brand-new surroundings, and a terrific main character make this a don't-miss book

Kerry Greenwood's BLOOD AND CIRCUSES presents a Phryne Fisher mystery in telling of a bored woman who turns into an undercover detective who must abandon her entire life to investigate strange happenings at a local circus where animals have been poisoned and acts threatened.

First Sentence: Mrs. Witherspoon, widow of uncertain years and theatrical background, was taking tea in her refined house for paying gentlefolk in Brusnwick Street, Fitzroy. Wealthy private investigator Phryne is bored until she is approached by Samson the strong man, Alan the carousel operator and Doreen the Snake Woman to investigate what started as a series of accidents at the circus. With one of the circus members now dead, Phryne gives up her life of luxury and her friends to go undercover as a trick rider with the circus. There is a lot more going on between the covers of this book than first appears. Greenwood knows how to take diverse, interesting characters and build a great story around them with the mystery almost being secondary. Here we have the murder of an hermaphrodite who was the love of both a man and a woman. We are introduced to the hierarchy of the circus and Phryne's feelings of vulnerability and loneliness. There is a ex-con who doesn't know whether she has committed murder but who finds a bit of her soul in helping an alcoholic go through withdrawal. There is sex, there is profanity; this is not your average cozy. What it is is a great character-driven story with a unique character.

In Australia a concerned carnival worker Alan Lee asks his former lover Phryne Fisher to determine who is sabotaging Farrell's Circus and Wild Beast Show; Phryne agrees to investigate. The latest incident involved poisoning a horse, which led to the injury of a trick rider. This enables the socialite detective to go undercover as a trick rider since she is excellent with horses though she will need training to perform the act. At the same time that Phryne joins the big top, a former employee of Farrell's Circus, hermaphrodite Mr. Christopher is found dead in a Melbourne rooming house. The police arrest another former performer Miss Parkes, who was just released from prison. However, Melbourne Constable Tommy Harris and Detective Inspector Robinson believe she did not commit this homicide. As they make further inquiries, Robinson nebulously connects a gangland murder to the circus incidents and the Christopher killing. Now he thinks his friend Phryne is in jeopardy even as she and one of the clowns share a tryst while she risks her life seeking out the culprit. As in her previous adventures, Phryne continues to defy the dictates of late 1920s Australian society that demand a single women behave in a certain way; this time she has an affair with a clown. Her investigation is made fresh by the circus and its performers and other employees as they bring uniqueness to the tale. The support cast is very well developed, especially at the circus, the socialite's investigation and the police procedural. Series fans will appreciate this delightful historical whodunit. Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Kylee J. Yeaman for Reader Views (2/07) "Blood and Circuses" is set in 1920's Australia. Phryne (pronounced Fry-knee) is asked by some `carnie' friends of hers to help solve some suspicious happenings at Farrell's Circus and Wild Beast Show (the circus that their carnival trails). The final incident that pushes these friends to ask Phryne for her help is when one of the carnival `freaks' is murdered in his boardinghouse. Phryne is a terrific character. She's witty, down to earth; unlike some of the other characters in the book. Lizard Elsie is a crack up! There are 20's era gangsters, a strongman, trick riders, a magician, acrobats, clowns, so many fabulous people to meet in the circus and the carnival. Kerry Greenwood's writing is wonderful. I was transported to 1920's Australia through her words. It really remind me of the feeling I get while reading an Agatha Christie mystery, but being that the crime solver is a woman, it brought Miss Jane Marple to mind more so than Hercule Poirot. "Phryne looked around her dining room, which hung with pale damask. ... On the wall, opposite the big windows which opened onto her pocket-handkerchief sized front garden, hung seven oil sketched of dancing acrobats. ... Usually they refreshed her spirit. Today they looked as animated as dolls." One of my very favorite scenes is about three-fourths of the way the way through "Blood and Circuses." It is a scene between Lizard Elsie and Miss Parkes (formerly of the circus) in their shared jail cell. Miss Parkes had been in a deep depression; not knowing whether or not you killed someone will do that to you. When Elsie gets sick and Miss Parkes takes care of her for several hours, Miss Parkes seems to realize that there are people who need/care for her and she comes around. We all need to be needed. This book is for anyone who enjoys a nice mystery. It's just the right length (208 pages) for a weekend spent indoors or at the beach. There are one or two semi-racy scenes and some mild violence so I wouldn't recommend this for anyone under 13. I'm already planning on loaning this book to my mother for her to enjoy. I hope that you pick up "Blood and Circuses" by Kerry Greenwood and enjoy it as much as I did.