Death Before Wicket

November 5, 2007
In one of Greenwood's stronger entries in her acclaimed series set in 1920s Australia (Ruddy Gore
, etc.), her elegant, larger-than-life amateur sleuth Phryne Fisher travels on holiday from Melbourne to Sydney, where she confronts a pair of pressing mysteries as soon as she washes off the grime of her train trip. Joss Hart and Clarence Ottery, young gentlemen escorts who are students at the University of Sydney, ask Phryne to exonerate a friend accused of stealing exams from a safe in the dean's office. Then Phryne's maid, Dot Williams, discovers her sister, Joan, has disappeared, leaving two young children in the care of Joan's loutish husband. With typical aplomb, Phryne juggles both puzzles, even as she crosses swords with a sinister cult leader who may have at least some of the answers she seeks. The author artfully blends action, humor and deduction.

December 1, 2007
In the tenth Phryne Fisher novel, set in 1928 Australia, the free-thinking flapper is on holiday in Sydney. She's got her vacation all planned out?cricket matches, dinner with the in-crowd, lots of dining and dancing?but solving yet yet another mystery is not on the agenda. But that's before Phryne's maid's sister goes missing, and a university student is accused of breaking into the dean's safe. Soon enough, Phryne's dancing shoes are back in the suitcase, andshe's up to her neck in murder, intrigue, and derring-do. Phryne's fans get everything they could possibly want from this installment in the long-running and ever more popular series: a fast-talking, tough heroine; an engaging cast of supporting players; a couple of really nifty mysteries; and plenty of fun. Phryne, who defiantly challenges every one of society's notions of a ?woman's place, ? is a riveting series lead, and luckily there are many more of her adventures still to come.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)