Queen of the Flowers

March 31, 2008
Crime strikes close to home in this latest installment of Greenwood's charming series (The Castlemaine Murders
, etc.) featuring 1920s Aussie amateur sleuth, Phryne Fisher. While the town of St. Kilda prepares for the 1928 Flower Parade, Phryne's adopted daughter, Ruth, disappears after learning her father's identity from her birthmother, Anna Ross. Phryne adds Ruth to her caseload, which coincidentally includes the search for another missing young woman, Rose Weston. As with other series entries, the solution to the mystery is secondary to the author's clever prose and gift for characterization. Phryne carries the action ably, even if her resourcefulness and unflappability sometimes border on the superhuman. The engaging cast of familiar supporting characters—including Phryne's maid, Dot, and her Chinese lover, Lin Chung—will delight longtime fans, but newcomers who like their crime on the lighter side can jump in without any trouble.

June 1, 2008
As Queen of the Flowers, Phryne Fisher ("The Castlemaine Murders") is knee deep in preparations for St. Kilda's inaugral Flower Parade when one of her young flower maidens disappears. She is hired to find the girl, but then Phryne's adopted daughter vanishes. Phryne, never one to sit back and take it, swings into high gear, searching the red light district of St. Kilda with the aid of her friends. Although as sophisticated, wealthy, and modern as ever, Greenwood's series protagonist still demonstrates her decency, kindness, and willingness to fight against the sinister elements in her Australian community. For series fans. [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ" 3/1/08.]

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2008
Australia, 1928. Phryne Fisher, the flamboyant flapper and amateur sleuth, has been chosen to be Queen of the Flowers for this years Flower Parade. But, as loyal readers of this long-running series know, Phryne cant seem to do anything without landing herself in the midst of a mystery. This time she takes Rose, a troubled young woman, under her wing, and when Rose vanishes, Phryne embarks on a no-holds-barred campaign to find her. The charm of this series remains the way it connects the flapper era to contemporary life. Phryne isan outspoken, acid-tongued adventurer who wont take lip from anyone. Shed be right at home in a novel set in the present day, but that wouldnt be nearly as much fun. Here she stands out deliciously from her surroundings (but, given her flapper characterization, she does so believably, never seeming anachronistic). Her interactions with the more conventional characters who surround her give the stories humor and pizzazz. This is a consistently strong series that shows no signs of running out of steam.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)