Away with the Fairies.AWAY WITH THE FAIRIES. Kerry Greenwood. 2001/2002. Read by Stephanie Daniel. 6 tapes. 8.66 hrs. Bolinda Audio. 1-74030-699-6. $48.00. Vinyl; plot, author, reader notes. SA * MURDER IN MONTPARNASSE. Kerry Greenwood. 2002/2002. Read by Stephanie Daniel. 5 tapes. 8 hrs. Bolinda Audio. 1074030-813-1. $40.00. Vinyl; plot, author, reader notes. SA * Set in 1928 Melbourne, Australia these two mysteries star the independent detective Phryne Fisher The Honourable Miss Phryne Fisher is the main character in Australian author Kerry Greenwood's series of Phryne Fisher detective novels. Phryne (pronounced fry - nee) is a wealthy aristocrat who lives in St Kilda, Melbourne in 1928. : brave, strong, outspoken, intelligent, beautiful. In Fairies, Phryne is asked to solve the murder of Miss Lavender, a writer/illustrator obsessed ob·sess v. ob·sessed, ob·sess·ing, ob·sess·es v.tr. To preoccupy the mind of excessively. v.intr. with fairies, who also writes an advice column for a woman's magazine. As Phryne discovers, Lavender was also apparently obsessed with obtaining incriminating in·crim·i·nate tr.v. in·crim·i·nat·ed, in·crim·i·nat·ing, in·crim·i·nates 1. To accuse of a crime or other wrongful act. 2. information that she used to manipulate her fellow boarders and co-workers--not quite blackmail, but enough to turn one victim into a murderer. At the same time, Phryne's lover Lin Chung has been kidnapped by pirates in the South China Seas, and Phryne aims to rescue him. Montparnasse follows Fairies immediately in time. Seven Australian veterans of WW I have asked Phryne to find out why this band of war brothers is being killed; three are already dead and they don't wish to lose any more. Phryne recalls her time in Montparnasse during the war as she searches for the killer. Both novels are well written, full of a wild '20s, post WW I atmosphere with an Australian touch (special music at the end of each side evokes the period). Yet there are also serious hints of the war clouds gathering in Europe. Australian actress Daniel's fully voiced reading is perfect: crisp, upper-class British English British English n. The English language used in England as distinguished from that used elsewhere. for Phryne, gentle Chinese for Lin Chung and family, brusque brusque also brusk adj. Abrupt and curt in manner or speech; discourteously blunt. See Synonyms at gruff. [French, lively, fierce, from Italian brusco, coarse, rough Australian, and clear, energetic, smooth voices, yet with grace and humor humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man's health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that good health was , for all others. For those who love Maisie Dobbs, Phryne is a similar treat; both were equally heroic young women on the battlefields in France during WW I. Maisie is reserved, dignified, thoughtful; Phryne is uninhibited uninhibited /un·in·hib·it·ed/ (un?in-hib´i-ted) free from usual constraints; not subject to normal inhibitory mechanisms. , flamboyant, careful. Maisie so far lives alone; Phryne runs a household with two adopted daughters, a cat, a dog, an assistant, a cook and a butler. Jean Palmer, KLIATT |
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