Murder in the Dark: A Phryne Fisher Mystery

Kerry Greenwood
Poisoned Pen Press (2009)
ISBN 9781590584392
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (12/08) 

 

Kerry Greenwood’s “Murder in the Dark” was exactly what I expect from anything published by the Poisoned Pen Press. I never like what they publish; I either love it, adore it or I am simply crazy about it. “Murder in the Dark” was no exception. Sparkling writing, witty dialogue, enchanting heroine, dastardly villains, quirky plot, vivid background and more red herrings than one is able to keep track of make for an enthralling read.

Phryne Fisher has been invited to a very glamorous Last Best party of 1928, yet she did not decide to accept that invitation until she received several warnings about not attending. The surest way to insure her attendance was obviously to tell her she should not come – after that, there was nothing to stop her, not even a poisonous snake delivered to her under the guise of a Christmas present. So she set out to Werribee Manor House, where sinister events started taking place even before her arrival. Once there, she quickly got involved in a sinister scavenger hunt, with the villain leaving cryptic clues which she has to solve if she wants to save a few lives and the remainder of the party.

I would be hard pressed to pick out my favorite character from the book, since all of them were so superbly drawn. For a change we got to meet a whole array of very distinct female characters as well. Phryne Fisher was so brilliantly ditzy at times, yet hiding a superb intellect and an unlimited supply of kindness for anybody around her. Nerine was so sizzling hot that it still surprises me the pages featuring her did not burst into flames. Mrs. Truebody was one of the most adorable battleaxes I’ve ever encountered in a book. Madge to Goat Lady was priceless, and as for Minty, one of her animals, as well as her role in the exciting polo match, I simply lack the words to adequately describe her. While the male characters were no less inspired, I will remember this book by the many fantastic females in it. Another trait that endeared this work to me further was the subtly skewered “Upstairs, Downstairs” aspect of it, and any reader who has ever watched any of the great British comedies dealing with the rapports between the “masters” and the “servants” will undoubtedly enjoy this book just as much.

A simply scintillating read, “Murder in the Dark” by Kerry Greenwood is a winner in every sense of the word.

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