Murder
on a Midsummer Night
A
Phryne Fisher Mystery
Kerry
Greenwood
Poisoned
Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-632-8 (1590586328)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-632-7 (9781590586327)
Publication Date: July 2009
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Melbourne, 1929. The year starts off for glamorous
private investigator Phryne Fisher with a rather trying heat wave and
more mysteries than you could prod a parasol at. Simultaneously
investigating the apparent suicide death of a man on St. Kilda beach
and trying to find a lost, illegimate child who could be heir to a
wealthy old woman's fortune, Phryne needs all her wits about her,
particularly when she has to tangle with a group of thoroughly
unpleasant Bright Young Things.
But Phryne Fisher is a force of nature, and takes in her elegant stride
what might make others quail, including terrifying seances, ghosts, Kif
smokers, the threat of human sacrifices, dubious spirit guides and maps
to buried pirate treasure ...
Review:
Phryne Fisher mysteries are typically less about mystery and more
about, well, Phryne herself. Fans of the series are likely to be more
interested in Phryne's lifestyle and her household than her profession,
but after 16 novels there's not much new to learn about her character.
That's why it's so refreshing that she has not one, but two interesting
cases to investigate in Murder on a
Midsummer
Night, the 17th mystery in
this series that began in 1989. There's still plenty of Phryne to fill
the pages, but the appeal here is in the mysterious circumstances of a
young man's death and, separately, the whereabouts of a long lost child.
The first case is one of Augustine Manifold, a dealer of antiques and
trinkets, who is found drowned, an apparent suicide. The police are
satisfied that he took his own life, but his mother is not. She hires
Phryne to find out who murdered her son, and why. According to his
friends, Manifold was excited about the future, one in which he
believed would soon provide financial security for him and his mother
for the rest of their days. Phryne suspects this "future" may have
contributed to his death, which she quickly ascertains, and proves, is
murder.
The second case is one of an inheritance. A wealthy woman has died,
leaving her estate to her children, the "issue of her body". There is
reason to believe that she may have had a child before the marriage
that produced the four known adult children, who now stand to inherit.
The family's solicitor requests Phryne look into it. It's a sensitive
matter, the family being Catholic, but Phryne is known for her
discretion in such matters.
Phryne's investigation of both cases is well-paced, with possibly a bit
more backstory to the murder than the missing child, and in the
author's usual manner, the clues to their solution are buried within
the narrative, the quotes that precede every chapter and postscripts
that end each chapter. Phryne feels a sense of accomplishment at the
conclusion of her investigations and the reader will as well, as Murder on a Midsummer
Night is among the best of
the series to date.
One historical note: The book takes place in 1929 Melbourne. The author
is meticulous in her research of the period and place, and provides an
extensive bibliography at the end of her novels. Early in this book,
however, Phryne refers to Augustine Manifold as a "friend of Dorothy."
The expression, used as a euphemism to describe a gay man when it was
generally unacceptable to do so, is widely believed to have originated
with the film The Wizard of Oz
(1939), though some believe the "Dorothy" may refer to Dorothy Parker,
a prominent writer and poet, whose politically active life began in the
late 1920s. Still, the earliest known references to "friend of Dorothy"
seem to be the 1930s. Phryne Fisher, cosmopolitan woman that she is,
would certainly be aware of people and events taking place in the most
important cities of the time (London, Paris, New York). And wouldn't it
be fascinating to consider that Phryne may have actually coined the
phrase in 1929, years before it came into popular use elsewhere in the
world?
Special thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of Murder on a Midsummer Night for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Murder on a Midsummer Night? How would you rate it?
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ISBN-10: 1-59058-439-2 (1590584392)
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Murder on a Midsummer Night
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), July 2009
ISBN-10: 1-59058-632-8 (1590586328)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-632-7 (9781590586327)
Omnimystery
keywords for Murder on a Midsummer
Night ...
Location(s) referenced: Melbourne,
Australia.
