Raisins
and Almonds
A
Phryne Fisher Mystery
Kerry
Greenwood
Poisoned
Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-168-7 (1590581687)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-168-1 (9781590581681)
Publication Date: September 2007
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Phryne Fisher loves dancing, especially with gorgeous
young Simon Abrahams. But Phryne’s contentment at the Jewish
Young People’s Society Dance is cut short when
Simon’s father asks her to investigate the strange death of a
devout young student in Miss Sylvia Lee’s bookshop located in
the Eastern Market.
Miss Lee has been arrested for the murder, and Phryne agrees that she
is a very unlikely murderer. Investigation leads her into the exotic
world of Yiddish, refugees, rabbis, kosher dinners, Kadimah, strange
alchemical symbols, and chicken soup.
Phyrne picks her way through the mystery with the help from the old
faithfuls Bert and Cec, her taxi driver friends; her devoted companion
Dot; and Detective Inspector "Call me Jack" Robinson. Phryne soon finds
herself at the heart of a mystery far graver and more political than
she at first appreciates.
And all for the price of a song ...
Review:
Melbourne socialite Phyrne Fisher encounters the mystery of alchemy and
the reality of Middle East politics in Raisins and Almonds,
the ninth mystery in this consistently enjoyable series by Kerry
Greenwood. The title is taken from a Yiddish lullaby of the same name.
A young Jewish scholar has dropped dead, murdered in the bookshop of
Sylvia Lee. The police arrest the most unlikely suspect for the crime,
the bookshop owner Sylvia Lee, and seem content with their decision.
Miss Lee's landlord, Benjamin Abrahams, who just happens to be the
father of Phyrne's latest lover Simon, suspects someone else may have
committed the crime and hires Phyrne to find the real killer.
There is little mystery in Raisins
and Almonds. Phyrne knows
very early in the book how the
scholar was murdered (or at least what was involved in committing the
murder), and she probably knows who (as does the reader) as well, but
not the why. Her investigation takes her into a world of which she is
unfamiliar and, for the most part, in which she is unwelcome. For a
series that is generally light and amusing, this book is easily one of
the darkest and most somber.
Greenwood is known for adding a little extra mystery for the astute
reader at the beginning of each chapter of each book in this series,
and part of the fun in Raisins
and Almonds is interpretting
these mini-mysteries. Anyone
with a basic chemistry background will recognize the formulas given at
the start of the first two chapters; what do these chemical compounds
have to do with the death of a Jewish scholar in a Melbourne
bookstore? Many other chapters reference terms of alchemy and the
classical elements (water, fire, air, earth). All of these factor into
the "why" of the murder but may not explain it entirely. The seemingly
omnipresent politics of the Israelis and the Palestinians also play a
role here. Is Greenwood trying to equate peace in the Middle East with
turning lead into gold under the guise of a murder mystery set in 1920s
Australia? Maybe ... or maybe this is just a simple story of a young
sophisticated woman solving the murder of a young educated man in a
bookshop.
Special thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of Raisins and Almonds for this review.
Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Raisins and Almonds? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
Cocaine
Blues
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), April 2006
ISBN-10: 1-59058-236-5 (1590582365)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-236-7 (9781590582367)
Flying
Too High
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), July 2006
ISBN-10: 1-59058-237-3 (1590582373)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-237-4 (9781590582374)
Murder
on
the
Ballarat Train
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), October 2006
ISBN-10: 1-59058-241-1 (1590582411)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-241-1 (9781590582411)
Death
at Victoria Dock
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), December 2006
ISBN-10: 1-59058-238-1 (1590582381)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-238-1 (9781590582381)
The
Green Mill Murder
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), April 2007
ISBN-10: 1-59058-240-3 (1590582403)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-240-4 (9781590582404)
Blood
and Circuses
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), July 2007
ISBN-10: 1-59058-242-X (159058242X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-242-8 (9781590582428)
Ruddy
Gore
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), June 2005
ISBN-10: 1-59058-118-0 (1590581180)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-118-6 (9781590581186)
Urn
Burial
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), December 2005
ISBN-10: 1-59058-169-5 (1590581695)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-169-8 (9781590581698)
Raisins
and Almonds
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), September 2007
ISBN-10: 1-59058-168-7 (1590581687)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-168-1 (9781590581681)
Death
Before Wicket
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), January 2008
ISBN-10: 1-59058-170-9 (1590581709)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-170-4 (9781590581704)
Away
with
the
Fairies
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), January 2005
ISBN-10: 1-59058-022-2 (1590580222)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-022-6 (9781590580226)
Murder
in
Montparnasse
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), June 2004
ISBN-10: 1-59058-042-7 (1590580427)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-042-4 (9781590580424)
The
Castlemaine
Murders
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), September 2004
ISBN-10: 1-59058-117-2 (1590581172)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-117-9 (9781590581179)
Queen
of the Flowers
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), July 2008
ISBN-10: 1-59058-171-7 (1590581717)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-171-1 (9781590581711)
Death
by
Water
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), December 2008
ISBN-10: 1-59058-239-X (159058239X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-239-8 (9781590582398)
Murder
in the Dark
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), March 2009
ISBN-10: 1-59058-439-2 (1590584392)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-439-2 (9781590584392)
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 Raisins and Almonds
...
Location(s) referenced: Melbourne,
Australia.
