Who dared ring the doorbell and disrupt Phryne Fisher's
glorious January morning! The culprit is Phryne's social
worker sister, Eliza, who has brought along her latest
cause: Mrs. Manifold. Mrs. Manifold doesn't believe her son
Augustine committed suicide, in spite of what the
authorities are saying. In view of the information revealed
by the distraught mother, Phryne agrees to look into
Augustine's death. After nary a glance, Phryne concludes
that Augustine was murdered, but by whom and why is an
entirely other matter. Still being much occupied by the
Manifold affair, another matter is dropped in Phryne's lap:
an estate matter where one of the heirs is an illegitimate
child whose whereabouts have remained unknown since birth.
The Honorable Miss Phryne Fisher has her hands full, but
nothing that a cocktail and competent help cannot fix!
I swear that Kerry Greenwood writes the most incandescent
and swoon-inducing prose there is! The two mysteries in
MURDER ON A MIDSUMMER NIGHT showcase the author's
superlative writing skills, her sublime characterizations,
and her witty dialogues. Ms. Greenwood's Phryne
Fisher Mysteries are delightful indulgences
comparable to the finest chocolates: they are not essential
to life, but it's hard to think of life without them. I was
completely mesmerized by the sumptuous descriptions of
artifacts; riveted by Ms. Greenwood impressive vocabulary
and her unique way of making the most mundane trivialities
into divine witticisms. I relished every detail: the advent
of the "American Refrigerating Machine," the secondary
characters' backstories -- which of course, constitute
clues -- the food, the clothes, and the wind, sand, and
blistering sun of the sweltering Australian summer.
And when you least expect it, danger emerges amidst all this
magnificence. While the mysteries themselves don't seem
that complicated, there is much more than meets the eye,
apart from having a jolly good time and being privy to this
most extraordinary world!
The year is 1929, and the Honorable Phryne Fisher has been
engaged to investigate the drowning death of a young
Melbourne antique dealer. The police and coroner believe it
was suicide, but the victim's grieving mother knows
otherwise and trusts Phryne to see justice done. He
certainly had some strange friends—a Balkan adventuress, a
dilettante with a penchant for antiquities, a Classics
professor, a medium…
At the same time, Phryne is on the hunt
for a long-lost illegitimate child, potentially heir to a
handsome estate, much to the displeasure of the remaining
relatives.
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