Review by Booklist Review
The glamorous, indestructible Australian flapper Phryne Fisher avenges the death of a young man who dies in her arms after she and her car are shot at by two men. Although Phryne and members of her household are in danger from anarchists, they manage to foil a bank robbery while also solving the case of a missing young girl. The always well-dressed, fearless Phryne can take care of herself, enjoys her sexuality, and is a woman ahead of her times in the Australia of the late 1920s. She is supported in her adventurous lifestyle by her maid and companion, Dot, and by Mr and Mrs. Butler, who run her household while asking no questions. A fresh time period and location, a feisty main character, and a well-developed sense of place distinguish this historical mystery series. Of 15 available Phryne Fisher mysteries, this is the ninth to be published in the U.S. --Sue O'Brien Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Those who like their heroines resourceful and their mystery plots leavened with humor will welcome Kerry Greenwood's Death at Victoria Dock: A Phryne Fisher Mystery, the latest in her 1920s Australian series, in which her unflappable proto-feminist detective enters the complex world of Russian anarchists after the shooting death of a young Slavic man. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Australia in 1928 may be fraught with labor and economic problems, but that's no excuse for murder. As she drives home one night, bullets shatter feminist-socialite-sleuth Phryne Fisher's windshield, and a beautiful young man dies in her arms. Mightily annoyed, she vows to track down the killers, a task that drags her deep into the shadowy world of anarchists. The young man, a Latvian, was executed by his fellow conspirators because he talked too much. Phryne, who has friends among the arty socialist crowd, meets the attractive and enigmatic Peter Smith at one of their parties. He becomes her lover and helps her discover that a bank robbery is being planned to finance the revolution. Phryne and her extended family become the target of attacks by the Latvians. When her companion Dot is kidnapped in a case of mistaken identity, the furious Phryne goes into action and foils the bank robbery, shooting the robbers dead. In her spare time, she solves the case of a missing 14-year-old, an aspiring nun who's run away from her dysfunctional nouveau-riche family. Peter must leave town and assume a new identity to stay alive, but irrepressible Phryne is soon ready for more intrigue. More romantic adventure than mystery, though feisty Phryne (Ruddy Gore, 2005, etc.) does keep the reader amused. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
