Reviews

This starts with a bang. No really, it starts with a gratuitous sex-scene because I guess Greenwood knows you should always start as you mean to go on.

A somewhat cluttered plot (or set of plots). Seems like perhaps part of the problem is Greenwood has fallen in love with her many, many characters and wants to bring them out, especially since they don't all get to feature on the TV show. I have some sympathy for them and they are good enough company to make that forgivable, but then of course Phrynne's holiday in Daylesford is cluttered with dozens of new characters too and 3 different mysteries, morally grey things, police doing sneaky underhanded things that we are supposed to approve of, etc etc including the sex-siren thing.

I'm glad Greenwood has previously said this is James Bond with a woman in the driver's seat because when you look at it that way, it's not sillier than other examples of the genre (and a great deal less offensive). Phrynne as the ultimate femme fatale is somehow more acceptable when there is an abundance of ridiculously attractive women and she's not the one-and-only. She is polyamorous but genuinely wants other women to also be satisfied in bed. I enjoyed myself, perhaps partly because Daylesford and Hepburn Springs are where my family used to holiday when I was a kid.

I can never approve of Rudyard Kipling in any context and am not sure what he is doing here.

Overall this was more fun than not and by book 21 it's remarkable to still be this enjoyable!

aceymtaylor's review against another edition

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5.0

I love Phryne so goddamn much. She's just my favourite.

zombeesknees's review against another edition

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4.0

I confess: I had my hopes SUPER high for this latest installment in the Phryne Fisher series. I've been a diehard fan of both the books and the shows for several years, and this wait between volumes (the last Fisher, Murder and Mendelssohn, was released in 2013) has been downright excruciating. I sincerely feared Greenwood was done with the indomitable Miss Fisher, and was overjoyed to hear she'd finally be returning.

Alas, I cannot give an effusive, solely glowing review of Death in Daylesford. The book starts strong, and there are definite high marks in terms of excitement, character moments, and deadly calamity throughout the story. But overall this is one of the weaker adventures for our intrepid lady detective and her plucky family.

Greenwood has always had an enviable knack for packing a satisfying amount of fun into a streamlined number of pages; she's an author whose every economical line serves a purpose. But Death in Daylesford feels wordier than her past novels, and in an extraneous way. There are also *several* plotlines at work here, with Phryne handling a multi-pronged series of mysteries in the titular town while her adoptive daughters and young ward pursue their own inquiry, and it all feels very busy and loud.

So while I overall enjoyed the book -- because even a middling Phryne Fisher story is better than most of what's on offer -- it's absolutely not one of my favorites. Still, completionists and longtime fans won't be entirely let down by this return, and I will continue to live in hope for more from this Aussie femme fatale.

erisha's review against another edition

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3.5

Did I get this bc Agatha Christie wasn't available? Yes. Writing was a little eh but I imagined the tv show which I love and it was all good :)

sirrossington's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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