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    Blood and Circuses
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    Blood and Circuses
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    Blood and Circuses
    Ebook264 pages3 hours

    Blood and Circuses

    By Kerry Greenwood

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Phryne Fisher is bored. Life appears to be too easy, too perfect. Her household is ordered, her love life is pleasant, the weather is fine. And then a man from her past arrives at the door. It is Alan Lee from the carnival. Alan and his friends want her to investigate strange happenings at Farrells Circus, where animals have been poisoned and ropes sabotaged. Mr. Christopher has been found with his throat cut in Mrs. Witherspoon’s irreproachable boarding house and Miss Parkes, an ex-performer, is charged with his murder.Phryne must go undercover deeper than ever to solve the circus malaise. She must abandon her name, her title, her protection, her comfort, even her clothes. She must fall off a horse twice a day until she can stay on. She must sleep in a girls tent and dine on mutton stew. And she must find some allies.Meanwhile, in Melbourne, the young and fresh-faced policeman Tommy Harris has to solve his own mysteries with the help of the foul-spoken harridan Lizard Elsie, or Miss Parkes will certainly hang. Can Phyrne uncover the truth without losing her life?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPoisoned Pen Press
    Release dateJan 16, 2012
    ISBN9781615953592
    Unavailable
    Blood and Circuses
    Author

    Kerry Greenwood

    Kerry Greenwood was born in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray and after wandering far and wide, she returned to live there. She has degrees in English and Law from Melbourne University and was admitted to the legal profession on the 1st April 1982, a day which she finds both soothing and significant. Kerry has written three series, a number of plays, including The Troubadours with Stephen D’Arcy, is an award-winning children’s writer and has edited and contributed to several anthologies. The Phryne Fisher series (pronounced Fry-knee, to rhyme with briny) began in 1989 with Cocaine Blues which was a great success. Kerry has written twenty books in this series with no sign yet of Miss Fisher hanging up her pearl-handled pistol. Kerry says that as long as people want to read them, she can keep writing them. In 2003 Kerry won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Australian Association.

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    Reviews for Blood and Circuses

    3.5/5

    182 ratings14 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This book was too much about the circus ick and less about the people I have gotten to know. Dot was barely mentioned & nothing about her adopted daughters or Ces & mate.
    • 3/5
      A fun romp in a 1928 Australian Circus that is as absurd as it is improbable but a sweet easy read with a bit of a body count, hardly more than required for a mystery.
    • 4/5
      In my review of [book:The Green Mill Murder] I did a little bit of exploration of how very different the Miss Fisher tv episodes are from the books they're based on. I was about to say that the changes didn't feel quite so drastic in this one, until I remembered the very drastic change at the beginning. Yeah, there were great big changes; I guess it was a bit streamlined to make it easier to digest on television. And, again, I liked the TV episode – but I liked the book better. Another thing I mentioned in the last book was that I always seem to learn something from these books, and the same held true this time out. The bit about the human cannonball made me blink for a second, and then basically go "Well, sure." And I loved the detail about circus trick riding – I'm a little sad that wasn't the way they went with the tv show, because that would have been beautiful. Ah well. A note on the horses - - I've said before that one area in which I always judge a writer is how they write horses. Kerry Greenwood did a nice job. They had names, and gender-specific pronouns were used. I approve.I'm still a little disappointed and disoriented by this, the original, "real" Inspector Robinson. It took a minute, but once I finally adapted, I enjoyed him. The Shakespeare quotes that pepper this one helped – how can I not love a man whose response to someone being upset at police in her home is "'Oh, woe, Alas! What, in my house?'"Lizard Elsie, Miss Parkes, the circus folk – these were some wonderful characters. Miss Fisher is a potent enough force to carry the whole series on her own if she had to – though she's not invulnerable, and I like that and her awareness of the fact – but she is surrounded by lovely juicy characters who are all immense fun to read, both the series regulars and the guest stars. Love it.The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
    • 2/5
      Full disclosure: I got this from NetGalley in return for an honest reviewI like a cosy mystery but this just wasn't good enough. The plot was slack; the protagonist spends much of the book wandering around and observing an awful lot of not much in particular. Eventually she puts it all together in the space of a paragraph without it feeling like a logical conclusion of all that's come before. Perhaps the structure is better than I'm giving it credit for but if so I can only assume the fact I wasn't able to appreciate it was because of the prose. 'Rules of writing' can be prescriptive but Greenway could do more to show and not tell; characters regularly read out chunks of their own or each other's bios as if from some concordance. Very few people understand their motivations as well as the characters in this book and fewer still soliloquise to almost complete strangers about them. I wanted to like this a lot more than I did – I'm a sucker for mystery novels, a bigger sucker still for mystery novels with a posh bird getting her stocking tops out on the cover – but it just wouldn't let me. It was so clumsy and demonstrative it constantly pushed me away. I shan't be reading any more Phryne Fisher.
    • 3/5
      Blood and Circuses by Kerry Greenwood is the sixth book in the Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. Phryne Fisher is home alone on a Sunday, and she is bored. Then the doorbell rings and she finds Samson, Alan Lee and their friends on her doorstep. They need Phryne’s assistance with problems that are plaguing Farrell’s Circus and Wild Beast Show. If the person behind these nasty incidents is not found, the circus may go under. Phryne agrees to go undercover as a trick rider if she can learn the routine in the next week. Meanwhile, Constable Tommy Harris responded to a call at Mrs. Witherspoon’s boarding house on Brunswick Street. Mr. Christopher was found dead inside his room. Miss Amelia Parkes is arrested for his murder, but Tommy does not believe Miss Parkes committed the crime. Detective Inspector Jack Robinson is of a similar mind, but they need proof. Phryne with the help of her companion, Dot gets ready to join the circus as Fern Williams. Phryne needs clothes that are more aligned with her new station as a performer (no silks or satins for Fern). Phryne learns how to do tricks on a horse and is soon ready to set off with the others for Farrell’s next performance. Tommy is out at night trying to get intel and quickly lands in hot water. Thankfully, Lizard Elsie comes to his rescue, patches him up and returns him to his police superiors. It turns out that the problems besetting the circus and the murder of Mr. Christopher are tied together. Jack quickly sets out for Farrell’s latest location and hopes that he is not too late to save Phryne. See if Phryne makes it back home to Dot, Mr. & Mrs. Butler, and her extended family in Blood and Circuses.Blood and Circuses is nicely written, but it is different from the prior books in the series. Phryne is not quite herself in this edition. I missed Phryne’s engaging personality. She seemed more subdued and contemplative. I was, though, happy to see more of Jack in this novel. What I enjoy most is the interactions between Phryne and Jack. They are always fun and witty together. When you first start reading the story, there are two different storylines. They are eventually tied together and it all makes sense. It can be a little confusing in the beginning especially with the introduction of the two gang factions (Roy Boys and the Brunnies). The pace is sluggish as well (which always makes a book feel longer than it is). Figuring out the identity of the killer is not rocket science. I wish it had been more complicated (like the storylines). If you have watched the show that relates to this book, you will find it different in many regards (there are similarities). In a way, I preferred the show (I found it more entertaining). There is extreme violence and intimate relations included in Blood and Circuses. Phryne finds herself with two lovers in this book. I give Blood and Circuses 3.5 out of 5 stars. There is circus lingo that I found difficult to interpret. I did find the second half of the book more entertaining the first part (as the separate storyline tie together and there are fewer people to keep track of). While I did not find Blood and Circuses as enjoyable as the first five stories in the stories, I will definitely keep reading the series.
    • 2/5
      Would have to be one of the more ridiculous Miss Fisher mysteries written. Phryne's activities during the book are pretty silly, and most of the work is done by Jack and his young colleague. We see very little of Dot and the Butlers.
    • 4/5
      Basically Phryne runs away and joins the circus. Ostensibly to help with some friends in the circus who are seeing accidents happen around them but can't see what's happening. She has to learn how to be a member of the circus and finds it a challenge to be away from her luxury. There's a look at how those who were determined to be freaks at the time could find space in a circus to be themselves. Phryne discovers more about herself that I'd say will have consequences.The murder victim was more Jack's purview this time, a hermaphrodite who is killed in boarding rooms, part of the circus and the killer could be anyone else in the house, with an obvious killer in a woman who had previously killed.It was interesting and made me think. The mystery wasn't as interesting as the circus life. and now I'm humming Simon Smith and his Amazing Dancing Bear, the bear was one of the best characters in the story.
    • 4/5
      Synopsis: Phryne is bored. Fortunately a friend who runs a carnival appears, with several other carnies, and asks her to investigate the 'bad luck' that seems to be following a circus. This means that Phryne must become Fern and learn to ride a circus pony, as well as charm a bear and an elephant. As usual, Phryne is nearly killed and has to rely on new friends to help her out of a dangerous situation.Review: A nice departure from her usual adventures, this story shows the development of Phryne's character and gives another glimpse into her past.
    • 3/5
      Phryne Fisher is a woman who can seemingly do anything and get away with it. In this story, she joins the circus to get to the bottom of a mystery.This is the first Miss Fisher mystery I have read, although I enjoyed the TV series. Seeing that this book is later in the series, I may be missing out on some important character development, but I think not. Phryne is all well and good, but she isn't believable, nor is she someone I enjoy a lot. The sex isn't realistic, nor are the heroics. Yet, the story is still enjoyable enough. I probably won't spend money to seek out any more of the books, although if one fell into my hands, I might read it. The narrator did an admirable job on this story.
    • 5/5
      This is an unusual "Phryne Fisher" story, because she leaves her insulated world of wealth and privilege and all the friends the reader gets used to her working with and goes undercover at a circus to help some friends from long ago who've appealed to her for help. It's very interesting to see her in this new light--without her normal network of friends, and the constant mention of lovely clothes.

      It's still a lovely mystery, and a really fun read. I'm really, really glad I stumbled across this series. I can't remember how I found them but I'm really glad I did, I enjoy them a lot.
    • 4/5
      CIRCUS. Yes.
    • 3/5
      This is the sixth Phryne (Fry-knee) Fisher book, set in post-WW I Melbourne. When she is asked to investigate a suspicious run of bad luck at Farrel's travelling circus, Phryne goes undercover and joins the circus. This ties into the same case that Inspector call-me-Jack-everyone-does Robinson is working on, which involves a gang war threatening to break out on the streets of Melbourne. Phryne, who always finds a different paramour in each book, this time finds two; they help her fit into circus life, since her high society veneer has to be peeled off for the time being and her remembered childhood poverty isn't very useful, either.I quite like this series (partly, I must admit, for the cover art) for the period atmosphere and different views of early 20th century Australian life that Ms Greenwood conveys. Of course, not knowing anything about 1930s Melbourne, I can't tell how accurate it is, but she does seem to put some research into the particular aspect of life she focuses on in each book (in this case, circuses and their social hierarchy). This book is nicely put together, as ever, with a highly likeable supporting cast, but it wasn't a page turner for me; there were a few too many naked bodies about the place, which got in the way of the story somewhat.
    • 4/5
      Different, sassy, stretching the bounds of credibility, thoroughly entertaining, and totally over the (big?) top. Very Phryne.
    • 1/5
      Aside from the fact that this is one of the weakest of Greenwood's novels -- and that's saying something -- this features fairly graphic clown sex. Need I say more?