Ah Phryne Fisher, you just keep seducing me more with every book. (Uh oh. Now the next one will be a clinker... What was I thinking?)Actually, I thought this one was going to be a clinker for the first few chapters: Phryne starts out totally bitchy and not at all her inwardly snarky, outwardly cool and impassive self, an annoying phrase is repeated so many times I wanted to punch myself, and it was beginning to look like maybe she was going to - gasp! - parody or mock Agatha Christie's Miss Marple series. When Miss Fisher and her escort, Lin Cheng, show up for one of those weekend-in-the-country house parties, she is a bit testy. Does she know there will be a murder? Are the racial politics of dating a man of Chinese descent getting to her? Hard to tell, but she is uncharacteristically rude, ordering Lin about like a houseboy, and Dot like a well, maid. (Dot is her maid.)Additionally, she carries on about the execrable decor of her host's home (so gauche!) and the relatively poor quality of both the coffee and champagne on offer. Luckily, all it takes is a couple of rolls in the hay, and not just with Lin, and she is once again her old self.Just a moment to talk about sex. Anyone who has read any of these books will know that there is no point in slut-shaming Phryne Fisher; she is a modern woman of 1928 with a healthy sex drive and little prudery. I read some reviews in which readers were appalled that she had sex with two guys in one weekend, and found the boathouse scene too disgusting for words.Sorry, but I disagree. She discusses sleeping with the other fellow with Lin both before and after the event, and he seems cool with it. Who are we to judge? And I thought the boathouse scene was kinda sexy and much more realistic than most. If you like such things to be all shiny clean and rosy-romantic, you probably want to skip that scene however.I also kept thinking, throughout the early chapters that a good way to end up in the emergency room would be to drink a shot of vodka every time someone said the words, "the river is rising." Seriously. WE GET IT: the river is rising, it is going to cover the road and you will all be stranded at the house party!Finally, I was so happy to find that the book is indeed an homage to, and not a parody on, the Miss Marple books. Agatha Christie was just coming into her own as a writer in 1928, particularly after her award-winning story, The Murder of Roger Aykroyd. There are people who have been hating on Mrs. Christie since she started being published, but thankfully Kerry Grrenwood is not one of them!
While this wasn't my favorite Phryne Fisher so far, I still enjoyed it. Plus, I read the whole thing after work. I see a theme here... I'm getting to be a lazy reader.Phryne isn't her usual self in this book. She's away from home and expecting trouble because of her new love interest, the Chinese Mr. Lin. I think she would rather have stayed home, and so she's a bit of a crankypants, uncharacteristically critical of the decor, her fellow guests, and the champagne. The mystery was convoluted, and I couldn't keep the characters straight. Probably because I didn't give a hoot a about a single one of them. I'm tempted to raise this up one star just to counter all the prudes who were shocked at the overt and unconventional sexuality. Hello... violent murder is tolerable but gay sex and voyeurism aren't? Weird. I hope Phryne feels better when she gets home to Mr. B and has a proper cup of coffee.
What do You think about Urn Burial (2007)?
URN BURIAL (Private Investigator-Australia-1920s) – G+Greenwood, Kerry – 7th in seriesPoisoned Pen Press, 2005- Trade PaperbackPhryne Fisher, her maid, Dorothy, lover, Lin Chung and his man, Li, are headed for a holiday at Cave House in the Austrialian countryside. One the way, they hear a rifleshot and find a hysterical maid who has been molested. Later, Phryne finds the maid dead, but when she returns with help, the body is gone. Phryne discovers each of the houseguests has a secret and the host is receiving threatening letters. *** This is a delightful book with an equally delightful and capable protagonist. Phryne can fly her own plane, shoot, and ride and take lovers with delight. She's also clever and solves crimes through skill and observation. Greenwood does a wonderful job of creating strong, interesting characters, excellent dialogue and tight plots. She also teaches me something in each book--in this case, it's the geology of caves--without beating me over the head or slowing down the story. There is even a delightful homage to Agatha Christie in this book. While this entry may not be quite as strong as others in the series, it was still very enjoyable.
—LJ
I love Phryne Fisher as a character but this book was almost unreadable. Aside from the moral issues the prose is confusing. An example is this sentence, "He just walked up to the recalcitrant Major and they were denatured before they knew what had happened." Or this very confusing paragraph which begins with the description: "Being a dinner dress, it was only ankle length. The fishtail train on Phryne's ball dress- which seemed, sadly, to be unlikely to see society, at least at this party- was designed for dancing and to overawe the servants." I thought the description must be describing one dress until the end of the book when Phryne wears the ball dress.I hope the next book in the series is more engaging. If not, I'll just continue the series by watching the episodes on PBS.
—Kbc
A fun book in the style of Agatha Christie. I listened to the afterword on the CD Audiobook where the narrator interviewed Kerry Greenwood about this book. Kerry stated that she was trying to work within the confines of an Agatha Christie mystery, but adding an unexpected twist for each of the normal aspects. Given that perspective I think the story worked much better than I'd thought it had without that information. It's not Phrynne's regular setting, or group of characters. I'm giving it 3 stars. It was okay, but not great. I'll keep plugging through the series though.
—Krista
