Always enticing in divine twenties fashion, Phryne, one of the most exciting and likeable heroines in crime writing today, leads us through a tightly plotted maze of thrilling adventure set in 1920s Australia. The divine Phryne Fisher returns to lead another dance of intrigue. Seven Australian soldiers, carousing in Paris in 1918, unknowingly witness a murder and their presence has devastating … consequences. Ten years later, two are dead … under very suspicious circumstances. Phryne’s wharfie mates, Bert and Cec, appeal to her for help. They were part of this group of soldiers in 1918 and they fear for their lives and for those of the other three men. It’s only as Phryne delves into the investigation that she, too, remembers being in Montparnasse on that very same day. While Phryne is occupied with memories of Montparnasse past and the race to outpace the murderer, she finds troubles of a different kind at home. Her lover, Lin Chung, is about to be married. And the effect this is having on her own usually peaceful household is disastrous.
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We have another wonderful mystery featuring our favorite sleuth, Phryne Fisher. While Murder in Montparnasse is a cozy mystery, it also has such bittersweet events of memory for Phryne. There are several issues which are going on in Phryne’s life during this book. She has been asked to help locate a young woman who was betrothed to marriage, but is now missing.
Bert and Cec have come to her for assistance in a matter of life or death. Five men remain of the seven comrades who were together in Paris 1918 after the war. Two have died in suspicious circumstances and …oh no…more are dying! What did Bert, Cec and the other men see or know which puts them at risk years later?
And our Dear Phryne… as she is remembering her time during the war and directly after, I felt so much emotion for her. You will read of heartbreak and learn so much about her life that we never read before. Her time in the war services at such a young age driving the ambulance is so heroic. We learn about the mystery man of her youth, her lover, her abuser, and now the hunter and the hunted!
And Phryne’s Lin Chung… The event in his life she has dreaded is about to happen. How will this change the dynamic of her life?
If you are a fan of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries this book is NOT to be missed! I found it very emotional and read it twice!
Murder in Montparnasse earns 5+/5 Chilled Pastis…Engaging, Clever Favorite!
Have you seen the popular Aussie production Miss Fisher’s Murder Mystery? Well, don’t think, because you’ve seen a particular episode, you wouldn’t enjoy reading the book on which that episode is based. So much more is included in Kerry Greenwood’s original work that time constraints would not have allowed everything to be covered. That is so true of the twelfth book “Murder in Montparnasse.” There are extra cases for which Miss Fisher has been engaged to solve: arson, a protection racket, and kidnapping. For me, the main reason I opted to read the book was the hope that a more complete look into Phryne’s past would be addressed. I was not disappointed. Circumstances caused her to remember her life in 1918 Paris just after the war with flashbacks of how she came to live a bohemian lifestyle among the artists on the Left Bank, and dropping a few recognizable names, exploring her various friendships, life as an artist’s model, and destructive romance in which she found herself. Even though two of the storylines were the subject of the television show, the book expands deliciously on the details, interactions, and characters making it feel like a totally different story with additional characters as well as experiences and connections that do not exist in the show. Greenwood’s writing style uses a third person perspective with very descriptive language painting a full picture of the environment and characters and strengthening the images I have. She incorporates a 20s feel with mentions of fashion and the vernacular of the time along with the witty banter that is the Miss Fisher I admire. Having totally been engaged in this book, up late reading, and talking about it to any Phryne Fisher fan I meet, I have no reservations purchasing other books used in the television show. Don’t be concerned…you won’t regret it!
Quite possibly my favorite yet. I was a bit concerned upon starting this one, as the corresponding tv episode is also one of my favorites, but I was delighted to find a lot of what made me love the episode was from the book, and what was missing was made up for by other delights. Jane and Ruth have some time to shine in one of the mysteries Phryne is investigating (yes, of course there’s more than one, this is Miss Fisher we’re talking about!), and we meet Camellia for the first time. I adored her character in the tv show and wished we had seen more of her. While Camellia in the book is a little less impressive, I still found myself enjoying her a lot. And considering the different relationship set up we have in the books compared to the tv show, I’m hopeful we will see more of her in further books and get to know her even better. Dot has some great moments, and Hugh shines. Plus: the wonderful friendship between Jack Robinson and Phryne Fisher has me fully believing they are friendship GOALS! We meet Rosie for the first time in person, a very different character from her tv counterpart, but then Jack’s life is very different from his tv counterpart. Rosie didn’t make a huge impression on me, but I was mostly just thrilled to see Jack Robinson living an excellent life and being happy. Really, this is more of a 4.5 out of 5 stars. I will be thrilled to reread this one later.
This is supposed to be one of the best novels in the entire Miss Fisher series. It is. I did enjoy it more than most I’ve read in the series.
We learn about a part of Phryne’s past, a time she spent in Paris at the end of WWI. Phryne had enlisted in the war against her father’s will, became an ambulance driver, and she gained the ‘honourable’ part of her name on the battlefield. In Paris at the end of the war, she again rebels to her father’s will and stays in Paris, where she lives with the bohemians.
WWI is pervasive in the case Phryne is investigating, involving her friends Bert and Cec. This case also brings back into her life her first lover, who she met in Paris, and this gives her an unusual sense of insecurity.
There’s lots of action and character building here. Hugh, as well as Phryne’s adopted daughters, get a good chunk of the action. Phryne’s story with Lin Chung also goes through a significant evolution. There is a lot, on different levels, in this story.
And still, I think it could have been even better. There were indeed a few weaknesses that, especially at the end, spoiled my enjoyment of the novel.
I had the impression that a lot of tension was built around Phryne’s insecurities and the thread about her former lover so to sustain the flashbacks in Paris, which didn’t have the strength to support themselves. These flashbacks were inserted in the plot quite forcefully. I never find any harmony in the way they existed inside the story. They were very long and frequent, and while at the beginning I found them interesting, after a while they started to repeat themselves so that in the end they became more annoying than enriching. The sensation became even stronger when the thread regarding Phryne’s lover in her present time basically ended up in nothing.
I was quite disappointed.
So, I suppose this was a good novel as it lasted, but could have ended more strongly.