Books › Away With The Fairies
Away With The Fairies
First published 2005 · 245 pages
A sparkling, champagne-fueled romp through 1920s Melbourne that blends sharp-witted sleuthing with unapologetic glamour.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sipping a perfectly mixed cocktail in a jazz club, effervescent, sophisticated, and packing a surprising punch. The narrative glides effortlessly through the bohemian and publishing circles of 1920s Melbourne, wrapping a clever murder mystery in layers of silk, scandal, and sharp feminist wit. The prose is richly textured, lingering on the sensory delights of fashion and food just as lovingly as it unravels the tangled motives of its suspects. It is a brisk, joyful escape that balances cozy mystery tropes with a heroine who is dangerously competent and fiercely independent. This is the perfect read for anyone who delights in historical whodunits where the sleuth is as dazzling as the world she navigates, offering a triumphant celebration of found family and unapologetic pleasure.
- Mood
- effervescent
- stylish
- theatrical
- cozy-yet-dangerous
- Tone
- wry
- glamorous
- playful
- feminist
- sophisticated
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- female independence · found family · the facade of polite society · unapologetic pleasure
- The writing
- Elegant and razor-sharp, dripping with sensory details of 1920s fashion, cocktails, and architecture.
- The arc
- Moves from restless anticipation through a labyrinth of stylish deceptions to a triumphant, deeply satisfying resolution.
- Who it's for
- Lovers of historical mysteries who crave unapologetically bold, fiercely independent heroines and a heavy dash of Roaring Twenties glamour.
Content notes
- murder
- assault
- period-typical sexism
About the book
Exciting, gorgeous, adventurous and brave. That's Phryne Fisher, returning in her tenth crime mystery novel.Phryne Fisher-dangerous, passionate, kind, clever, and seductive. She drinks cocktails, dances the tango, is the companion of wharfies, and is expert at conducting an elegant dalliance.It's the 1920s in Melbourne and Phryne is asked to investigate the puzzling death of a famous author and illustrator of fairy stories. To do so, Phryne takes a job within the women's magazine that employed the victim and finds herself enmeshed in her colleagues' deceptions.But while Phryne is learning the ins and outs of magazine publishing first hand, her personal life is thrown into chaos. Impatient for her lover Lin Chung's imminent return from a silk-buying expedition to China, she instead receives an unusual summons from Lin Chung's family followed by a series of mysterious assaults and warnings.
Description from Open Library.
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