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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
Blood and Circuses is the 6th of the Phryne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood. A bored Phryne is convinced by carnie friends to help solve the mystery of a series of strange happenings at Farrell's Circus: happenings which have culminated in the murder of a performer in his bedroom at Mrs Witherspoon's boarding house. Phryne's undercover role entails riding, standing and falling off horses, leading to a rather bruised heroine before she finally masters the art. As Phryne investigates, she encounters a myriad of characters as only a circus can harbour, as well as a cast of carnies and gypsies. How the rival gangs of Melbourne are involved in it all is something that Constable Tommy Harris and DI Jack Robinson need to discover, or the young, innocent ex-convict charged with the murder may be headed for the gallows. Phryne illustrates in this instalment just how sexually liberated she really is; she also discovers how happiness can be eroded by even a self-imposed exposure to reduced circumstances. Filled with bright lights, the big top, dangerous animals and interesting performers, is the circus all illusion? Another Greenwood masterpiece.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
8 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
A different Phryne
9 Aug 2007
Format:Hardcover
First Sentence: Mrs. Witherspoon, widow of uncertain years and theatrical background, was taking tea in her refined house for paying gentlefolk in Brusnwick Street, Fitzroy.
Wealthy private investigator Phryne is bored until she is approached by Samson the strong man, Alan the carousel operator and Doreen the Snake Woman to investigate what started as a series of accidents at the circus. With one of the circus members now dead, Phryne gives up her life of luxury and her friends to go undercover as a trick rider with the circus.
There is a lot more going on between the covers of this book than first appears. Greenwood knows how to take diverse, interesting characters and build a great story around them with the mystery almost being secondary. Here we have the murder of an hermaphrodite who was the love of both a man and a woman. We are introduced to the hierarchy of the circus and Phryne's feelings of vulnerability and loneliness. There is a ex-con who doesn't know whether she has committed murder but who finds a bit of her soul in helping an alcoholic go through withdrawal. There is sex, there is profanity; this is not your average cozy. What it is is a great character-driven story with a unique character.
Wealthy private investigator Phryne is bored until she is approached by Samson the strong man, Alan the carousel operator and Doreen the Snake Woman to investigate what started as a series of accidents at the circus. With one of the circus members now dead, Phryne gives up her life of luxury and her friends to go undercover as a trick rider with the circus.
There is a lot more going on between the covers of this book than first appears. Greenwood knows how to take diverse, interesting characters and build a great story around them with the mystery almost being secondary. Here we have the murder of an hermaphrodite who was the love of both a man and a woman. We are introduced to the hierarchy of the circus and Phryne's feelings of vulnerability and loneliness. There is a ex-con who doesn't know whether she has committed murder but who finds a bit of her soul in helping an alcoholic go through withdrawal. There is sex, there is profanity; this is not your average cozy. What it is is a great character-driven story with a unique character.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Phryne Joins the Circus (But Not for Pleasure)
24 May 2010
Format:Paperback
In this sixth book in the Phryne Fisher series, Phryne is asked by carnival friends to find out who is trying to drive Farrell's Circus out of business. Phryne joins the circus as "Fern," a dancer turned trick rider (she learns to trick ride specifically to investigate). In the meantime a hermaphrodite man who belonged to the same circus dies in a boarding house nearby; a former circus performer is accused of his death.
This is a fascinating entry in the Phryne Fisher series, giving you an inside look at a traveling circus in 1928 Australia and a glimpse of the people who work there: clowns who are thought unlucky, unusual people like dwarves and hermaphrodites who are accepted in the circus where they would not be anywhere else. Phryne, who has taken the job because she was bored, learns about loneliness and fear. We're also given a glimpse of Australian gangsters and street crime of the 1920s, including a prostitute who's becoming a drug addict. As is usual with a Phryne Fisher book, all the lads are attracted to her, and she manages to have hot sex with two different men. But it's a cracking good mystery as well.
This is a fascinating entry in the Phryne Fisher series, giving you an inside look at a traveling circus in 1928 Australia and a glimpse of the people who work there: clowns who are thought unlucky, unusual people like dwarves and hermaphrodites who are accepted in the circus where they would not be anywhere else. Phryne, who has taken the job because she was bored, learns about loneliness and fear. We're also given a glimpse of Australian gangsters and street crime of the 1920s, including a prostitute who's becoming a drug addict. As is usual with a Phryne Fisher book, all the lads are attracted to her, and she manages to have hot sex with two different men. But it's a cracking good mystery as well.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Awesome story, terrific series
10 April 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love historical mysteries, and the Phryne Fisher series is absolutely my new favorite indulgence. Phryne is a great character, a clever detective, and I'm dazzled by the world she inhabits--Australia in the 1920s.
In Blood and Circuses, the Honorable Miss Phryne joins a traveling circus to investigate some suspicious happenings on behalf of some carnival sideshow friends of hers. It's a brilliant and tawdry world, and she learns stunt-riding as she explores the ins and outs of a working circus.
Years ago, I read an old book about a boy who wanted to run away and join the circus--it was the old-time equivalent of running away to Hollywood, I guess. Exciting, glamorous and totally different from "real" life. Joining the circus in Australia in 1928 seemed like the same thing.
This was my favorite so far of the Phyrne Fisher stories--I'm reading them in order--and definitely a treat. A satisfying mystery, a virtual journey in brand-new surroundings, and a terrific main character make this a don't-miss book
In Blood and Circuses, the Honorable Miss Phryne joins a traveling circus to investigate some suspicious happenings on behalf of some carnival sideshow friends of hers. It's a brilliant and tawdry world, and she learns stunt-riding as she explores the ins and outs of a working circus.
Years ago, I read an old book about a boy who wanted to run away and join the circus--it was the old-time equivalent of running away to Hollywood, I guess. Exciting, glamorous and totally different from "real" life. Joining the circus in Australia in 1928 seemed like the same thing.
This was my favorite so far of the Phyrne Fisher stories--I'm reading them in order--and definitely a treat. A satisfying mystery, a virtual journey in brand-new surroundings, and a terrific main character make this a don't-miss book
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