Blood and Circuses (Phryne Fisher Mysteries)

I was thrilled to discover the Phryne Fisher series. It had everything I wanted in a book-- including clean language--and there were so many of them. I intended to savor them all. I was listening to an audio version when the narrator began screaming profanity. I turned it off and checked the Kindle version. The book is filled with it. I am betrayed. I returned the book and will read no more. Ms Greenwood, I thought you were better than that.

It's October, 1928, and Mrs. Witherspoon is offering tea to her boarding house tenants. Hers is a respectable house, though since she was once on the stage herself, her boarders do tend to be from the world of entertainment. Sitting around the dining room table are Robert Sheridan, magician, and Amelia Parkes and Miss Minton, both actors. The only one who hasn't made it down is Mr. Christopher, who works in the circus.

A drop from the ceiling lands in Mrs. Witherspoon's teacup, and she sighs that Mr. Witherspoon must have let the bathtub overflow – again. But when Miss Minton goes up to check, she finds the bathtub dry. "It was only then that they all looked at the ceiling. A large red stain, like the ace of hearts, was spreading and dripping. No one even thought that it might be red wine."

And that is how Phryne gets involved. She is visited by three circus folk. They, as did Mr. Christopher, follow Farrell's Circus. Mr. Christopher's death is just the latest in a line of deaths, attacks and convenient accidents. "Bad luck happens, you know, and you can have a run of it. But Farrell's is like it's under a curse."

So how can Phryne go undercover in the close-knit community of a circus? By becoming part of the horse-riding chorus, so to speak. Read this book for what I found to be great trivia on why the basic horse-riding tricks are not as difficult to learn as you might think. Once again, the plotting of a Phryne Fisher mystery seems a little far-fetched, but, on the other hand, I am liking the writing and the chutzpah and fun more and more with each book. "Blood and Circuses" has some interesting psychology, too.

This is the 6th in Kerry Greenwood's Australian mystery series starring Phryne Fisher. A solid 4 stars.

Happy Reader

Blood and Circuses by Kerry Greenwood presents yet another fabulous Phryne Fisher adventure. This book holds a darker and rawer version of my favorite detective. Sure plenty of gruesome stuff happens where Miss Fisher is bound to be found. I think trouble finds her everywhere. In this particular case, Miss Fisher goes alone to help another friend of hers. With her personality and intellect, I can see how the woman detective can indeed have so many friends. A friend in a Circus calls for her help in solving a murder. But to do so, Miss Fisher will go undercover, leaving behind her luxurious life. The fact that our main character has not always lived a perfect life, helps her when put in this crazy circus lifestyle. Kerry Greenwood took everyone's favorite sleuth and put her in a sitatuion that tests every skill she has. Entertaining as always... Phyrne Fisher remains my favorite heroine.

Blood and Circuses is bold, dramatic, and worldly. Vulgarity and the ugly side of life shows up...but Miss Fisher is tough enough to handle it all...overall, I highly recommend this fast-paced thrilling journey to readers everywhere.

I received this copy from the publisher. This is my voluntary review.

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.

Blood and Circuses is my second foray into Kerry Greenwood’s Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. Phryne Fisher is recruited by some carnival workers to investigate mysterious problems with the circus they work for, a failing endeavor named Farrell’s. The mystery begins commonly enough, but as Phryne goes undercover as a bareback rider, she learns about the stratified and well ordered world of the circus. There, the trapeze artists have the most prestige, carnival workers are second class citizens, and Gypsies are low life.

Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Jack Robinson, Sargeant Terence Grossmith, and Constable Tommy Harris are up to their necks with gangster warfare and the disturbing murder of a circus member known as both Christopher and Christine. The source of these crimes seems to connect with the troubles of the circus, but it is hard to discover just how they are related.

In the process of these investigations, the reader learns more of Phryne’s background--some of the things that helped form her character. Several moral issues are addressed: an audience’s hunger for disaster in the circus ring, the need of people to order their society in classes and then discriminate based on the labels they attach to each group, the disparagement of people who are different with the label of “freak,” and the emotions and needs of those born with a physically inconclusive gender. Phryne faces personal issues when she chooses to live in deprivation, giving up her creature comforts, her safety, and her status in the name of relieving her boredom and helping others.

Blood and Circuses is a convoluted mystery, but all of the plot lines are explained in the end. It is not just an exciting tale of adventure. There are philosophical elements which invite Miss Fisher and the reader to engage in a bit of self-examination without even a touch of preachiness.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Poisoned Pen Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Notes: some bad language and a number of sexual encounters, but the emotions are described more than the physical aspects of the encounters.

Phryne is bored with all her riches and comforts so she jumps at the chance to go help an old friend at the circus. She goes undercover as a trick rider named Fern. Amazingly, this time she is all on her own. Phryne doesn't take any of her normal entourage with her and she goes mad trying to cope without them. She also learns how mean people are when you are not so rich and powerful. This confused me a lot. Phryne grew up poor. I know her life has been different for quite awhile, but we are always made to believe she enjoys the coarser things in life also. That she is an independent woman who can take care of herself. Here, she just floundered like a fish out of water.

Of course there was sex (clown sex be forewarned), violence, mystery and mayhem. The mystery fell a little short for me, but it wasn't bad. I just couldn't get over the horrible Phryne Fisher.
*I received a copy of this book and gave an honest review*

4 Stars

Phryne is off on another adventure!

A series of “accidents” have befallen the circus. From annoying to deadly, they are vexing the performers. Some old friends, Samson, Doreen and Alan, come to Phryne’s home to tell her about it and ask for her help in investigating. Reluctant to get involved, Phryne finally relents leaving Melbourne to go on the road with the circus.

She is going to be one of the riders in the show; standing bareback on a moving horse.

Meanwhile, Inspector Robinson is investigating the murder of Mr. Christopher at a boarding house. In a locked room, Mr. Christopher is stabbed to death. Coincidentally, he is a performer at the same circus Phryne joins. Suspicion for his murder immediately falls on one of the lodgers who was released from prison just a few weeks ago. But something doesn’t feel right.

The gang situation is getting worse. The Roy Boys and the Brunnies are going at it. Rumor has it that something big is going down.

This is a delightful read full of interesting and quirky characters. Well written, steady paced and occasionally funny, this book will entrance you and take you out of the everyday and into an exciting world of derring-do.

A big thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for granting me permission to read this book.

Well, these just keep getting better and better. Maybe it's because I've started watching the episodes AFTER I read the books (Thank you, TIVO, I am slave to the expense you represent, and thank you to my husband for buying me both the book and reducing the amount of complaining about the TIVO expense), but I'm really starting to like Greenwood's books a lot more than I did when I started, maybe she got much better, or I just love the circus - I'm not sure which.

The "Blood and Circuses" story was more complex in the book, with not just a startling murder at an actors' boarding house, but the method of 'exiting' prison that came up early on in the story, plus a disagreement between two street gangs, and various new police characters to track - no wonder we killed someone off at the circus, stayed at the circus, and kept reliable old Jack Robinson and Constable Collins when it came to the television, throwing in a dishonest cop for a little spice. Terribly exciting, between the book and the television - the endings were similar, but slightly different - really, couldn't ask for anything more. I enjoyed the book immensely (and seeing it on TV just brought it to life). Excellent! Hoping the hubs buys me the next one soon.

Free E-Arc received from NetGalley.

This is the second Phryne Fisher book I've read, (and I'm now addicted to the TV series as well) and I found I enjoyed it much more than the first. This is probably because I'm used to the characters from the TV series. That said, I also think it's an easier read than the first book I read.

The book flows well although I did notice that by the time the real work of solving the mystery was under way, I was 80% through the novel, and as such, it seems that solving the mystery is of secondary importance to the story of the circus and the attendant 'hanger-on's'. A fair portion of the novel is also concerned with the investigation taking place by the police and concerned with the gang warfare - and this rounds out the story nicely, but means that we spend less time with Phryne than you might expect.

Overall - an enjoyable jaunt set in the late 1920's in Australia.

Phryne Fisher's Murder mysteries attract because they explore many of the rather UN-explored aspects of life in a time and era long gone. Blood and Circuses is an interesting book. I've always been interested in the real life in a circus, and have read a number of books about them. Kerry's descriptions certainly match what I know and find interesting. And Phryne, that glamorous, elegant, free, modern woman, subjects herself to the culturally repressive, prejudiced and dangerous circus circuit and learning a skill that is possible to gain, but only at the expense of a lot of hard, difficult work and practice.
The final understanding of the ramifications of the entire scene was, if not surprising, certainly well done and caught me off guard.
This is a solo piece for Phryne and her loyal squad must wait in fear at the house while she risks her life and limb alone, with no backup.

In Blood and Circuses, the sixth novel to feature the intrepid Phryne Fisher, she undertakes an investigation that lives out the fantasy of every 19th century boy: running away to join the circus. A former lover who is a circus carny and some friends alert Phryne to a series of "accidents" that are consistently befalling the Farrell's Circus and Wild Beast Show. Clearly, these are no real accidents. Phryne goes undercover as a trick rider to find out who and why. In this novel, cut off from both her maid and ally Dot Williams and her policeman friend Detective Inspectot Jack Robinson, Phryne finds herself in the most terrifying situation she's ever been in. You'll be on the edge of your seat! I devoured the novel in just a day.

The description of early 20th century circuses truly add to the novel; however, as always, the main attraction is the quick-thinking and beautiful Phryne. As befits a girl who runs off to join the circus, Phryne has to give up her chic clothes, which makes her appreciate her good fortune all the more. And the same goes for the reader: The hard-scrabble life of the circus makes a welcome break from Phryne's usual exalted milieu. However, like Phryne, we're glad when we see her return home in the Hispano-Suiza, having tied up all of the loose ends.

Phryne also makes quite a few friends -- including a black bear named Bruno -- amongs the circus folk. I truly hope we'll be seeing some of them again in future novels.

Kerry Greenwood's novels featuring the Honorable Phryne Fisher are an excellent window into Australia's early years as a nation and into the exciting 1920s. However, the truth is that the real attraction of these novels is Phryne herself, clever, generous, sensuous, and gifted.

** spoiler alert ** Phryne has a new case. An hermaphrodite has been murdered in a locked room and there are unexplained accidents at a circus, the two cases are connected and Phryne's been asked to go undercover at the circus. Along the way she manages to pick up a new skill...bareback riding. And she manages to put all the pieces together and solve the case(s).

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.

Reviewed by Kylee J. Yeaman for Reader Views (2/07)

"Blood and Circuses" is set in 1920's Australia. Phryne (pronounced Fry-knee) is asked by some `carnie' friends of hers to help solve some suspicious happenings at Farrell's Circus and Wild Beast Show (the circus that their carnival trails). The final incident that pushes these friends to ask Phryne for her help is when one of the carnival `freaks' is murdered in his boardinghouse.

Phryne is a terrific character. She's witty, down to earth; unlike some of the other characters in the book. Lizard Elsie is a crack up! There are 20's era gangsters, a strongman, trick riders, a magician, acrobats, clowns, so many fabulous people to meet in the circus and the carnival.

Kerry Greenwood's writing is wonderful. I was transported to 1920's Australia through her words. It really remind me of the feeling I get while reading an Agatha Christie mystery, but being that the crime solver is a woman, it brought Miss Jane Marple to mind more so than Hercule Poirot. "Phryne looked around her dining room, which hung with pale damask. ... On the wall, opposite the big windows which opened onto her pocket-handkerchief sized front garden, hung seven oil sketched of dancing acrobats. ... Usually they refreshed her spirit. Today they looked as animated as dolls."

One of my very favorite scenes is about three-fourths of the way the way through "Blood and Circuses." It is a scene between Lizard Elsie and Miss Parkes (formerly of the circus) in their shared jail cell. Miss Parkes had been in a deep depression; not knowing whether or not you killed someone will do that to you. When Elsie gets sick and Miss Parkes takes care of her for several hours, Miss Parkes seems to realize that there are people who need/care for her and she comes around. We all need to be needed.

This book is for anyone who enjoys a nice mystery. It's just the right length (208 pages) for a weekend spent indoors or at the beach. There are one or two semi-racy scenes and some mild violence so I wouldn't recommend this for anyone under 13. I'm already planning on loaning this book to my mother for her to enjoy.

I hope that you pick up "Blood and Circuses" by Kerry Greenwood and enjoy it as much as I did.

Received book free of charge.

In Australia a concerned carnival worker Alan Lee asks his former lover Phryne Fisher to determine who is sabotaging Farrell's Circus and Wild Beast Show; Phryne agrees to investigate. The latest incident involved poisoning a horse, which led to the injury of a trick rider. This enables the socialite detective to go undercover as a trick rider since she is excellent with horses though she will need training to perform the act.

At the same time that Phryne joins the big top, a former employee of Farrell's Circus, hermaphrodite Mr. Christopher is found dead in a Melbourne rooming house. The police arrest another former performer Miss Parkes, who was just released from prison. However, Melbourne Constable Tommy Harris and Detective Inspector Robinson believe she did not commit this homicide. As they make further inquiries, Robinson nebulously connects a gangland murder to the circus incidents and the Christopher killing. Now he thinks his friend Phryne is in jeopardy even as she and one of the clowns share a tryst while she risks her life seeking out the culprit.

As in her previous adventures, Phryne continues to defy the dictates of late 1920s Australian society that demand a single women behave in a certain way; this time she has an affair with a clown. Her investigation is made fresh by the circus and its performers and other employees as they bring uniqueness to the tale. The support cast is very well developed, especially at the circus, the socialite's investigation and the police procedural. Series fans will appreciate this delightful historical whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

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.

This was very different than the tv story. Phryne gets asked by some old friends, circus performers, to find out what is going on with the mysterious accidents in the circus. When a he/she gets murdered she is really drawn in while at the same time Jack is investigating his own mystery called"exit". This is where some convicts who are suppose to be dead go missing instead, one sends him a postcard. This was better than the tv story, I enjoyed it more. It would have been hard for her to have done the trick riding done in the book plus the tv had the underlying background story of her sister's murder that is not present in the books. She dies of an illness. Excellent read.

Mom keeps saying she think they cast Phryne too old in the TV series, and this is the first book where I agree--Phryne seems particularly young and dumb as she casts aside all her trappings of wealth and joins the circus.

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.