Phryne Fisher is a rich, sassy young flapper detective in 1920s Australia with a hedonistic taste for fast cars, beautiful young men and all aspects of enjoying life. She’s been called a female version of Leslie Charteris’s The Saint, which isn’t wholly accurate but steers you in the right direction. Each book stands on its own, but they’re more fun to read in order to see how some of the relationships develop.

It’s not my absolute favorite entry in this series, but after being frustrated with too much focus on different sorts of sensuality in the prior book (also reviewed on Myshelf), I’m ecstatic to see the focus return here to fundamental mystery and detection. That’s not to say there’s no sensuality—it’s an essential part of Phryne—but that’s all it is.

It’s the beginning of 1929, and Phryne is facing her 29th birthday, an age when most of her contemporaries have married, had kids and turned into respectable suburbanites. She certainly doesn’t look 29, but still...

Things change with a bang as Phryne’s socialist sister Eliza applies herself enthusiastically to the doorknocker before ushering in what Phryne’s butler refers to as "a person." Mrs. Manifold’s son Augustine was found drowned at St. Kilda’s beach. The police call it suicide; Mrs. Manifold emphatically thinks not, and wants Phryne to find out what really happened.

Augustine had educated himself while turning his late father’s junk shop into a well-respected source of more valuable collectibles and oddities. Along the way he’d acquired some even more odd companions, who are still looking for the treasure they thought he could lead them to. Maybe his death wasn’t so simple.

Then a lawyer appears on Phryne’s doorstep, looking for help with a different case involving a missing heir. And strangely enough there are a lot of valuable collectibles involved here too...

These books are fun historical romps. Short, fast, fun reads loaded with color, action, sensuality and a dollop of humor. But there’s still solid detective work at the core. Highly enjoyable and definitely recommended.