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First Sentence: The attack came
on suddenly.
Young pregnant
girls are going missing and reporter Polly Kettle thinks she
knows what is happening to them. Then Polly disappears. Phryne
and her minions are on a case that involves much more than
first thought.
Greenwood has
the most wonderful voice and use of humor…”This
was going to be an evening where she needed every single whit
about her, as plate armour was no longer worn in polite society.”
At the same time, the book addresses several serious social
issues, but in a way that’s never preachy. “Unnatural
Habits” looks at the Magdelene Laundries run by the
Catholic Church using single, pregnant young women; sex trafficking
and the gay community in the 20s.
Phryne Fisher
is one of the most wonderful protagonists one can find. She
comes from poor beginnings and has never forgotten them, but
has gained wealth. She is independent, strong and very capable
yet, through the series, “adopts” people into
her informal family. She believes in manners and elegance,
yet stands up for those who are abused, oppressed or discriminated
against and is intolerant of cruelty. In a “gentleman
only” club where Phryne is invited to join them for
lunch, she is told she will be an honorary gentleman, to which
she responds, “I have always tried to behave as one.”
At the same time, she is not above the appropriately used
insult, invective or expletive.
Greenwood’s
descriptions place one in Phryne’s world. The descriptions
of food are mouth-watering and of clothes leaving us to wish
for a more elegant time. At the same time, Greenwood expects
a level of intelligence from her readers. Aside from being
a fun detective story, it is—as are all the books in
the series—a book with a strong social conscience.
Although Phryne’s
involvement in solving crimes with the approval of the police
may be improbable, one doesn’t really care. All the
threads are neatly tied, all the questions satisfactorily
answered, and justice, either legally or morally, is served.
Unnatural
Habits is a totally, delightfully fun read with a very
good twist.
Reviews
of other titles in this series
Cocaine
Blues #1
Flying
Too High #2
Murder
on the Ballarat Train #3
Death
at Victoria Dock #4
The
Green Mill Murder #5
Blood
and Circuses #6
Ruddy
Gore #7
Urn
Burial #8
Raisins
and Almonds #9
Death
Before Wicket #10
Murder
in Montparnasse #12
Murder
in the Dark #16
Murder
on a Midsummer Night #17
Unnatural
Habits #19
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