Urn Burial (original 1996; edition 1996)

This one was full of surprise couples and twists. I'm sure some readers kinda went, whoa, I didn't expect that. Me, I was surprised somewhat, Greenwood had been going that direction for a while now. This is a marketed as a cozy type of mystery so she might have lost a few readers like Suzanne Brockmann did when she introduced her Jules and Robin storyline in her romance series. Still, Greenwood wrote a wonderful romp of a mystery, with a big cast of characters (list provided at the beginning of the novel) and she mixes and matches people like a pro.

I liked the not so veiled hints and homage to Agatha Christie. Enjoy the Miss Marple, And then there were none homage, Greenwood had a bit of fun with it.

Phryne Fisher is a one of kind heroine in the cozy mystery genre and with this novel Greenwood is kinda moving the character away from the stereotype and creating something unique. ( )

This was a pretty good one. Shockingly, she actually had the same boyfriend for two books in a row!
This was a full-on Agatha Christie house-party mystery, complete with a fluffy old lady named Miss Mary Mead. Ha. ( )

This is an enjoyable, Australia-set take on a country house mystery. Phryne Fisher decides to visit a friend's estate in order to recover from her experiences in Ruddy Gore—of course, this being the series that it is, she's not there very long before there's all sorts of mischief afoot with murdered housemaids and hidden secrets. I enjoyed all the OTT twists and turns, Dot (as per usual; what a great example of a female character who is competent and brave without being a Strong Female Character cliché), and Phryne being unashamedly polymorous. However, while I also really enjoy Lin being represented as a desirable, heroic figure, and do like that Greenwood subverts some expectations (Lin identifies as Chinese but was born in England and educated in Oxford), there's still some exoticisation going on here which makes me wince. Ditto the frequent comparisons made here to Phryne as a Manchu Princess—Phryne is a fantastic character in and of herself, and using a (nameless, non-white) female Other as a shorthand symbol of that awesome is just unnecessary. And, you know, a little racist. The one recurring irritation in what is otherwise a really fab series of books. ( )

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The redoubtable Phryne Fisher comes to the rescue once more. She's fiesty, bold and charming. Who could fail to love this woman who is a force unto herself. Set in the 1920s in Australia, Phryne goes on what she thinks is a weekend party and ends up wearing her sleuthing hat as murder steps in, which, in addition to many other combustible secrets, lead to a very exhilarating story ( )