Death by Water

This is definitely one of the weaker installments with the series. I got the sense early on that Greenwood was trying for a sort of Murder on the Orient Express solution, but what we ended up with managed to be anticlimactic and confusing rather than satisfyingly clever. There are also some racial issues here which go beyond a realistic evocation of the kind of racial attitudes which a group of upper class white people were likely to hold in the Australia and New Zealand of the 1920s. There are better works in the Phryne Fisher series; this one can safely be skipped.

First of all, what I liked: It was wonderful to see Phryne Fisher and her loyal maid/companion, Dot Williams, in a different environment. The sleuthing pair go on a cruise around New Zealand so that Phryne can investigate a series of jewel heists onboard. Every outing with Phryne and Dot is always a pleasure.

Now, what hurt this novel: the main plot has a ridiculous denouement and a subplot involving a murder has one nearly as implausible. It is a really testament to author Kerry Greenwood’s skill that she made the cruise so enjoyable that I still give it three stars despite the contrived ending.

This is one of the best in a top notch series. Phyrne takes to the waves for a little bit of high end detection, and what does she get? A flurry of plots, counterplots, and mayhem, of course, but as usual she copes with extraordinary aplomb. I particularly enjoyed this outing, in large part because of the ship board seven. The author vividly recreates (or at least reimagines) what it was like to be a first class passenger on a first class liner in the 1920's, and it is a very enjoyable trip indeed.

P&O have approached Phryne with a mission, to investigate jewellery theft, apparently someone in first-class is committing the deed, she's asked to pose as a first class passenger (not that Phryne would countenance anything less these days) and use a lure to catch the thief. Things start getting complicated and everyone is a possible suspect.

Poor Dot gets knocked out, but Phryne does her bit in panache and elegant clothes.

Twisty plot with lots of red herrings and plenty of moments where Phryne is magnificent. A very limited suspect pool makes this quite interesting.

Phryne is asked to try to discover who is stealing valuable jewelry on a cruise ship, all expenses paid of course! Four women on four voyages have each lost an exquisite piece, but all the crew members have been thoroughly searched and proven innocent of the crime. As it happens, there are a number of people who have taken passage on the luxurious ship numerous times, and it’s up to Phryne to get to know each and every one of them, savory or otherwise…. This is a more light-hearted entry in the series; only one person is murdered! We just have Phryne and Dot interacting with each other and the passengers and crew members, as the rest of the usual characters are left ashore. We also get to learn something of the Maori culture of New show more Zealand, and the story is interspersed with letters, presumably mostly real, of passengers on another cruise ship, one that proved to be doomed. Makes me want to take a cruise somewhere, anywhere; recommended! show less

Phryne Fisher takes to sea, courtesy of the P&O line. It seems they’ve had a rash of jewellery thefts and can’t determine if the thief is among the passengers or the crew.

Phyrne and her companion, Dot, sail on the luxury ship SS Hinemoa; destination New Zealand. As an enticement to the thieves, Phryne is given the Maharani, the Great Queen of Sapphires, to wear. With Phryne’s looks, wardrobe and the stone, she can’t help to attract attention.

While Phryne is enjoying cocktails with the upper class, Dot is learning about what the crew knows of the thefts. Between the two they solve not only this mystery, but also another one!

Jazz musicians, blackmail, a possessive husband and his flirt-ive wife, attempted murder are just a few of show more the events Phyrne encounters on her search for the theif.

This time out, it is only Dot to assist, but Phryne does manage to shanghai a couple of passengers and crew to help.

I am still enjoying this series….sort of like a get-away without getting away! show less

Good light read as most of the titles in this series are. Greenwood offers a "closed room" mystery as Phryne sets sail on a cruise (undercover of course). It's also a tad milder than some of her others as Phryne only falls into bed with someone once during the course of the tale. Not quite a cozy, but a really well done puzzle style mystery.