For those who expect fictional sleuths to be either slightly alcoholic, but charming, old men, or tweed wearing women, Phyrne Fisher comes as somewhat of a surprise. Miss Fisher is a sassy, liberated woman in post world war one Australia, who seems to have a penchant for being caught up in murder cases which she never fails to solve.
In her latest adventure, The Castelmaine Murders, Phryne meets with a mummified bullet-studded corpse in the ghost train at Luna Park. Unable to leave the mystery alone, Phryne heads off to Castelmaine, determined to solve the case.
As always, solving a mystery is a dangerous past time, and Phryne soon finds herself in a spot of bother. Perhaps her Chinese lover Lin Chung will need to act as her knight in shining armour.
The Castlemaine Murders, by Kerry Greenwood
Allen & Unwin, 2003