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shelbycat's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book and will definitely read all the others in this series. I loved that the characters were so familiar to me after watching the TV series.
bekki_f's review against another edition
4.0
Its good seeing Phryne off her game and vulnerable. Another good addition to the series.
maleficentknits's review against another edition
4.0
Back in form here, though Dot does quite a bit of sleuthing here as well which is probably just as well. I don't see those that she questions for Phryne exactly opening up to the Honorable Miss Fisher like they do to the every-woman, practical Dot. A respectable women's magazine whose employees all seemed to be involved in sensationalist blackmail, nasty little secrets, and horribly wrong advice leads to the murder of one of its writers, Miss Lavender.
The secondary mystery of pirates and the kidnapping of Phryne's Chinese lover also kept my interest. I was rather surprised though, that she's apparently attached herself to one man.
Though there were a great many characters to keep track of, I still found this one a fun read.
The secondary mystery of pirates and the kidnapping of Phryne's Chinese lover also kept my interest. I was rather surprised though, that she's apparently attached herself to one man.
Though there were a great many characters to keep track of, I still found this one a fun read.
theelliemo's review against another edition
3.0
The 11th book in the Phryne Fisher series see Phryne in a cosy murder mystery, using her intelligence and charm to solve the murder of a fairy illustrator, while a bit of danger is added by the welcome return of Lin Chung and Li Pen in a plot that has been brewing for a couple of books now. I don’t read these books for expert literature, I read them because they are fun and have a great lead character, in an interesting period of time. Greenwood, though, often references darker subjects and inequalities, keeping her novels interesting and relevant.
saraoh's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
kathryn08's review against another edition
3.0
Another fun read from Kerry Greenwood and narrated by Stephanie Daniels. In this one, Phryne takes a job at a women’s magazine - all in the name of investigating a murder, of course. She has to work out which of the magazine’s staff are lying in the stories they tell her, and whether they are lying to cover up something personal or to cover up the murder. She tracks down letter writers to the magazines’s Dear column who were disgruntled with the advice they received and therefore potential murderers and deals with a gang of Chinese pirates - all in a day or two’s work for Miss Fisher!
tonstantweader's review against another edition
3.0
Away With the Fairies is the eleventh book in Kerry Greenwood’s excellent period mystery series featuring Phryne Fisher, a woman whose elegance and élan are only eclipsed by her courage and intellect. I think of her as pure wish fulfillment, gorgeous, rich, brilliant, and with the mores and freedoms of a 21st century woman in the glorious gowns and fashions of the 1920s. What could possibly be better?
Away With the Fairies sends Phryne to a popular woman’s magazine to investigate the death of their agony aunt and famed author/illustrator Miss Marcella Lavender. Miss Lavender’s fame came from her fairy stories and illustrations that are all just a bit too twee for Phryne and Detective Inspector Jack Robinson. Her apartment home is awash in fairies, gnomes and all things pink which might have been enough to inspire someone to murder, but other possibilities abound. First, it’s clear she is a gossipy neighbor and nosy parker, so perhaps one of the others who live in the apartments. There is also an unusual monthly deposit she received which could indicate blackmail. And then, as the advice columnist, she might just have given some bad advice and reaping some revenge.
Phryne goes to work at the magazine helping out the fashion column while Dot tracks down some of the letter writers. Meanwhile, far more worrying, Lin Chung is missing and someone seems to be trying to kill Phryne.
I like Away With the Fairies. It’s fair as Phryne Fisher mysteries always are. It moves faster than some of her mysteries, perhaps because there are two distinct issues, the kidnapping on Lin Chung and the murder of Miss Lavender. They don’t intersect so neither investigation needs to move more slowly to not reveal too much of the other.
If you like fair mysteries that are written to a successful formula with clearly defined characters, you should like this series. Greenwood does her research and seeks to be historically accurate and incorporate as much of the real commerce, characters and structures of 1920s Melbourne as she can. The sense of time and place are excellent. In this book, Greenwood shows a more authentic display of the mores of that time, the advice to suffer a husband’s abuse for example is the kind of advice that would be given at that time. The intolerance of white/aboriginal marriages is the kind of intolerance that dominated the era. In many of the series, Phryne’s own modern values so dominate that the harsh intolerance and misogyny of the era is not apparent. That is not so in this book.
I like Phryne. I think I always will. Greenwood manages to write several books without sounding like the is writing Phryne off a character card she developed in a workshop. That makes me happy.
Away With the Fairies will be released on August 1st. I received an e-galley in advance from the publisher through NetGalley.
★★★
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/07/05/9781464207723
Away With the Fairies sends Phryne to a popular woman’s magazine to investigate the death of their agony aunt and famed author/illustrator Miss Marcella Lavender. Miss Lavender’s fame came from her fairy stories and illustrations that are all just a bit too twee for Phryne and Detective Inspector Jack Robinson. Her apartment home is awash in fairies, gnomes and all things pink which might have been enough to inspire someone to murder, but other possibilities abound. First, it’s clear she is a gossipy neighbor and nosy parker, so perhaps one of the others who live in the apartments. There is also an unusual monthly deposit she received which could indicate blackmail. And then, as the advice columnist, she might just have given some bad advice and reaping some revenge.
Phryne goes to work at the magazine helping out the fashion column while Dot tracks down some of the letter writers. Meanwhile, far more worrying, Lin Chung is missing and someone seems to be trying to kill Phryne.
I like Away With the Fairies. It’s fair as Phryne Fisher mysteries always are. It moves faster than some of her mysteries, perhaps because there are two distinct issues, the kidnapping on Lin Chung and the murder of Miss Lavender. They don’t intersect so neither investigation needs to move more slowly to not reveal too much of the other.
If you like fair mysteries that are written to a successful formula with clearly defined characters, you should like this series. Greenwood does her research and seeks to be historically accurate and incorporate as much of the real commerce, characters and structures of 1920s Melbourne as she can. The sense of time and place are excellent. In this book, Greenwood shows a more authentic display of the mores of that time, the advice to suffer a husband’s abuse for example is the kind of advice that would be given at that time. The intolerance of white/aboriginal marriages is the kind of intolerance that dominated the era. In many of the series, Phryne’s own modern values so dominate that the harsh intolerance and misogyny of the era is not apparent. That is not so in this book.
I like Phryne. I think I always will. Greenwood manages to write several books without sounding like the is writing Phryne off a character card she developed in a workshop. That makes me happy.
Away With the Fairies will be released on August 1st. I received an e-galley in advance from the publisher through NetGalley.
★★★
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/07/05/9781464207723
jenne's review against another edition
3.0
Hmm, I thought this one was kind of a mess. The two plotlines didn't really go together.
eak1013's review against another edition
4.0
Well, speak of the devil. This is totally Phryne's [b:Murder Must Advertise|351559|Murder Must Advertise (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries, #10)|Dorothy L. Sayers|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1389232617s/351559.jpg|1459650], if only Harriet Vane had been kidnapped by pirates while Peter was churning out advertising copy. Still enjoyable, though.