Reviews with content warning for Violence - Cocaine Blues

I love Phryne Fisher! Are these books masterpieces… no. But there is something about the colourful cast of characters and the setting of 1920/30’s Melbourne that just sucks me in.

Maybe I’m a little bias because I’m obsessed with the tv show, but I really enjoyed this story. The mystery itself isn’t overly compelling but like I stated earlier it’s the characters in the Phryne Fisher series that really make it. This novel is almost exactly the same as the first episode of the tv series so I think the ABC did a superb job of bringing this book to life.

This is a light easy read filled with loveable characters and a sense of mystery. I can understand why it has so quickly become and Australian classic.

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meganpbennett's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The first book in the series from which the marvelous Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries TV who was created. If you've watched the first episode, then you know more or less how the book is going to play out, with three mysteries creating the bulk of the plot of the story. The first mystery is what sends Phryne Fisher to Australia - parents who think that their daughter is being poisoned. The second mystery starts when a man forces a bleeding woman - Alice - into Burt and Ces's taxi cab, and it turns out that there is a man who is raping women and botching their abortions; several have died. Since abortions are illegal in Australia at the time, the women who survived are refusing to come forward. Since the women who've died have been prostitutes, the police aren't really investigating. Alice, who really has been taken down the rabbit hole, may be crucial to finding this person and bringing him into justice. The third mystery involves the titular cocaine - The King of Snow is inundating Australia with the stuff, and the police can't seem to do anything. A Russian dancer is crucial to the cocaine plot.

Overall, it's a good mystery, well-written, with good characters. Very interesting.

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traceymc's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I seem to be in the minority here but I didn't care for this book very much. I love the tv series and did know that there were differences between the show and the books. But most of my issues have nothing to do with those differences. Phryne is a lot less charming here and a complete Mary Sue character; brilliant at everything; all of the guys, and most of the girls,want her; the most beautiful, wonderful,amazing woman to exist. Em...no. On top of all this the writing was not great, the prose was clunky, the dialogue worse and there were too many plot lines happening, especially for such a short book.
I shall be sticking with the tv series, a rare case of the show being better than the book.

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jnichols's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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tfortilney's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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