Cocaine Blues

Cocaine Blues, by Kerry Greenwood

Summary:

Phryne leaves the tedium of English high society for Melbourne, Australia, and never looks back. The London season is in full fling at the end of the 1920s, but the Honorable Phryne Fisher―she of the green-gray eyes, diamant garters and outfits that should not be sprung suddenly  on those of nervous dispositions―is rapidly tiring of the tedium of arranging flowers, making polite conversations with retired colonels, and dancing with weak-chinned men. Instead, Phryne decides it might be rather amusing to try her hand at being a lady detective in Melbourne, Australia.

Almost immediately from the time she books into the Windsor Hotel, Phryne is embroiled in mystery: poisoned wives, cocaine smuggling rings, corrupt cops and communism―not to mention erotic encounters with the beautiful Russian dancer, Sasha de Lisse―until her adventure reaches its steamy end in the Turkish baths of Little Lonsdale Street. (summary from https://poisonedpenpress.com/books/cocaine-blues-phryne-fisher-mysteries-1/)

Group Review
13 thumbs up
3 thumbs down

Well, this is the first time we’ve attempted to define what criteria each person uses to determine thumbs up or down. My personal criteria: would I read another book by this author? I was the lone wolf though; everyone else felt that a “thumbs up” vote was deserved if they were able to finish the book. Keep that in mind when reading the reviews!

The majority of the group clearly liked the novel. But as usual for our group, some of the very things that people enjoyed were some of the same things that others didn’t! For example: the clothes. Ah, the clothes! Those who didn’t like it said things like, “Too many costume changes!” But most people loved the wardrobe descriptions and felt that was part of the fun of the story. One person felt the detailed descriptions of the clothing helped demonstrate an aspect of Phryne’s character by showing her appreciation of things she didn’t have access to when poor. The food descriptions, too, were enjoyed by most.

Many people commented on the vocabulary used. There were quite a few words unknown to the readers but they were accurate for the time and place so looking them up was worth it (although one person disliked the period slang).

We agreed that for the most part there was no real mystery—or that the mystery wasn’t that great—or that the mystery was pretty irrelevant and what mattered were the interesting back stories and goings on of the main and supporting characters. The amusing and entertaining parts of the story were not the mystery itself.

The setting was a nice change—this is perhaps the only mystery we’ve read that takes place in Australia. But, many readers felt that the novelty of the setting wasn’t fully realized; Melbourne was hard to distinguish from any other city of its size.

The time setting was also unusual for our group, and we couldn’t think of any other book we’ve read set just after WWI. The social strata, women’s issues, drugs and just the general atmosphere of the time were all interesting. Phryne was definitely a product of her social position and time.

There were many opinions about Phyrne. She was fantastic and perhaps too good to be true. I likened her to Nancy Drew, although Nancy was born into moderate wealth and Phryne born into poverty. She assumed the mantle of aristocracy in childhood, but some questioned how well she wore the aristocratic attitude. If her formative years were in poverty, would she have so easily merged into the flawless character we meet?

Everyone liked the doctor, as well as Bert and Cec, but we’d have liked to have them all fleshed out more. As it stood, Bert and Cec, as one reader put it, were too “Keystone Kop.”

Overall, readers said the story was fun, light and easy “like cotton candy.” It was overblown, but we were content to sit back and enjoy the ride.

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One Comment

  1. I wish I had been able to make it for this discussion! I liked the book, but this is one of the very few instances that I actually prefer the show over the book.

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