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Phryne Fisher Mysteries
Feb. 9th, 2025 10:12 amCocaine Blues and 20 more
4/5. Long-running series of historical detective novels about a wealthy woman in 1928/1929 Australia who solves crime, builds an unconventional family, and bangs half the men she meets.
If you’re wondering where I’ve been, here you go.
These are hard to talk about because I read 21 of them (not 22, though there is a 22nd book) and I had a pretty good time for most of them. But the most recent books were such a noticeable decline in quality that it’s left a bad taste in my mouth and now I just keep thinking about what I didn’t like. Let’s see what I can do about that.
Things to like: Phryne’s cheerful and unapologetic sexuality. The ways she is allowed to behave as male detectives do – horny, constantly drinking, etc. Casual poly relationships that suit everyone just fine and work beautifully. Mostly short mysteries with a range of solutions. Strong writing on a craft level, particularly in the middle books. An affection for the detective novels that Phryne herself reads, and a playfulness with their forms (Christie, Sayers, etc.). But with more frankness about the specific sorts of crimes that women and children are vulnerable to – incest and rape, forced relationships, botched abortion, forced childbearing, etc.
What I don’t like: Also Phryne, who is a lot of a lot. The repeated and unmistakable asephobia that emanates from the books themselves, not just Phryne who is the one to voice a lot of it (she’s one of those highly sexual people who thinks there’s something wrong/unnatural about people who aren’t, and the books let her attach these views to villains several times). The way the author just gave completely up on series continuity once the TV show started, to the point of suddenly adding a sexual overtone to a relationship that was previously platonic (and almost familial) in the books because the TV show went a totally different direction with it. It’s extremely disconcerting. The sharp decline in writing quality in the last few books. The extremely weird Sherlock slashfic interlude where Phryne bangs not!John Watson a bunch to make not!Sherlock jealous (ah and it turns out he’s not asexual after all, what a relief for everyone). The later books get real weird, guys.
Content notes: All sorts of crime, including against children. Rape, incest, sexual exploitation, violence, murder, generally as aftermath and not on-page.
4/5. Long-running series of historical detective novels about a wealthy woman in 1928/1929 Australia who solves crime, builds an unconventional family, and bangs half the men she meets.
If you’re wondering where I’ve been, here you go.
These are hard to talk about because I read 21 of them (not 22, though there is a 22nd book) and I had a pretty good time for most of them. But the most recent books were such a noticeable decline in quality that it’s left a bad taste in my mouth and now I just keep thinking about what I didn’t like. Let’s see what I can do about that.
Things to like: Phryne’s cheerful and unapologetic sexuality. The ways she is allowed to behave as male detectives do – horny, constantly drinking, etc. Casual poly relationships that suit everyone just fine and work beautifully. Mostly short mysteries with a range of solutions. Strong writing on a craft level, particularly in the middle books. An affection for the detective novels that Phryne herself reads, and a playfulness with their forms (Christie, Sayers, etc.). But with more frankness about the specific sorts of crimes that women and children are vulnerable to – incest and rape, forced relationships, botched abortion, forced childbearing, etc.
What I don’t like: Also Phryne, who is a lot of a lot. The repeated and unmistakable asephobia that emanates from the books themselves, not just Phryne who is the one to voice a lot of it (she’s one of those highly sexual people who thinks there’s something wrong/unnatural about people who aren’t, and the books let her attach these views to villains several times). The way the author just gave completely up on series continuity once the TV show started, to the point of suddenly adding a sexual overtone to a relationship that was previously platonic (and almost familial) in the books because the TV show went a totally different direction with it. It’s extremely disconcerting. The sharp decline in writing quality in the last few books. The extremely weird Sherlock slashfic interlude where Phryne bangs not!John Watson a bunch to make not!Sherlock jealous (ah and it turns out he’s not asexual after all, what a relief for everyone). The later books get real weird, guys.
Content notes: All sorts of crime, including against children. Rape, incest, sexual exploitation, violence, murder, generally as aftermath and not on-page.