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cursed10fold's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
There were two mysteries in the book but one was far too dark for me. I read the lighter hearted mystery and liked it but the darker one I thought was handled badly (given that the characters are fairly over the top/cozy mystery characters)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Pedophilia, Incest, and Kidnapping
ketutar's review against another edition
3.0
Difficult...
I like that there are so many competent women in here. I like Phryne.
I don't like the fact that she's underweight.
I don't like the... I don't know what to call it. Racism? Like, you get better pasta, olives, olive oil and mushroom in Australia than in Italy. Or the "quaint" Australian idiom "picaninny dawn".
I like that there are so many competent women in here. I like Phryne.
I don't like the fact that she's underweight.
I don't like the... I don't know what to call it. Racism? Like, you get better pasta, olives, olive oil and mushroom in Australia than in Italy. Or the "quaint" Australian idiom "picaninny dawn".
bunnycherry's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
the_martha's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
glubglubglub's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
balthazarlawson's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Phryne Fisher moves out of the Windsor Hotel and into her new home in St Kilda. Her previous successes make her sought out to help prevent a son from murdering his father. Two strong characters that constantly clash. However, the father dies and the son is accused and arrested. Phryne steps in, reluctantly, to prove his innocence.
I've not read this series in any kind of order and this is the second book in the series. It started out nicely, none of the problems that the later books in the series have, but kind of lost it's direction when the second case, one of kidnapping, was introduced. This could have been more interesting if it had just focused on the one case. When these stories go into multiple story lines things get lost and confusing. Though it was still an interesting read.
I've not read this series in any kind of order and this is the second book in the series. It started out nicely, none of the problems that the later books in the series have, but kind of lost it's direction when the second case, one of kidnapping, was introduced. This could have been more interesting if it had just focused on the one case. When these stories go into multiple story lines things get lost and confusing. Though it was still an interesting read.
moshalala's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
livcashmere's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.5
Yikes, I can see why this book wasn’t used in the tv series. Messy and confusing plot, horrendous characters, and some really weird ethical takes. For example, a kidnapper is really ‘just a good guy who made some poor decisions’ and my personal favourite, ‘give a child molester a woman who looks like a child rather than a real child… yuk yuk yuk. 0.5 only because I still love Phryne and Dot. Other than that this book was a disaster.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Murder, and Child abuse
lisab1991's review against another edition
3.0
Up until chapter six or so I liked this book a lot better than Cocaine Blues. The pacing was different and all-in-all the cases seemed a lot more interesting. As a Dutchie I found it very nice to see a touch of Dutch former glory being incorporated in this book: the Fokker airplane (not sure if Fokker was still operating in Germany in the late 20s, by the way), with Anthony Fokker being a Dutchman and Fokker a Dutch brand.
This changed abruptly when I learned what the murder victim had done to his daughter. An insecure daughter, mistreated and molested, who had found love with an Italian artist whom her father -on top of it all- forbade her to marry. Then, it rapidly spiraled further downwards when Phryne decided to sleep with said Italian artist, her new friend’s fiancé, without any second guessing or feelings of regret! He even says to Phryne that he is glad they had s*x then, because he had sworn to “denounce [such] delights” once he’d marry his betrothed..
I knew Phryne isn’t a saint and that she has her way with lots of men, but for me this is a no go. And I don’t care much if his fiancé knew and tolerated it, it’s a no go for me. I don’t mean to say that I won’t continue reading this series, but I can’t ignore the fact that this partly spoiled the book for me, and affected my rating.
This changed abruptly when I learned what the murder victim had done to his daughter. An insecure daughter, mistreated and molested, who had found love with an Italian artist whom her father -on top of it all- forbade her to marry. Then, it rapidly spiraled further downwards when Phryne decided to sleep with said Italian artist, her new friend’s fiancé, without any second guessing or feelings of regret! He even says to Phryne that he is glad they had s*x then, because he had sworn to “denounce [such] delights” once he’d marry his betrothed..
I knew Phryne isn’t a saint and that she has her way with lots of men, but for me this is a no go. And I don’t care much if his fiancé knew and tolerated it, it’s a no go for me. I don’t mean to say that I won’t continue reading this series, but I can’t ignore the fact that this partly spoiled the book for me, and affected my rating.