Phrynne Fisher (pronounced fry-nee) is a delightful amateur sleuth. Her war experience and intelligence work make her capacity for finding trouble believable. Her rags to unexpected riches backstory means Phrynne is free to do as she pleases and does not care who she offends. She returns to Australia from England, after a brief post war detour as a bohemian in Paris, to set up shop as a detective. In the television series, the costumes and sets are a feast for the eyes.
I was amused recently to read the story of Phryne (meaning toad) of Greek mythology fame. Phryne was an ancient Greek courtesan. Born in Thespiae in Boeotia, she became a muse for artists and was one of the wealthiest women in Greece. Free-spirited mystery-solving Phrynne is the perfect namesake. Both women do as they please and are loved for it. I am certain a series about the Greek Phryne would be equally entertaining.
The first television series follows the books fairly closely, with two
exceptions I will discuss later. The writers were successful in maintaining the
characters and feel of the books in the subsequent cases.
Relationships in the books are slightly different than in the series. In the
books, Phrynne's butler, Mr. Butler, is married and his wife is the cook and
housekeeper. I assume they cut her to limit the cast and make more work for
Phrynne's maid Dot Williams. Dot and her beau, officer Hugh Collins, play a
significant part in both books and TV.
The second departure from the books is more interesting. In the books,
Inspector John "call me Jack" Robinson is a happily married orchid
grower. In the television series, Jack is unhappily married then divorced and
free to declare his love for Phrynne. There was no romantic entanglement in the
books.
The adopted daughters, Jane and Ruth, and cabbies/war veterans Bert and Cec are
part of the crime solving gang in both books and TV.
The television series invented a sister, Janey, that was kidnapped and murdered
when Phrynne was young and sets up a motive for Phrynne's determination to seek
justice. In the books, Phrynne had a younger sister that died of diphtheria
which may have been the inspiration for the fictional Janey.
Phrynne's
mother and father were very much alive in the books. In The Castlemaine
Murders, Phrynne's younger sister Eliza/Beth is introduced and a brother
Thomas, who is studying at Eton, is mentioned. Eliza moved to Melbourne to
escape her parents and chooses to live with a lesbian partner and the two work
together on feminist issues.
Phrynne is devoted to free love and does not hesitate to have carnal relations
with any man she sets her sights on. She deplores the loss of so many
"beautiful boys" during the war. She has an affair with Lin Chung in
the books and series, even after he is married.
Phrynne's sexual exploits lead to two of the book plots that were changed for
the television series. In book #16 Murder in the Dark, Phrynne
attends an orgy called The Last Best Party. The series kept the idea of the
costume party, but omitted the prominent sex and drugs.
In book #5 The Green Mill Murder, Phrynne flies her Gypsy Moth
Rigel into the Autralian Alps to see Vic, a veteran with PTSD. There is a dog
called Lucky and a wombat living under his bunk. Phrynne stays for quite a
while, enjoying the solitude and the sex before returning to real life. The television episode with the title focused on the murder
at a Jazz club. There is a brief flight to meet up with Vic, portrayed as
former love interest and heir to an estate, to ask him to return. Longing
glances are the only thing exchanged in the episode.
A spinoff, Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries, was
broadcast in 2019 and 2020. The two-season series features Peregrine Fisher, explained as the
daughter of a half- sister, Annabelle, who was the result of an affair by
Phrynne’s father. I am not sure why the series creators ignored Phrynne's
existing fictional family, all of whom would have made more sense as heirs. At
the very least, if the rest of the family had died, it could have been Thomas's
daughter. Ah, well, ours is not to reason why.
Peregrine inherits
Phrynne's estate when Phrynne goes missing. With the help of the
Adventuress's Club, Peregrine, played by Geraldine Hakewill, continues her
aunt's penchant for investigation.
I highly recommend the
books and the television series. The wonderful Australian actress Essie Davis
portrays Phrynne to perfection. After the third series, Essie's move to London
made filming complicated. She agreed to a movie, The Crypt of Tears, released
in 2020. Will there be another movie? Status unknown, but I hope so.
Greenwood published a new book in the series #21 Death in Daylesford in 2021. She is publishing a new book in November 2023:#22 Murder in Williamstown. You can pre-order a copy today and there is still plenty of time to binge or reread the entire series.
Follow her on Amazon for news about her new releases:
Phryne Fisher Books In Order
Phryne Fisher Television Series
Miss Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries
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