Cocaine Blues

by Kerry Greenwood. I read this book in a day or two; it would have gone faster but I was dipping in and out of many books at the time.

The protagonist is a youngish flapper girl, Phryne (Fry-knee) Fisher, once poor, but after her father inherited a title and a fortune, she’s wealthy. Her parents live in Britain, but this first mystery takes place in Melbourne, as apparently do the rest (the author is Australian). I was interested because it is set between the wars, a time period with which Bill and I have become quite enamoured. This book ticks the boxes for luxuriant lifestyle, beautiful clothing and likable character, not to mention a sufficiently busy and entertaining plot.

I had been looking at books published in AU, but they are quite expensive even second hand. Nevertheless, it turns out that Bill actually liked this book too, so I have started looking out for reasonably priced copies.

In the meantime, I’m really tempted to download her screen savers. Even if I didn’t enjoy the stories, I think the cover designs could seduce me!