So excited to see a new Phryne Fusher mystery appear on Netgalley. Everything in life had to stop for me to download and read it. It did not disappoint - as brilliant as all the others in the series and now I have to wait patiently for the next adventures of Phryne and her fabulous entourage.

I'm always entertained when I read a book from Kerry Greenwood because she uses every character she's developed over the years to be part of her crazy murder techniques such as Tinker, Ruth or Jane being her adoptees. This story is one that stems from her research into the Victorian Institute for the Blind and the Chinese wanting to stop the illegal opium trade and the pervert looking into Phryne's sleeping arrangements. All these things took on something of the story to make it fundamentally interesting in a way that follows Phryne's logic. Oh yes, we also have a new male come into the picture. I'm always interested in her flings.

Murder In Williamstown is the twenty-second book in the popular Phryne Fisher series by award-winning Australian author, Kerry Greenwood. Someone is putting postcards in the Hon. Miss Fisher’s letterbox. They’re constructed with letters cut out of the newspaper, and they’re vaguely threatening.

Phryne’s adopted son Tinker has ambitions of joining the police force, and he shows a good deal of initiative in discovering the sender. Then it’s up to Phryne to act on the information. Meanwhile, her adopted daughters Ruth and Jane have been volunteered to work some days at the Blind Institute, where Jane’s talent with figures is put to good use discovering why the latest balance sheet looks so different from previous ones.

If the Institute’s bookkeeper is innocent, if inept, then Phryne will discover who is not, and her ability to bluff comes in handy with a reticent bank manager. Despite being engaged to the recently-promoted Detective Sergeant Hugh Collins, Phryne’s loyal companion Dot is troubled that of late, her fiancé is conspicuous by his absence. Is he really working so hard, or is there another reason?

When Phryne decides to take the ferry to Williamstown to rendezvous with a new lover, an encounter with a horse produces a broken fragment of opium pipe. And then the body of an Oriental on the beach. But she is, in no uncertain terms, warned off investigating, both by DI Jack Robertson and Lin Chung. The disappearance of Lin’s sister-in-law is similarly out of bounds.

And yet, when she accepts an invitation to the birthday party of a wealthy university lecturer, she finds herself right in the middle of it all. And when it lands in her lap like that, what else can she do? As always, Greenwood easily evokes her era and setting, with popular cultural references, food, attire and global news, and her protagonist’s antics always entertain. Another very enjoyable read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by Poisoned Pen Press