MURDER IN MONTPARNASSE

Murder in Montparnasse
Kerry Greenwood
298 pages
ISBN: 1-59058-042-7
Poisoned Pen Press
June 2004
$ 24.95

Having a “belief in justice rather than the law” is the underlying theme in MURDER IN MONTPARNASSE. Phryne Fisher has a life of wealth, but sincerely wants to help people who need more than the local police can provide.

For an author to transport the reader to a different time and place for experiences from another perspective is the journey that all readers thrive upon. In MURDER IN MONTPARNASSE the reader is transported to the 1920s in Australia and World War I in France as well as into the cubism movement of the art world. The viewpoints are amazingly common to Americans and the affects of the American economy is worldwide.

Phryne Fisher is an adventuresome heroine who is very much out of her time period with her independence and her attitude toward life. She is an Australian private investigator who is asked by an older man to find his missing young fiance. However, the missing woman is from an extremely wealthy family who has agreed to this union. Phryne does wonder what an eighteen year old girl would want with an elderly Frenchman who dyed his hair. When asked about the girl, Phryne is told that the girl has always done what someone told her to do. She did not ever cause any problems. “In the everyday world, gives her the survival quotient of a snowflake in hell.”

The girl’s father is also planning on marrying a friend of his daughter’s who is her age. Could both impinging marriages be the reason for the disappearance?

At this same time, Phryne is approached by five men who had fought in World War I together and two of their previous companions have died in unusual accidents. They believe that they might have seen something during the war and that someone might be trying to kill all of them.

Also, Phryne’s first love, Rene Dupont, has suddenly appeared in Australia with his new wife. Phryne’s hostility toward Rene Dupont is obvious and somehow all of this will beautifully blend into a harmonious plot.

Since this is a reoccurring character in a series of novels by Kerry Greenwood, when the reader first meets Phryne, there seems to be something missing in the relationship. Perhaps this is due to previous character information and developments from other books. I found this book wonderful, but a little hard to digest at first and it is probably because of the continuous character development in a series.

Kerry Greenwood, an Australian author, has written nineteen novels and has worked numerous jobs throughout her life while being an attorney and a writer. An underlying or obvious theme in her books seems to be the search for justice.

After reading MURDER IN MONTPARNASSE, I plan on reading more Phryne Fisher books. I thoroughly delight in this intelligent and unspoken character. Another Phryne Fisher book will be available in September, THE CASTLEMAINE MURDERS. Please give me more characters and authors live Phryne Fisher and Kerry Greenwood.