The Green Mill Murder

A Phryne Fisher Mystery

By: Kerry Greenwood

Narrated by: Stephanie Daniel

Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Phryne Fisher is doing one of her favorite things -dancing at the Green Mill (Melbourne's premier dance hall) to the music of Tintagel Stone's Jazzmakers, the band who taught St Vitus how to dance. And she's wearing a sparkling lobelia-coloured georgette dress. Nothing can flap the unflappable Phryne -especially on a dance floor with so many delectable partners. Nothing except death, that is.

The dance competition is trailing into its last hours when suddenly, in the middle of "Bye Bye Blackbird" a figure slumps to the ground. No shot was heard. Phryne, conscious of how narrowly the missile missed her own bare shoulder, back, and dress, investigates. This leads her into the dark smoky jazz clubs of Fitzroy, into the arms of eloquent strangers, and finally into the sky, as she follows a complicated family tragedy of the great War and the damaged men who came back from ANZAC cove. Phryne flies her Gypsy Moth Rigel into the Autralian Alps, where she meets a hermit with a dog called Lucky and a wombat living under his bunk.... and risks her life on the love between brothers.

©1993 Kerry Greenwood (P)2010 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"Australian crime fiction is becoming increasingly popular in North America, but Greenwood's series, thanks to its sparkling evocation of how the 1920s roared Down Under, manages to stand apart from the crowd. Anyone who hasn't discovered Phryne Fisher by now should start making up for lost time." ( Booklist)

Another winner from Kerry Greenwood

Carrie Greenwood has such great knowledge of not only Australia but history after world war I. She does such an exquisite job of describing in detail the Unique Australian outback one moment, then all the gear a early Aviator would need in the next moment. Yes, the plots are tidy in her story but sometimes that can be a refreshing break after reading books of the worlds uglyness and war as I’m often reading.

Too Complicated

I usually prefer the book to the movie. Not in this case. The Every Cloud production was cleaner, more exciting, and made more sense.

Wonderful Miss Fisher

As with all the stories, it is beautifully written and wonderfully narrated! There are distinct voices and great descriptions.

Very solid and enjoyable story!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Green Mill Murder to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version, but I do think that the narrator has a good range of voices and variety. The only issue I had was the Southern American accent. That's probably because I'm a Southerner, so the accent was quite off to me. Other than that, the reading is excellent.

I wish the books weren't so short though!

Which scene was your favorite?

I really liked the description of flying and the plane-- I knew nothing about a Gypsy Moth plane, so I had to look it up.

Any additional comments?

There are very nice moments with the author at the end of the book too, so you can hear about her inspirations, and find out about details in the story. I like that the recording studio included those.

Best story so far

Another great book in the Phryne Fisher series. I have liked all of them but this is probably my favorite. It's a great storyline and is definitely worth the read.

Fantastic performance

The book was great, but it was the narration by Stephanie Daniel that made this truly memorable. Perhaps the best narration of any audio book I have listened to.

my absolute favorite heroine!

i enjoy every book in this series, and wont stop until I have them all!♡

Loved this book

Another great Phryne Fisher book with mysteries inside of mysteries all interconnected. With jazz as a feature, Stephanie Daniel gets a chance to ding the St. Louis Blues! Also Miss Fisher makes a flying foray into Australia’s bush country and we get a glimpse of that amazing country. So we’ll-told and we’ll-narrated. I enjoyed this book immensely.

Trumpet players should read this!!!

I just adore the research that the author puts into these. As a trumpet play I love the research or innate knowledge that she put in this one about Jazz and musicians.

Enjoyable, fast-paced story

What did you love best about The Green Mill Murder?

I loved that this mystery is a light read set in the 1920's. In particular, the author started the story at a dance marathon. Between the written word and wonderful narration, you feel the pain of the remaining dance contestants as they use every last ounce of strength to win the contest.

I love that the characters were likeable and believable. I was surprised by some of the facts of the story. I even checked a couple of them on-line and found that they were accurate for the time period. That was fun!

What does Stephanie Daniel bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Ms. Daniel brings the different social spheres to the listener via the wonderful and varied accents she uses. I'm sure the accents were written into the book, but hearing them just enriched the experience of the story. Very well done.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did laugh at times. I felt a sense of wonder at the great outdoor scenes and felt the vastness of the places she describes. Although the plight of shell shocked soldiers was present and very well handled (both in story and narration), it did not devastate me to the point of tears (I take my reading very seriously, folks!). I have had enough tears in my life...I do not need more in my reading!

Any additional comments?

When you are in the mood for a light, well-written mystery, I definitely recommend this book. If the rest of the series is as good as this book, I have many hours of enjoyable listening in my very near future!