Blood and Circuses

A Phryne Fisher Mystery

By: Kerry Greenwood

Narrated by: Stephanie Daniel

Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

The Honourable Miss Phryne Fisher is feeling dull. But is shebored enough to leave her identity, her home and family behind and join Farrell’s Circus and Wild Beast Show? There have beenstrange things happening at the circus. And when Phryne is asked by her friends – Samson the Strong Man, Alan the carousel operator and Doreen the Snake Woman – to help them, curiosity gets the better of her. Peeling off her wealth and privilege, Phryne takes a job as a trickhorse-rider, wearing hand-me-down clothes and a new name. Someone seems determined to see the circus fail and Phryne must find out who that might be and why they want it badly enough to resort to poison, assault and murder. Diving into the dangerous underworld of 1920s Melbourne and the wild, eccentric life under the big top, Phryne proves her courage and ingenuity yet again, aided only by her quick intelligence, an oddly attractive clown, and a stout and helpful bear.

Solve another case with Phryne Fisher.

©1994 Kerry Greenwood (P)2011 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Pretty good, but could have been better.

I love Phryne, but the mystery in this one was rather obvious. It was fun to see this different side of Phryne, and we know she can do anything from flying planes to doing handstands on moving horses, but again, the mystery in this one was a bit lacking. Narrator was amazing as usual though.

I never thought I would say this

I never thought I would say that I prefer the TV/Movie better than the books. The Phone mystery books are ok but the character left me cold. The TV version is much much better. First time in all my reading that I can remember saying that.

Phryne gets in a jam; recording needs serious edit

This is book 6 in the Phryne Fisher series, so if you listen to this one, you probably know what you are in for. Phryne, an Australian flapper, has little regard of the conventions of her day and jumps into adventures and danger. She is able to take care of herself in most situations and does not let anyone intimidate her. This is not the best in the series, but it is consistent with the other books.

The big problem with this installment, to my ear, is the recording. The narrator is good - she is the narrator of the whole series and does a fine job. The problem here is the recording and editing. They have not edited out the swallows, drinks of water and throat clearings of Ms. Daniel. This is not once or twice an hour but every 5 or so. If I had not become aware of them, I might have gotten through fine. But once my ear became attuned to them, they grated on my nerves every time. We know that every reader makes these noises, but we rarely hear them in the recording since they are removed in the editing process. If these were fixed my rating of this book would surely be higher.

Love the Phryne Fisher Mysteries but...

I love these mysteries, they are fun, not realistic, but loads of fun. My only problem is the reader, Stephanie Daniel. Some of the voices she uses are so annoying that I can't listen. I love these books but the reader ruins the experience.

Danger and Joys in the Circus

Overcome by boredom, Phryne allows herself to be convinced by some circus friends to join a travelling circus in order to discover who is behind a string of "accidents" which threaten to shut the circus down. She gets hired as a rider in the trained horse act by learning and then demonstrating her ability to stand and stay standing on a cantering horse.

This balancing act is explained in terms that allow me to understand how it can possibly be done. That's one of the side benefits that I enjoy about reading Phryne Fisher books -- Kerry Greenwood always gives the reader some tidbit of knowledge, whether it is some bit of Australian geography or history, cultural history, or how to balance on a moving horse.

This is the first tale of Phryne working independently, with none of her ordinary backup team. Thus she is in more danger and less sure of herself. That makes this 6th Phryne Book a bit more serious than the others. And it also involves a sexual liaison which is more serious than in other books. But, of course, Phryne discovers and exposes the villain with her usual style and grace.

This book was very enjoyable for me, even though it is not as lighthearted as previous books in the series. As usual, Stephanie Daniel does a top notch job of narration. I especially enjoyed the conversation at the end between author and narrator, including the author's story of learning how to stand on a moving horse when she was a child.

Well worth you time.

Entertaining, but not really a mystery/thriller

STORY (fiction) - This is Book 6 is the series, but it's my first Phryne Fisher book. It's set in Australia sometime in the 1920's. In this story Phryne (pronounced "Frynie"), who is a young lady of privilege, joins a traveling circus to try to learn why so many strange accidents have been occurring. IMHO, the story is really all about Phryne's experience posing as a trick rider in the circus and the characters she meets -- not a lot of mystery or detective work.

The circus characters are interesting and endearing, and I enjoyed the glimpse of circus life. Phryne is promiscuous and "romps" with a couple circus characters, which I was totally not expecting from this book or from her character. The story is a fresh, easy listen.

PERFORMANCE - Great job. She has a pleasant voice and performs multiple European accents. I totally LOVED her performance of the character Lizard Elsie.

OVERALL - Recommended primarily for adult females. There are a couple sexual encounters which are moderately explicit. Very little violence. The character Lizard Elsie is an old woman who curses like a sailor so be prepared for her frequent bursts of F this and F that, but she's a hoot! The story stands alone.

Another Winner for Phryne

Where does Blood and Circuses rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book ranks well in the Phryne series. Interesting plot and sub-plots and excellent reader - Kerry Greenwood writes a wonderful yarn and Stephanie Daniel brings it all to life.

Which scene was your favorite?

The detail of circus life and the training required by the horse folk.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I've seen the ABC1 version and truthfully unless you take all of the book and are true to the Kerry Greenwood Phryne I'm not certain it would be a good move separate from the series.

B & C

It was a good book.cage left her whole life behind to help a friend. That is amazing courage.

Maybe it needs an R rating

If you don't like sex scenes then read the book. Hard to know how much of the Audible story I missed because I'm not interested in explicit sex scene and skipped ahead to avoid them.. Great story except for the soft porn. Excellent performance, though, and the actual story about the circus was great.

Hated all the singing

What disappointed you about Blood and Circuses?

There was too much singing. I would have liked it better it if there was no singiing. A little is fine this was over the top.

Would you ever listen to anything by Kerry Greenwood again?

Yes I love the series just not this story