Unnatural Habits

By: Kerry Greenwood

Narrated by: Stephanie Daniel

Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

1929: Girls are going missing in Melbourne. Little, pretty golden-haired girls. And not just pretty. Three of them are pregnant, poor girls from the harsh confines of the Magdalene Laundry. People are getting nervous. Polly Kettle, a pushy, self-important Girl Reporter with ambition and no sense of self-preservation, decides to investigate - and promptly goes missing herself. It's time for Phryne and Dot to put a stop to this and find Polly Kettle before something quite irreparable happens to all of them. It's all piracy and dark cellars, convents and plots, murder and mystery...and Phryne finally finds out if it's true that blondes have more fun.

©2012 Kerry Greenwood 2012. (P)2012 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Well told

This was a good mystery but is also one of the harder ones to listen to inasmuch as it has genuinely abused children. There’s still plenty of humor and escapades but the writer does not shirk from the horrors of captivity, slavery and physical and psychological mistreatment. Of course Miss Fisher does a great deal to try to balance the scales.

Witty, daring, charismatic and she has a gun!

Are you in the mood for something a bit exotic and fun. Meet Phryne Fisher.

Unnatural Habits

It was like visiting an old friend. It was good to reconnect with Phryne and her minions. I've been away too long. I hope this series never ends.

Always a fun ride with Phryne

Loved it! Phryne’s adventures are always fun. This one kept me guessing till the end. The ending was somewhat rushed this time. As if the story had meandered here and there (with good purpose) until the writer realized they’d better wrap things up and then the real mystery was solved in two seconds. But I didn’t mind because the story was fun all the way through.

Fantastic Phryne mystery w lots of history as well

I can't understand the poor reviews for this book, except that it appears lots of first-time Phyrne readers may have started with this title and not "gotten" Phryne.
This was one of my favorites in the series. The mystery is great, there's lots of interesting 20s Australian history tucked in to the story, and Kerry Greenwood's descriptive writing keeps the story flowing.
All the usual characters help Phryne solve this mystery, along with one new one we were introduced to in the previous title, a boy from Queenscliff named Tinker.
If you're a Phryne fan, I think you'll love this book. If you're not yet familiar with Miss Fisher, I'd recommend starting with the earlier books to get introduced to the Hon. Miss F. and then coming back to this one.

another good book in the series

I always enjoy the Phryne Fischer books.
This one was a bit more serious than others in the description of the ways the catholic church abused (abuses) unwed pregnant women.

Fantastic! Historically insightful!

Entertaining as always, historically intriguing, and deliciously detailed! The undoubtable duo of Kerry Greenwood & Stephanie Daniel has knocked this one out of the park!...again!
Such consistency would be dull anywhere but here!

I'll endeavor to hear more Phryne Fisher titles!

Would you consider the audio edition of Unnatural Habits to be better than the print version?

of course! Who doesn't enjoy hearing a story? The accents are wonderful and add lots of depth.

What did you like best about this story?

This was a great mystery; one mystery set inside several others.

Have you listened to any of Stephanie Daniel’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Stephanie Daniel's performance was great!

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

Profound interest...I could hardly bear interruptions while I was listening!

Fun to discover a new series

I had no idea what to expect with this book and was most pleasantly surprised. The concept is certainly new to me - a British aristocrat in Melbourne in the 1920s who apparently "collects people" and solves mysteries. There is a lot of potential in the premise and Greenwood takes full advantage of it. The plot of this particular novel involves disappearing women and the solution offers us, among other things, a visit to the Magdalene Laundries which were quite real in the 19th and 20th century (and mostly quite horrible.) It's a high compliment when a novel sends me off to research something just because it's so interesting. I was fascinated to learn about the laundries and spent a few hours on the internet researching them.

The plot involved the genuinely awful but also provided a nice balance of humor and detail. It was clever, complex and interesting and, while there was not much chance for the reader to solve the mystery, I didn't mind just letting the story unfold as Greenwood is an excellent storyteller.

Stephanie Daniel does a good job with the performance and I had little difficulty keep the characters sorted out.

I have every intention of revisiting the world of Phryne Fisher and her minions in Melbourne.

Best Phryne Fisher novel?

I think this may be my favorite Phryne Fisher novel yet!
The intricate plot was fun to follow, and I was intrigued throughout it all!
The narration seemed even cleaner than previous novels.
Stephanie Daniel is so talented! And now it seems the better editing has made it an even more fabulous listen!