Thursday, March 27, 2025

Death at Victoria Dock


 Death at Victoria Dock (1992) by Kerry Greenwood

Synopsis (from the back of the book): Driving home late one night, Phryne Fisher is surprised when someone shoots out her windscreen. she alights to find a pretty young man with an anarchist tattoo dying on the tarmac just outside the dock gates. He bleeds to death in her arms...and all over her silk shirt. Enraged by the loss of the clothing, the damage to her car, and this senseless waste of human life, Phryne promises to find out who is responsible. but she doesn't know how deeply into the mire she'll have to go...

The "Perils of Phryne Fisher" #4 finds our intrepid heroine mixing it up with Latvian revolutionaries who have transferred their feuds from Eastern Europe to Australia. She also finds herself searching for a missing young girl, holding a beautiful young man while he dies from a gunshot wound, pursuing bad guys at a seance, visiting a tattoo parlor, and vowing vengeance on the miscreants who are stupid enough to kidnap her beloved companion Dot. She tracks down the missing girl, rescues Dot, and manages to foil the Anarchist's bank robbery plot...all without turning a hair. And, of course, she picks up new lover along the way. Plenty of action and adventure--and there are even a few more clues in this one to make it a bit more of a classic mystery.

I think the best part of this one is that Dot actually gets to be a little feisty herself. When she's kidnapped, she knows that Phryne will be hunting the kidnappers down with a vengeance but she doesn't just sit tight and wait for Phryne to rescue her. She and her fellow captive (an Anarchist who has made the mistake of talking to Phryne) do a little plot foiling of their own. It's quite satisfying when their little bit of sabotage works out so well against the bad guys. In fact, everyone, from Mr. Butler to Jane & Ruth to Constable Hugh Collins (who is sweet on Dot) get to play a part in the adventures and action...and Phryne arranges for Hugh to get all the credit and a boost in his superior's estimation. ★★★★

First line: The windscreen shattered.

The red-headed kid had decided on the ship [for his tattoo]. The Professor did not even glance at the letter from his father. The boy felt rather hurt. He had gone to a lot of trouble to forge it. (p.78)

Last line: "I've come through fire and death, Lindsay, my old dear, and I want to go dancing."
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Deaths = 5 (three shot; two natural)

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