American audiences are finally discovering Australian author Kerry Greenwood and her popular Phryne (pronounced fry-nee) Fisher mystery series.  Set in late 1920s Australia, Lady Phryne is an independently wealthy, strong willed, fun loving young woman.  And yet, she doesn't forget her humble beginnings and childhood when her family was very poor. In fact, her father only inherited a title after World War I, the result of the death of the other people in line.  Now, she can fly a plane, drives her own car (a Hispano-Suiza) and wears pants whilst maintaining class and style.  Phryne has a penchant for danger, champagne, beautiful clothes, dancing and beautiful young men, and sees fit to indulge whenever she can. She always manages to track down the villains...no matter what kind of ca se she is investigating. 

Author Greenwood, on the other hand, was born in a suburb of Melboune, Australia and lived all over the world before returning to Australia.  She has a degree in English and Law from Melbourne University and says that her admittance to the legal profession on April 1, 1982 is a day which she "finds both soothing and significant." 

And she's had a varied career before becoming a writer:  Greenwood has worked as a folk singer, factory hand, director, producer, translator, costume-maker, cook and is currently a solicitor.  When she is not writing, she works as a locum solicitor (i.e., a lawyer who works on a short-term basis only--sometimes for a few hours, and other times for a few years--to cover for absent members of staff) for the Victorian Legal Aid.  She is also the unpaid curator of seven thousand books, three cats (Attila, Belladonna and Ashe) and a computer called Apple (which squeaks).  She embroiders very well but cannot knit.  She has flown planes and leapt out of them (with a parachute) in an attempt to cure her fear of heights and, although she can climb ladders without fear, she is now terrified of jumping out of planes.  Among her many talents, she says she can detect second-hand bookshops from blocks away and is often found within them.

The Phryne Fisher series began with Cocaine Blues (1989, also published under the title Death by Misadventure). Although Greenwood has legions of American fans, American publishers have been slow to pick up on her series--some of her books haven't yet been published in America and, many times, the books have been published out of sequence.  The library does, however, purchase her books as soon as they're released here.

In addition to the Phyrne Fisher series, Greenwood has written other novels, a number of plays (including The Troubadours, with Stephen D'Arcy), award-winning children's books and has edited and contributed to several anthologies.  In 1996, she published a book of essays on female murderers, Things She Loves: Why Women Kill.

Greenwood has written 16 books in this series with no sign yet of the Honourable Miss Fisher hanging up her pearl-handled pistol.  She says that as long as people want to read them, she'll keep writing them.  In 2003 Greenwood was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Australian Association.  She is not married, has no children and lives with a registered wizard.  According to Greenwood, when she is not currently engaged in any of the activities mentioned above, she stares blankly out of the window.

Books in the Phryne Fisher series:
  Cocaine Blues  (1989, also published as Death by Misadventure)
  Flying too High  (1990)
  Murder on the Ballarat Train  (1991)
  Death at Victoria Dock  (1992)
  The Green Mill Murder  (1993)
  Blood and Circuses  (1994)
  Ruddy Gore  (1995)
  Urn Burial  (1996)
  Raisins and Almonds  (1997)
  Death Before Wicket  (1999)
  Away with the Fairies  (2001)
  Murder in Montparnasse  (2002)
  The Castlemaine Murders  (2003)
  Queen of the Flowers  (2004)
  Murder in the Dark  (2006)
  A Question of Death  (2007) 

For more information (including Phryne's recipe for the perfect cucumber sandwich), check out the author's web site: www.phrynefisher.com