Flying Too High

<b>4★<br />“<i>‘There is no room for amateurs in murder, Miss Fisher,’</i> said the policeman condescendingly. <i>‘But I am sure that you will be a comfort to the ladies.’ <br /><br />‘I hope that I shall,’</i> replied Phryne with all the sweetness of a chocolate-coated razor blade. <i>‘And I hope that you will allow a mere amateur to observe your methods.’</i>”</b><br /><br />Oh dear. A mere amateur? The detective inspector has no idea who this delightful private investigator is. I and her thousands (millions?) of fans know her well and enjoy reading about her derring-do. Phryne has ‘good breeding’, connections, and a beautiful car, but she does need to make a living to cater for her tastes and lifestyle. <br /><br />Her charisma and magnetism are world-class, such that she can charm anyone, not just easily-flattered detective inspectors, into helping her. Bert and Cec are on hand with their old truck, and she and her personal secretary, Dot, are now a permanent duo.<br /><br />Dot happily takes care of all the organising and housekeeping and enjoys going along for the ride. Well, some of the rides. She’s frankly terrified of the activities which lend this book its title. Who knew that Phryne was a talented pilot? Not me, or if I did, I forgot.<br /><br />Phryne gets a frantic call from a woman who is sure her hot-headed son is going to murder is equally hot-headed father, and could Phryne please find out what’s going on? Her son Bill is a keen flyer and wants his father to invest more money in his passion to fly over Antarctica. Father has put his foot down. Bill has enough planes and should settle down.<br /><br />At the same time, a kidnapping is underway, and Phryne is dealing with an understandably distraught family. She has a look at Bear, the child’s favourite toy, which is a little worse for wear but obviously much loved. Candida would go nowhere willingly without him.<br /><br /><b>“This might be a bear of very little brain, but even his furry body had been moulded, by the hugs of years, to fit Candida’s embrace.”</b><br /><br />Meanwhile, she is moving from her digs at the hotel to a house, where she has hired staff, sight unseen. Dot is concerned about how a staid older couple is going to take to her flamboyant boss. <br /><br /><b>“Dot wondered how she was to mention Phryne’s habit of strewing her boudoir with beautiful naked young men. She could not think of a method of introducing the subject and decided to leave it to Phryne to cope with.”</b><br /><br />And of course, we have the fun of watching Phryne enchant various fellows and cope very well indeed. The plots are fun, Phryne has a stirring adventure while aloft, and Dot manages to keep the boss’s wardrobe in good shape. The clothes as described are spectacular, and I think the TV series has done them justice. <br /><br />Some of the meals are as elegant as her clothing, but there are countless references to cups of tea and toast on the run – or when finally sitting down. <br /><br />Phryne is a take-charge sort who seems to instil confidence in those around her, like Dot, who is a bit mousy, but is coming out of her shell and growing a backbone. When they are visiting in another home, Phryne takes it upon herself to buck up the maid.<br /><br /><b>“ Amelia wrote down the address. She was uneasy. She was about to speak when a scruffy maid ran in and announced shrilly: <i>‘That cop’s here again, Miss.’<br /><br />‘Put your cap straight,’</i> ordered Phryne.<i> ‘Wipe your face on that apron and stand up. A tragedy in the family is no excuse for panic. There. Now, be a good girl. We all need your help, you know. Where would the house be without you?’</i> <br /><br />Phryne smiled into wide brown eyes and tucked a whisp of hair back under the cap. <i>‘There. Now, who is at the door?’ <br /><br />‘Detective-inspector Benton, Miss Amelia,’</i> announced the maid and walked proudly out. <br /><br /><i>‘Phryne,’</i> cried Amelia, <i>‘you are wonderful. Please don’t leave me.’ <br /><br />‘I shall be here. Sit down again.’</i>”</b><br /><br />She is wonderful, and I’m so pleased to know she’ll be where I can find her and her extended family. <br />

The book "Flying Too High" is the second in the "Fisher" series, and I went ahead and purchased the first three books in the series of twenty. I enjoy the T.V. show (24 February 2012 to an ongoing active 3 seasons as of now) quite a bit due to is subtle humor and subversive sexiness. I guess now I will find out if it's the show's star Essie Davis who portrays Phryne Fisher, as a kind of roaring twenties Emma Peel, and or Kerry Greenwood's writing, In 2016 Essie Davis was interviewed and stated she would be open to continuing the series on film.<br /><br />You may be asking why am I spending so much time on the T.V. show, when this is supposed to be a book review. And the short answer is, I guess I like the T.V. show a bit more than this the first book that I have read in this series. <br /><br />A similar case could be made of the James Bond books, the originals written by Ian Fleming, which were better ? The books or the movies ? <br /><br />Often the books win.<br /><br />Nuff said.

At the risk of being called blasphemous by my fellow reading buffs, I announce that this is the rare occasion when a movie is better than a book it’s based on. Or a TV series, as is the case here. I’m a big fan of the Australian mini TV series <i>Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries</i>. I love everything in it: the characters, the cast, the directing, the screen writing, and the cinematography. It’s one of my all-time favorite series, following the detecting adventures of Phryne Fisher, the glamorous and cunning minx of a PI from Melbourne in the 1920s. I cheered when they announced their second season.<br />Because of the TV series, I picked up this book, the first I’ve ever read by this author. It will be the last too, because the book is rather blah. The characters are flat, the emotional involvement is zero, and the story is boring despite its entanglement with a murder and a kidnapping. <br />Instead of reading more books in this series, I’m going to watch the second season, when it’s released by the studio. I anticipate lots of fun and I don’t want to spoil my enjoyment of the charming and mischievous Phryne Fisher in the skillful rendition of Essie Davis. The actress portrays her heroine much better than the author does. <br />I love the cover art though.<br />

The Honourable Miss Phryne Fisher had secured her new home on The Esplanade, along with Dot who had been with her for three months. Mr and Mrs Butler had come recommended and Phryne already agreed with <i>that</i> recommendation. It was the visit by a clearly hysterical Mrs McNaughton that set the ball rolling for a new case – murder – which Phryne was determined to solve. <br /><br />Midway through the murder investigation, the kidnapping of six-year-old Candida brought Phryne into that family’s lives as well. Bert and Cec, with their new taxi, were happy to assist Phryne and she also called on her old friend Detective Inspector Robinson to sort out some intricate parts of the law.<br /><br />But it was Phryne’s experience, nerve and skills with flying that earned respect – and helped with a devious plan – plus put her in danger, much to Dot’s horror. Would the outcome to both cases be as Phryne wanted? Everyone had confidence in her – except maybe the policeman, Benton…<br /><br /><i>Flying Too High</i> is the 2nd in the Phryne Fisher Mystery series by Aussie author Kerry Greenwood, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Phryne’s character is excellent! She’s certainly outrageous, but gets what she wants every time. I’ve read the series all over the place, so going back to #2 was refreshing and fun ? Highly entertaining and definitely recommended.<br />

Phryne Fisher is back in Flying to High, the sequel to Cocaine Blues. In this book, she has to help a man accused of murdering his father, rescue a kidnapped child and of course, seduce some men.<br /><br />I didn't find this book as good as the first one. I like Phryne Fisher, she's a great character, but the story in this book wasn't as captivating as it was in the first book. I found myself doing other things so even though the book wasn't that thick did it take me a while to finish it. Also, all this seducing of men, I find it a little bit boring. Fine she likes sex, but come on, is this what's going to happen in every book? 1-2 cases in every book and some sex scenes, then it's going to be a bit repetitive.<br /><br />But the biggest problem I had with the book was there was too darn little Inspector Jack Robinson. Yes I know, he's not the star of the book and I can't compare the book series with the TV-series (but I do it anyway). But he was hardly in this book and that made me not a happy camper.

I think this book is firmly a three star read. We get introduced to Mr. Butler, though in the book series he has a wife. We have Phryne once again being led by her libido. At least she has good deductive reasoning though. Though I will say that whole last act was unnecessary with Phryne and I found myself bored senseless reading about her clothes and how much food she had eaten. She also makes an agreement with one of the culprits in this book that I found to be gross and offf-putting. I am still going to read the next book in the series though.<br /><br />"Flying Too High" is the second book in the Phryne Fisher series. I fell in love with the tv show and then decided to start reading the books afterwards.<br /><br />In the second book we have Phryne investigating two cases. One involving a kidnapped child and another a murder of a man who was detestable in every single way.<br /><br />The two cases do not relate to one another at all so you are going to have to follow two plot lines.<br /><br />I can honestly say I don't care that much for book Phryne at all. She is smart, but I find her ability to sleep with anyone and not care if they are in a relationship or not, not something to be admired.<br /><br />Book Dot is a bit judgmental of Phryne, but loyal. I did like the parts of the book showing how Dot was so happy to have a room of her own with a door she can lock. <br /><br />We get reappearances of Detective-Inspector Jack Robinson who has learned to not underestimate Miss Fisher. And we also get Bert and Cec. <br /><br />The kidnapping case was okay, but I still feel dirty about the deal that Miss Fisher makes with one of the kidnappers. And we find out that Miss Fisher's grand scheme was unnecessary in the end so I was annoyed about reading it. It didn't make much sense honestly.<br /><br />The murder case was a bit too much to swallow for me. I did like the characters in that one, it be nice to see what happens to Amelia and her brother Bill.<br /><br />The writing was okay, but at times I found myself bored with the endless description of Miss Fisher's clothes, shoes, and hats. Also I don't really care what she eats for dinner or tea. There were long soliloquies about tea and I found myself yawning.<br /><br />The setting of Australia does make this series appealing to me and I do like trying to get a sense of the country from this time period (pre-WWII).<br /><br />The ending was a little odd though both cases are wrapped up rather neatly.

I am happy to tell yout that Phryne Fisher is still perfect in everything she does!<br>In this book we learn that she is also a great pilot and a perfect shot!<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1389704735ra/8049752.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>She also uses her awesome pilot skill to almost scare somebody to death who wasn't nice to her on one occasion but it's OK because he is a jerk and Phryne is of course perfect and nothing she does could ever be morally questionable!<br><br>She also has perfect sex! Occasionally with guys that are actually engaged to somebody else but it's OK because the woman knows that her fiancee cheats on her and is fine with it.<br><br>Mind you, the only other men this woman had closer contact with were her father who abused her and her brother who is massive jerk and doesn't appreciate her work so the concept of men not being assholes might be new to her and Phryne could have introduced her to it but instead she just sleeps with her fiancee and wishes them a great life together afterwards.<br><br>I bet theirs will be a long and happy marriage!<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1389704735ra/8049753.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br> <br><br>Full disclousure: jerky brother does get better in the course of the book for absolutely contrived reasons and fiancee promises to be faithful after the marriage...I have my doubts but hey...it might happen...on the other hand fiancee also says things about her like she being the perfect model (for artists) because she is like an empty canvas and he can form her in anything he wants which is not creepy AT ALL!<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1389704735ra/8049754.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> <br><br>Where was I? Right, Phryne only doing things that are in no way morally questionable.<br><br>Phryne just knows what is right and wrong and in general simply knows everything...so there is not really much investigating going on. At least Phryne doesn't do much, she simply knows immediately what happened and then just sends other people out to do the legwork and find proof for her theories.<br><br>(Well she does pay them well and she can clearly afford to do so because the way she throws money at everybody makes you think she's got a gold-shitting donkey in the basement).<br><br> <br><br>All through the book Phryne continues to be right about everything and never doing anything morally questionable like making sure a pedophile murderer gets his last wish...oh excpt she does but it's for The Greater Good so it's alright!<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1389704735ra/8049755.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br> <br><br>On the plus side: in the first book I was somewhat annoyed by the extensive descriptions of dresses. There are still some in this book but not quite as much and I found them actually quite interessting. The case was also quite interesting and I can imagine that this could actually be a really good series if the main character had some actual flaws the reader is supposed to see as flaws.

(Read again for #whodunitbymail, just as fun as ever.)

Phryne is back again in this second book in the Miss Fisher series. She is hired to prevent a son killing his father who is a bully. However, just after being engaged for this purpose the bully is found murdered.<br />At the same time a six year old girl is kidnapped and held to ransom.<br />Miss Fisher sways through this chaos with her usual style and panache.<br />Happy to recommend this and looking forward to book three.

Flying Too High is the second book in the Phryne Fisher mysteries. Cocaine Blues gave the reader introduction into sassy, intelligent life of Phryne, who’s just settled into Melbourne, trying to set up her profession as a private detective, with the help of new friends Cecil, Bert and Dot. We know from the first book that she likes fast cars and has a fondness for flying, and we did get a glimpse of that. While Cocaine Blues was a delightful introduction, Flying Too High does really highlights how talented Phryne Fisher can be; with her acrobatic stunts in (and out of) a small plane in mid air. And it’s proven, that while she’s unashamedly brazen, flaunts her wealth, and loves the finer things in life - and of course fashion, - she doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty as we see her hanging on for dear life at the rear of a moving truck! <br /><br />Phryne is on the go in this book. She is trying to solve two crimes simultaneously while setting up her new home she recently bought. In the first crime she helping a mother’s plea to prove her son’s innocents who was charged for the murder his father. And in this crime we see what a great asset Cecil and Bert have become to Phyrne, doing their fair share legwork, interviewing potential witnesses to help solve the crime. The second crime is more serious in nature. A young girl was abducted by a group of thugs, held for ransom from her parents, who had won a large sum of money from the lottery. I even detected a slight hesitation in Phryne as to whether her rescue plan to would work - due one of the thugs being a paedophile, and age of the girl.<br /><br />I chose to listen to this series as oppose to reading it. Stephanie Daniel has a terrific voice as narrator and imitates Phyrne voice well. She does read rather fast, and I didn’t mind it in Cocaine Blues. But in this book I would have liked if Stephanie slowed down in some parts. In particular where we had two unrelated crimes running parallel, and where one unrelated scene shifts to another. Stephanie read it with no break or pause in her voice. So it felt like it was a continuation of the previously scene. I had to pause several time to work out where I am. But otherwise it was fun, fast and adventurous and would definitely continue with the series listening to Stephanie.<br />