Title: The Lady With the Gun Asks the Questions: The Ultimate Miss Phryne Fisher Collection
Author: Kerry Greenwood
Published: 30th March 2021, Allen & Unwin
Status: Read March courtesy Allen & Unwin
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My Thoughts:
If you are not yet familiar with the Honourable Miss Phryne Fisher, then this collection of short stories is a wonderful introduction to the elegant, sensual, and sassy lady private detective, while established fans will enjoy the opportunity to again accompany the intrepid investigator on her adventures in 1920’s Melbourne, and occasionally further afield.
In her introduction to The Lady With the Gun Asks the Questions, Kerry Greenwood shares a little about how she developed Phryne, and her writing process. Greenwood also reminds readers that there are several significant differences between the world of the book series and that of the television series – Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. That said, anyone familiar with only the show will recognise Phryne’s companions, as well as several settings and scenes.
I was a little disappointed to find that of the seventeen short stories offered in The Lady With the Gun Asks the Questions, there are only four new tales, set around the same time as the 21st book in the series, Death in Daylesford which was published earlier this year. The bulk have been published previously in a 2008 collection, A Question of Death, though Greenwood comments that some of these have since been edited to fit better with the chronology of the series.
Regardless, whether Phryne is searching for a missing husband, or a hat, outsmarting a blackmailer, or a cheat, or identifying a murderer, I found all of the story’s in The Lady With the Gun Asks the Questions to be engaging. As always, I love Phryne’s dry observations and quick wit, her disinclination for suffering fools and her bent for natural justice.
Clever, entertaining, and charming, I found The Lady With the Gun Asks the Questions to be a delight to read,.
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Available from Allen & Unwin RRP AUD$29.99
Or from your preferred retailer via Booko I Book Depository I Booktopia I Amazon
Book’d Out 
I have the first book in this series as a freebie (from 2012, no less). And I remember thinking I wanted to read it.
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I like Phryne in any form so this is definitely for me. Thanks for the review.
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I didn’t much care for the first book, but I loved the TV series. I wonder if they’ll make another season?
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Oh dear, I still haven’t read a Death in Daylesford…I’m falling behind. Although if there are only 4 new short stories in this collection, sounds like I don’t need to rush to it.
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This title was so interesting I wanted to know more. I appreciate that you suggest this to try the author. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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