Phryne's Car:The Hispano-Suiza

Phyrne first gets her car in Cocaine Blues. The car a red 1923 46CV Hispano-Suiza is hired from the local garage for $50 a week after the mechanic refuses to sell it as he wants to race it.

Hispano Suiza's were manufactured in France but were named because in their early days they were made in Spain and had a Swiss designer  King Alfonso of Spain was a Hispano Suiza enthusiast and they were very popular in Hollywood.

Early years
In 1898 a Spanish artillery captain, Emilio de la Cuadra, started electric automobile production in Barcelona under the name of La Cuadra. In Paris, De la Cuadra met the Swiss engineer Marc Birkigt (1878–1953) and hired him to work for the company in Spain. La Cuadra built their first gasoline-powered engines from a Birkigt design. At some point in 1902, the ownership changed hands to J. Castro and became Fábrica Hispano-Suiza de Automóviles (Spanish-Swiss Car Factory) but this company went bankrupt in December 1903.

Yet another restructuring took place in 1904, creating La Hispano-Suiza Fábrica de Automóviles, under Castro's direction, also based in Barcelona. Four new engines were introduced in the next year and a half. 3.8-litre and 7.4-litre four-cylinder and a pair of big six-cylinder engines were produced. This company managed to avoid bankruptcy and its largest operations remained in Barcelona until 1946, where cars, trucks, buses, aero engines and weapons were produced.
France was soon proving to be a much larger market for their luxury cars than Spain. In 1911, a factory, called Hispano France, was set up in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret. In 1914, production was moved to larger factories at Bois-Colombes, under the name Hispano-Suiza.

World War I
With the start of World War I, Hispano-Suiza turned to the design and production of aircraft engines under the direction of Marc Birkigt. His chief engineer during this period was another Swiss, Louis Massuger. Birkigt's solution to building aero engines was ahead of its time. Traditionally, aircraft engines were manufactured by machining separate steel cylinders and then bolting these assemblies directly to the crankcase. Birkigt's novel solution called for the engine block to be formed from a single piece of cast aluminum, and into which thin steel liners were secured. Manufacturing an engine in this way simplified construction and resulted in a lighter, yet stronger more durable engine. Thus, Birkigt's new construction method created the first practical, and what are commonly known today as, "cast block" engines. His aluminum cast block V-8 design was also noteworthy for incorporating overhead camshafts, propeller reduction gearing and other desirable features that would not appear together on competitor's engines until the late 1920s. Another major design feature was the use of a hollow propeller shaft to allow projectile firing through the (reduction geared only) propeller spinner,[citation needed] avoiding the need for a synchronizer gear, a feature used in future Hispano-Suiza military engines. Hispano-Suiza's aero engines, produced at its own factories and under license, became the most commonly used aero engines in the French and British air forces, powering over half the alliance's fighter aircraft.

1918–1936
After World War I, Hispano-Suiza returned to automobile manufacturing and, in 1919, introduced the H6. The H6 featured an inline 6-cylinder overhead camshaft engine based on the features of its V8 aluminium World War I aircraft engines and a body design by the American coach designers Hibbard & Darrin.
Licences for Hispano-Suiza patents were much in demand from prestige car manufacturers world-wide. Rolls-Royce used a number of Hispano-Suiza patents. For instance, for many years Rolls Royce installed Hispano-Suiza designed power brakes in its vehicles.

Through the 1920s and into the 1930s, Hispano-Suiza built a series of luxury cars with overhead camshaft engines of increasing performance. On the other hand, in the 1930s, Hispano-Suiza's V-12 car engines reverted to pushrod valve actuation to reduce engine noise.
During this time, Hispano-Suiza released the 37.2 Hispano-Suiza car built at the Hispano works in Paris.
In 1923 the French arm of Hispano-Suiza was incorporated as the Societé Française Hispano-Suiza, the Spanish parent company subscribing to 71% of the share capital. The French subsidiary was granted a large degree of financial and project independence but the technical co-operation between the Spanish and French arms of the company was always closely maintained. Luxury car production was increasingly concentrated in France while the Spanish operations moved into the production of commercial vehicles.

The mascot statuette atop the radiator after World War I was the stork, the symbol of the French province of Alsace, taken from the squadron emblem painted on the side of a Hispano-Suiza powered fighter aircraft that had been flown by the World War I French ace Georges Guynemer.
In 1925, Carlos Ballester obtained permission to represent Hispano-Suiza in Argentina. The agreement consisted of a phase in which the chassis were imported, followed by complete domestic production in Argentina. Thus “Hispano-Argentina, Fábrica de Automóviles S. A. (HAFDASA)" was born, for the production of Hispano-Suiza motors and automobiles, and also the production of spare parts for other car, truck, and bus manufacturers.

Spanish Civil War and World War II
In 1936, the French arm of Hispano-Suiza was told to stop production of cars and turn solely to aircraft engines once again. At the time they had just introduced a new series of water-cooled V-12 engines and the Hispano-Suiza 12Y was in huge demand for practically every French aircraft. However Hispano was never able to deliver enough of these engines, and many French fighters sat on the ground complete but for the engine. Meanwhile, the Republic of Spain conscripted Hispano-Suiza's Spanish operations into war production of trucks, armoured vehicles and weapons for the civil war of 1936-1939. After the war, the company was severely affected by the devastated state of the Spanish economy and the trade embargoes imposed by the victorious allies. In 1946, Hispano-Suiza sold off its automotive assets to ENASA, the maker of Pegaso trucks.
A development of the era were a series of 20 mm autocannon, first the Hispano-Suiza HS.9, followed by the Hispano-Suiza HS.404. The 404 was licensed for production in Britain and equipped almost all RAF fighter aircraft during the war. Production was also set up in the US, but these versions never matured even though the USAAC and US Navy both wanted to use it in place of their existing .50 BMG weapons. A lesser-known success was the Hispano-Suiza HS.820, a higher performance 20 mm design that was also used in the US as the M139. A variation of the 20 mm guns used on the Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraft were produced by International Harvester.[4] In 1970 Hispano-Suiza sold their armaments division to Oerlikon, the HS.820 becoming the KAD.
In 1940, Hispano-Suiza, together with the Spanish bank Banco Urquijo and a group of Spanish industrial companies, founded the 'Sociedad Ibérica de Automóviles de Turismo' (S.I.A.T.). This led to Spain's first mass-production car maker SEAT.

Characters in Cocaine Blues

In order of appearance:
Madame St Clair, Wife of the Ambassador - who jewel necklace is stolen at dinner
Phryne Fisher - our protagonist
Colonel Harper - Lydia's father who hires Phryne to investigate his daughters illness
Hon. Robert (Bobby) Matthews - cricketer, necklace thief and con man
Phyrne's Father and Mother
The Gardeners boy - who placed the ladder from Phryne to retrieve the necklace
Mrs Harper - The Colonels wife
Dr Elizabeth MacMillian - Female Doctor, travel companion and friend of Phrynes
Cec and Burt - Cabbies, Red raggers and associates of Phryne
Alice Greenham - the victim of a illegal abortion that Cec and Burt picked up in their cab
Dorothy Bryant (Dot) -Phryne's maid and companion. Met when Phryne took revenge on behalf of Dot. Neat, tidy, kind, Catholic and shrewd.
The Son of Dot's ex-employer - humiliated by Phryne as revenge for harassing Dot
Sister Simmonds - a worker at the hospital with Dr Mac
Mrs Browning - Cec's landlady
Detective Inspector Jack Robinson - Intelligent officer, obscurely worried by Phryne's methods. An unremarkable man with a hard-to-remember face which has stood him in good stead over the years.
Butcher George (George Fletcher) - back street abortionist and criminal
Mary Elizabeth Allen and Lillian Marchent (Gay Lil) - Butcher George's victims
Phryne's sister (not named) - who died of diphtheria and starvation
Mr Robert Sanderson MP of Toorak - who Phryne meets in chuch
Mrs Jones - owner of the cafe where Phryne and Dr Mac have lunch
Melanie Cryer -
Muriel Miller - Dot's friend who works at the pickle factory and may have an address
Mr Miller - Muriel's Dad, owner of the sweet shop Dot phones to track down Muriel
Madame Olga - boutique owner who sells Phryne an amazing Erte dress
Old Ted - the doorman at the Windsor
The Princesse de Grasse - The Princesse Barazynovska who changed her name to De Grasse after the perfume producing area of France
Elli De Lisse - premier danseuse of the Compagnie des Ballets
Sasha De Lisse - premier danseur of the Compagnie des Ballets
Lydia Andrews - suspected poison victim who turns out to be the King of Snow
John Andrews - Lydia's husband
Georges Santin - gigolo and friend of Phryne's in Paris who taught her to dance the tango
Madame Breda - owner of the Turkish Bath
Alan Carroll - a dinner party guest
Thug one and Thug two - who turn out to be the Gentleman Jim and Cokey Billings two henchmen of the King of Snow
Gerda - Madame Breda's cousin who worked as a maid at the bath house
Ariadne - the thin one, friend of Lydia
Beatrice - the fat one, friend of Lydia
Miss May Cunliffe - winner of the 1924 Cairo road race who taught Phryne to drive
Senior Constable Ellis - the corrupt policeman who comes to search Phryne's room
WPC Jones - Woman Police officer who posed as a girl in trouble to catch Butcher George
Mr Smythe - Windsor Hotel Manager?
Old Mother James' - owner of the 'cafe' next door to 79 Little Lon St
Maureen – Lydia Andrew's Irish house maid

Brigit – Maureen's Sister and Lydia Andrew's personal maid

Mr Turner - Independent MP

Mr Jackson - Labor MP

Mr Berry - Conservative MP

The Bull - another thug and henchman of the King of Snow

Detective Constable Malleson - one of the policemen that came to rescue Phryne and Sasha

Book 1: Cocaine Blues (aka Death by Misadventure) Synopsis

Warning: contains spoilers!

Cocaine Blues is the first in the series of Phryne Fisher Mysteries. At a party a break in occurs during a blackout and diamond necklace is stolen. Phryne quickly clears up the mystery and the party returns to normal. Impressed with her quick detective work the Colonel asks to meet with Phryne to discuss as personal matter. Phryne meets with the Colonel and his wife at their country estate the next day where it transpires the couple are worried about their daughter who has married an Australian and appears pale, thin and sickly at her last visit. Suspecting poisoning Phryne agrees to take the case, if only to escape the boredom.

Phryne sails to Melbourne on the Orient with her friend Dr MacMillan and after arriving hails a cab driven by Cec and Burt  who load up her mountain of luggage and drop her at her hotel The Windsor after dropping Dr Mac at the Queen Victoria Hospital. After a bath Phryne heads down for a spot of lunch and after an afternoon nap heads down to a dinner of cocktails and lobster mayonnaise. After dinner Phryne changes and take a wander through the Block Arcade.

Meanwhile Cec and Burt pick up a fare who dumps a girl in the back of the cab. At first they think the girl is drunk but on further inspection realise she is sick and bleeding so they rush her to Dr Mac at the Queen Victoria Hospital.

Back in the block arcade Phryne does a spot of shopping picking up a pair of doeskin gloves and a diamante insect shaped barette for her hair. Phryne pauses to tidy her hair in a mirror and notices a scruffy girl holding a knife in the reflection. Phryne invites the girl (Dot) to tea and discovers Dot was planning to kill the son of her employer who has just fired her for "shamelessly pursuing her son" when in fact the son had been harassing her. After offering Dot a job Phryne takes the knife and cuts the young mans braces and undergarments while he is boasting to friends about him conquests leaving him exposed and embarrassed.

Back at the hospital Dr Mac examines Alice and discovers she was the victim of an illegal abortion. Alice is feverish and suffering from Sapraemia. The next day Bert and Cec follow Dr Mac to the police station to inform Detective-Inspector Robinson of the incident and give a description of the man who dumped Alice in their cab. The detective recognises the description but cannot catch the abortionist.

Meanwhile Phryne takes Dot back to her hotel where she baths and gets a change of clothes. The next day while Phryne is lunching with Dr Mac and attending the cathedral Dot delivers all her calling cards and tidies her mess of clothes. Whilst in church Phryne meets Mr Robert Sanderson MP of Toorak. After church Phyrne meets Dr Mac at the hospital where they stop by the nursery and look in on Alice. Dr Mac informs Phryne of what happened to Alice.

After lunch Phryne returns to the hotel where she find the room pristine and Dot attending her mending. An invitation to dinner with Melanie Cryer has been left for her.  Phyrne starts to investigate the illegal abortionist by tyring to obtain addresses. Dot contacts an old friend who might have one.

The next day Phryne and Dot go shopping for some new clothes for Dot and Prhyne picks up a stunning Erte dress at Madame Olgas. After lunch and a visit to an Elizabeth Arden beauty parlour Phryne returns to the hotel to dress in her new dress for dinner at the Cryers.  At dinner Phryne is seated next to Robert Sanderson MP and also recognises the Hon. Robert Matthews (the jeweled necklace thief who had been banished to Australia).

Mrs Cryer introduces Phryne to the Princesse de Grasse in attendance along with the premier danseur and danseuse of the Chapanie des Ballet who she sponsors. Phyrne promises to visit the Princesse. Phyrne is also introduced to Lydia Andrews (the lady she promised to investigate) and her husband John.  Phryne immediately dislikes them recognising John as a domestic tyrant and his wife as clingy.

Phryne converses with Lydia and discovers Lydia's dislike of Robert Matthews and his questionable business dealings with her husband. Lydia invites Phryne to luncheon which Phryne agrees to before she is whisked away by Sascha De Lisse the dansuer for a dance. Sasha informs Phryne that he has seen her dance before in Paris and Phryne wonders if he is trying to blackmail her. She tells Sascha she finds him attractive but cannot be blackmailed.

After the dance the Princesse tells Phryne that she suspects Lydia's illness is caused by cocaine. The Princesse has come from Paris chasing the King of Snow as her daughter died from cocaine use. She asks Phryne for any information she has and to accompany her to Madame Breda's turkish bath.

After dinner and a performance by the premier danseur and danseuse of the Chapanie des Ballet Phryne leaves the party and decides to walk. Phryne had walked over a mile when she is disputed by a commotion and a body comes barreling into her. It is Sascha. Phryne disguises him as a tipsy companion just before two men come looking for him. Phryne manages to get rid of the men and realises Sascha has been stabbed luckily a taxi arrives at the moment and it happens to be Cec and Burt. They take Sascha back to the Windsor and Phryne inquires about Alice. Cec and Burt inform her they have been collecting numbers for back street abortionists and they agree to meet up at a public phone box to call around and find their butcher.

Phryne takes Sacha up to her room throws off her dress so it doesnt get blood stained and attends his wound. A slash to his bicep. Sasha comes around to find Phryne in her undergarments. Sascha tells Phryne that he went to investigate a cocaine drop off and got caught. His wound dressed Phryne made up a bed for Sascha on the sofa and then went to bed.

The next day after some tea, asprins and a restorative bath Phryne attended the Turkish bath with the Princesse. They are met by Madame Breda and after a sauna and massage the Princesse purchases cocaine by Madame Breda's sister Gerda. Prhyne purchases the cocaine from the Princesse and sends it to Dr Mac for analysis along with one she finds in her pocket labelled 'beware of the rose'. After that Phryne purchases a packet of bicarbonate of soda and after taking in a newsreel returns to the hotel to dress for Lydia's luncheon.

At the luncheon Lydia is giving out business advice to two friends Ariadne and Beatrice and advises against dealing with Bobby Matthews who she is sure is a con man. After luncheon Phryne invites the ladies to lunch with her at the Windsor and dashes off after feeling increasingly unwell.

Phryne returns to the hotel and ordered a emetic after suspecting her tea at Madame Breda's had been spiked and after purging her system went to bed. While in bed Phryne hears someone enter her room and say 'That'll fix her' before leaving. Phryne crept into the room and noticing her coat has been moved went to check it. When she did another small package falls out which she quickly flushes down the toilet and went back to bed.

When Phryne awakes she is not alone in bed Sascha has come to join her and she can no longer resist his charms. Sascha goes to leaves and Phryne goes to bath before Dot returns. But when she answers her door for the tea tray she is greeted by the manager who tells her the police are downstairs and have a warrant to search her room for drugs. Phryne, Sascha and Dot (who has just arrived back and see the police downstairs) search the room finding another package of drugs which they flush. They then tidy the room and invite the police in.

The police search the room and check Phryne coat whereby her package of Bicarbonate falls out. They check it and realise it is bicarb and then attend to the personal searches. Phryne agrees to the search on the proviso that the detective-inspector is searched to. The policemen is confused but agree after stating they could arrest them and take them to the station to be seached. At hearing this Phryne disrobes and states that if they tried to take her to the station they would have to take her naked so they police agree to the searches.

The ladies are searched and nothing found but a small package is found attached to  Senior-constable Ellis' chest who Phryne suspects had been bribed with money. Ellis confesses he was paid 50 pounds by a woman who he spoke to over the phone to plant the drugs in Phryne's room. Ellis picked the drugs up from the GPO and was told if he didn't do it she would kill his wife and kids.  Phryne ask the police not to sack Ellis as she is sure she can catch the cocaine dealer within 10 days.

After the police leave Phryne asks Sasha to tell her everything he knows about the King of Snow. Sasha tells Phyrne how his mother was addicted to cocaine as the King of Snow kept supplying her and they lost all their valuable jewels and money paying for it. They even lost a collar of diamonds made for Catherine the Great. So they come up with a plan to make the dance company and perform to Parisian Society and keep a look out for someone wearing the necklace then they would have their King of Snow. One night they spotted the necklace so they question the woman wearing it but she said that the necklace was borrowed from an American who had bought the necklace and gave him the name. Sasha refuses to share the name with Phryne as he want to kill the man but eventually gives up the name Andrews. Sasha also gives Phryne the address of the drop in Toorak which he had been at the night he had been injured.

Sasha says he got the information about the drop from Gerda at the bath house. Madame Breda carries the drugs and distributes them at her customers houses when she visits them with Gerda to massage them.

The next day Dr Mac calls at the hotel to advise Phryne that the package that appeared in her pocket with the warning was pure cocaine but the large one she bought from the Princesse was just salt. After breakfast Phryne acompanies Sascha to Scotts hotel to talk to the Princesse.

When Phryne questions the Princesse about the salt the Princesse assures her she paid for cocaine and that Breada must have found some reason not to sell. After giving the Princesse the address 79 Llittle Lon Phryne leaves but as she is leaving Phryne hears the Princesse and Sasha having a conversation about whether Phryne paid him. Sasha says she didn't but she will next time and perhaps even marry him. Phryne vows that the Russians would not extract a penny from her.

Phryne goes to tea and opens her mails and finds an invite to dinner from Robert Sanderson MP and a note from Lydia asking her to call as soon as possible. After tea Phryne goes to find a car to hire and comes across a stunning Hispano-Suiza racing car which she hires for $50 a week.

Phyrne picks Dot up from the hotel and ordering a picnic they go for a ride and meet up with Cec and Burt. While eating their picnic Cec and Burt let Phryne know that Little Lon is not a person as the Russian thought but Little Lon Street. They question her about the thugs that attacked Sasha that night and Phryne assures them she would be able to recognise them. Phryne hatches a plan to dress as a prostitute and go to 79 Little Lon to look for the thugs taking Cec and Burt along as bodyguards.

After lunch the group find a public phone box and try out the numbers for back street abortionists. They try a few with no success but the last number is Butcher George. After setting up a meeting with Butcher George Phryne rings the police and sets up for a police woman WPC Jones to meet and capture Butcher George.

 Once the plan to go to Little Lon is made Phryne and Dot head to Paynes for some cheap and nasty clothes for Phryne's disguise. They purchase the clothes and head back to the hotel where Phryne instructs Dot to dress up in the clothes and tatty them up. Phryne then headed straight over to The Andrews to try and talk to one of her maids.

When she arrived Lydia was laid up ill in bed so Phryne had a chance to question the maid about the illness. The maid informs Phryne that the illness only affects Mrs Andrews not her husband and has makes her ill for a few days. The maid states that they are horrible to work for and have been arguing alot since meeting up with Hon. Matthews. Phryne ask the maid and her sister Mrs Andrews ladies maid to deliver a package to Dr Mac.

Then Phryne goes to see Mrs Andrews. Pyrne talks to Mrs Andrews and finds out that the only thing she eats that her husband doesn't are chocolates which her husband buys her. Phryne aks Mrs Andrews if she suspects poisoning and says she will talk to Mr Andrews but Mrs Andrews begs her not to.

After returning to the hotel to change Phryne attended the Melba Gala at the Sanderson home where she met with Dr Mac and asked her to check out any samples she sent for traces of poisoning and then returned to the hotel to find she had received a phone call from the police and a letter from Sasha.

The next day after a refreshing swim Phryne recieved a call from Dr Mac who informed her Butcher George had been caught and the hair and fingernail samples Phryne had sent her were full of arsenic.  Phyryne then dresses in her prostitute grab and heads to Little Lon to catch the thugs.

Phryne headed into the pharmacy at Little Lon accompanied by Cec and Burt and acquires some cocaine. She gives the cocaine to Cec to take straight to Dr Mac and continues spying on other customers. After a while Phryne sees Sasha go into the chemist and ask outright for cocaine.  The thugs who attacked Sasha before appear and Burt recognises them as Cokey, the Gentleman and the Bull. They drag Sasha off and Phryne and Burt try to follow. At this point Cec returns stating the cocaine is real.

Phryne hears Sashas shouts coming from the Madame Bredas Bath house that backs onto the Chemist and climbs over the wall to find him. Sending Cec and Burt to get the police. Phrybe is about to climb through a window when she is attacked by Gerda and so stabbed her and then crept past Cokey into the house.  Phryne manages to sneak into madame Bredas office and finds papers and powder but is caught by Cokey who recognises her and calls for the Bull and the Gentleman they catch her and knock her unconscious.

Phryne woke up the next morning in a room with Sasha. When the Bull realised they were awake he hauls them into another room and the King of Snow appears. It is none other than Lydia Andrews who has recovered from her arsenic overdose. Lydia had been dosing herself with arsenic to build up a resistance to it she was then planning to poison herself and her husband but as she would be resistant she would live and he would die.

Lydia tells Phryne she planned to kill his husband because he was making demands on her as his marital right which she finds disguting. Lydia gives Phryne an ultimatum go into business with her or die by being locked in a sauna naked with Sasha. Phryne tells Lydia that she has already sent a statement to the police detailing Lydia's murder plans and her roles in the cocaine ring with samples of the cocaine.  At this Lydia becomes angry and lock them in the sauna send her thugs off to the hotel, the hospital and the MP's house to find who Phryne has left her statement with.  However all the thugs are quickly apprehended.

Phryne realises that Lydia finds all pleasures of the flesh disgusting so when Lydia returned they start cavorting which Lydia find disgusting and becomes enraged hitting Sasha with her gun. At that moment Phryne throws a shirt over Lydia's head and take her gun then ties her up. At that point Bert and Cec arrived with the police who arrest Lydia. Phryne invited everyone to lunch to celebrate.

Phryne returned to the hotel for a bath and to dress and the met up for lunch with Dot, Cec and Burt, Madame Greda, Sasha, Elli and the Princesse, Dr Mac, Detective Inspector Robinson and WPC Jones.

Before lunch Cec attends the hospital to check up on Alice and proposes she turns down his proposal and tells him to ask again in six months when she is fully recovered and back home with her parents.

Phryne's World: Miss Fisher's Residence

When Phryne first moves to Melbourne she stays at The Windsor Hotel but having decided to stay on and set up as a Lady Detective she acquires a property at 221B The Esplanade, St Kilda (The B she adds to the address as a homage to Sherlock Holmes who lived at 221B Baker St). The house is described in Flying Too High as

"a neat bijou townhouse, faced with shining white stucco so it looked like an iced cake. It had two storeys and a delightful attic-room with a gable window which Dot had claimed."

The address itself is entirely fictional and in the TV series Wardlow at 114 Park Drive, Parkville is used for the outside shots of the house.

The inside shots of the house are filmed on a sound stage and the rooms are meticulously designed to match the descriptions in the books. Which is explained more in the video below:

What's in Phryne's Bag

1. A brooch?
2. A red coin purse
3. Cigarettes
4. Drop earrings
5. Another brooch?
6. A hat pin
7. Perfume (Phryne's favourite is Jicky or Cinq-à-Sept by Guerlain she also mentions Floris Stephanotis and Le Fruit Defende)
8. A perfume atomiser?
9. Lipstick case
10. Rouge
11. Her pearl handled gun

In Murder in Montparnasse Phryne describes the contents of here handbag as:

“three lipstick cases with just a crumb of lipstick left, an old eyebrow pencil sharpener without a blade, pieces of a defunct watch, odd earrings, handkerchiefs (three crumpled, one uncrumpled), two grubby powder puffs, bent hairpins, patterns of ribbon to be matched, a cigarette lighter without fuel (and two with fuel) a spark plug, some papers of Bex and a sprinkling of loose white aspirin, eleven train tickets (the return half of which had not been given up), four tram tickets, cinema and theatre stubs, seven'pence three farthings in lose change and the mandatory throat lozenge stuck to the lining.”

An Interview with Phryne Fisher

This interview is taken from A Question of Death: An Illustrated Phryne Fisher Treasury by Kerry Greenwood:


FAVOURITE FOOD?
White peaches. I could bathe in them.

FAVOURITE COLOUR?
Expensive.

FAVOURITE SCENT?
Jicky or Cinq-à-Sept by Guerlain.

FAVOURITE DESIGNER?
Erté, Dior, Worth.

READING RECENTLY?
Miss Dorothy Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey books, and Beverley Nichols, such a clever young man and
very sound on cats. Also Geoffrey Chaucer and Herodotus, quite the best guide to the ancient world.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
Green chartreuse.

WHAT DEPRESSES YOU?
The obstinate failure of the revolution to arrive.

BEST PIECE OF LIFE ADVICE?
Don’t die. While there’s life, there’s Château Mouton Rothschild.

FAVOURITE CASE?
The Spanish Ambassador’s son’s kitten. It was a very charming, if grave, kitten. Come to think of it, so
was the Ambassador.

WORD OR PHRASE FOR WHICH BEST KNOWN?
‘Mr Butler, could we have another cocktail?’

GREATEST REGRET?
The hobble skirt.

GREATEST PLEASURE?
I could say, while wearing a new dress, drinking Veuve Clicquot and eating truffled quails’ eggs and
Beluga caviar with lemon and rye-bread toast in excellent company with dancing to follow, but that
sounds trite. Everything is a pleasure, except politicians.

ADVICE FOR TRAVELLERS?
A smile, a song and a wad of the local currency will get you most of the things you may require abroad,
except English tea.

Who is Phryne Fisher?

The Hon Phryne Fisher is a character created by  Kerry Greenwood in a series of murder mystery books set in the 1920's in Melbourne, Australia.  Phryne (pronounced fry-nee) is named after the Greek courtesan whose beauty inspired the painter Apelles to create his famous picture of Aphrodite Anadyomene and as so rich that she offered to fund the rebuilding of the walls of Thebes, which had been destroyed by Alexander the Great in 336 BC, on the condition that the words "Destroyed by Alexander, restored by Phryne the courtesan" be inscribed upon them. Her last name Fisher is implication that she is a 'fisher of men' as all detectives are. Her name also reflects the Grail Cycle Le Roi Pecheur, the Sinner or Fisher King.

Phryne was meant to be Christened Psyche but there was a little confusion at her baptism as her father was nit feeling himself due to a long night at the club the night before and so she ended up as Phryne.  

Phryne is no ordinary aristocrat, as she can fly a plane, drives her own car (a Hispano-Suiza) and sometimes wears trousers, while maintaining style and class.

Phryne was born in about 1900 in Richmond, Melbourne to a poor family however during World War I several young men between the 'title' and her father died her parents were soon elevated to the titles of Lord and Lady of an English Manor House. This made Phryne an Hon with an enormous fortune. After finishing school Phryne ran away to France where she joined the french women's ambulance unit in WWI receiving a reward for bravery and a French war pension. After the war Phryne worked as an artist model in Montparnasse (this story is explored in the book Murder in Montparnasse). After several years here and there, Phryne moved from England to Melbourne to investigate for a family friend (This story is explored in Cocaine Blues). Phyrne enjoys Melbourne so much that she decides to stay on permanently buying a house at 221B The Esplanade, St Kilda (the B she added as a nod to Sherlock Holmes' address) where she sets up as a lady detective.

Through the course of the books, Phryne collects a personal maid, Dot; two adoptive daughters, Ruth and Jane (whom she rescued from slavery); a cat, Ember; a dog, Molly; and two loyal servants, the Butlers. She also has relationships with a string of lovers, most notably Lin Chung, a wealthy Chinese man (whom she rescues in the city one evening). Lin is the only lover with whom she maintains a relationship for more than a few books and even goes so far as to make a deal with his grandmother that when he is married she be allowed to continue a relationship with him. So far Phryne's life is going swimmingly.

Welcome

Welcome to the unofficial blog of Miss Phryne Fisher lady detective. Phyrne Fisher is the main protagonist of a series of detective books set in the 1920's written by Kerry Greenwood Through this blog I will share with you everything from the world of Miss Fisher from fashion to food and drinks and of course her many adventures.