Blood and Circuses

"A top-notch entry in this witty, hugely entertaining series." -BooklistPhryne Fisher is bored. Life has become too easy, too perfect. Her household is ordered, her love life is pleasant, the weather is fine. And then a man from her past arrives at her door. Alan Lee and his friends want her to investigate strange happenings at Farrell's Circus, where animals have been poisoned and ropes sabotaged. Mr. Christopher has been found with his throat cut in Mrs. Witherspoon's irreproachable boarding house, and Miss Parkes-an ex-performer-is charged with his murder.Phryne must go deep undercover to be effective. She must abandon her name, her title, her protection, her comfort-even her clothes. She must fall off a horse twice a day until she can stay on. She must sleep in a girl's tent and dine on mutton stew. And she must find some allies.Meanwhile in Melbourne, young, fresh-faced policeman Tommy Harris has to solve his own mysteries with the help of the foul-spoken harridan Lizard Elsie, or Miss Parkes will certainly hang. Can Phryne uncover the truth under the Big Top without losing her life?Kerry Greenwood is the author of more than 40 novels and six non-fiction books. She has received the Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award from the Crime Witers' Association of Australia. When she is not writing, she is an advocate in Magistrates' Courts for the Legal Aid commission. www.phrynefisher.com