Murder and Mendelssohn
When a disliked chorus conductor turns up dead, sheet music from Mendelssohn’s Messiah crammed down his throat, it’s up to Detective Jack Robinson and the Honorable Miss Phryne Fisher to find out who did it and why. Enter Rupert Sheffield, mathematician and observationist extraordinaire, who may help or hinder the case – or even be the killer. With him comes his companion, John Wilson, a wartime lover of Phryne, whose presence dredges up painful memories and a past with MI6 she thought was long buried. Can she find the killer – or killers – and put her past to rest?
This is the 20th of Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher mysteries, but the first one I’ve read in book form. I came to the series from the television show, so the differences were a bit overwhelming. Greenwood has a peculiar habit of head-hopping from paragraph to paragraph that makes for slow reading as you have to figure out whose point of view you’re in every few minutes. Combined with the need to improve the pacing, this was a tough book. But I loved the characters and the plot was entertaining, so longtime fans will surely enjoy the newest adventure of their favorite “lady detective.”
