Phryne Fisher is dancing the night away with the spoiled and stuffy Charles Freeman when one of the last four contestants of a dance marathon drops dead. The Jazz stops, and the lights come up, leaving Phryne to do a cursory inspection of the body before trusting Inspector Jack Robinson to be on the case. While the proprietors and other dancers are being interrogated, Phryne chats with the Jazz band and waits for her dullard of a date to come back from the bathroom. However, after all the first interviews are tucked away in Inspector Robinson’s notepad, Charles Freeman is found to have done a flit.
A terrible night turns into an even worse morning for Phryne when she is summoned to the homestead of the Freemans, currently only occupied by the gibbering, fainting, hysterical Mrs. Freeman, whose central pastime is histrionics. She begs Phryne to find her missing son as he is in charge of their business firm and is needed to sort out the estate since her husband died six months previously.
Mrs. Freeman, hysterical and cloying, also reveals another terrible secret, her firstborn son, Vincent, did not die in the Great War. Still, he came home with a severe case of shell shock before leaving home and settling in the peace and quiet of the Australian Alps. Charles does not know that his brother did not die in the war, and she also needs Phryne to find Vincent so he can either claim his legal right as heir or renounce it.
Several secrets must come to light now that dawn has broken over The Green Mill; who killed the mysterious dancehall man and why? Why did Charles Freeman flee? Where was he hiding? Whatever became of Vincent Freeman, who was last heard from seven years ago.
The Review
I can scratch my third Spring 2024 TBR title off the list. I had such a blast revisiting the Phryne Fisher series for my blog.
The Green Mill Murder is primarily about secrets that can no longer be borne, and several of them are on a crash course with destiny in this book. The central mystery of discovering who the man is in the Green Mill and why Charles Freeman tried to escape any association with the corpse takes up the bulk of the story’s first half. It has fun nightlife, steamy liaisons, and Miss Fisher’s flashy wardrobe. The terrible secret hidden by Charles Freeman is evident by his general demeanor towards Phryne, who is a self-professed man-eater. It was damning during the 1920s when the book was set and was a reasonably risqué topic during the early 1990s, but in 2024 it doesn’t have the same tawdry undertones for a lot of readers.
The book then deftly and swiftly turns toward exploring more grave secret histories. The Green Mill Murder does an incredible job of explaining how the battles of Pozieres and Gallipoli scared national contentiousness by having Bert and Cec recount their war experiences. The two men, who obviously have seen terrible atrocities, say they are the lucky ones, the ones without shell-shock and other battle mental health conditions that ruined so many young men who survived. They go on to tell of the men who cannot live with the condition and end up dying at their own hands. It’s a somber and accurate reflection of the Australian World War One experience, which is incredibly moving, even before we meet Vincent Freeman.
The journey to meet Vincent Freeman brings back one of the defining features of the early part of the Phryne Fisher series: his love and skill for flying. Phryne makes a treacherous and challenging journey from the flying school in Melbourne to a few small villages on the way to the Australian Alps to a small clearing on the side of a mountain that Vincent has made home. There’s a real sense of danger as the aircraft experience for fliers of this period is detailed, including the rather “inventive” way fliers relieve themselves, as well as a bit of travelogue where the reader gets a bird eye view of the Australian outback and topographical majesty.
Phryne then spends three days on the mountain with Vincent Freeman, who has carved his own peace out of the mountain. He is a man who has healed his wounds but has no desire to go back to a society made of men. He has seen too much of what man can do to himself. There’s a lot of beauty in the writing and poignant philosophical discussion about the war and whether Vincent will decide to come down from the mountain, rejoin society, and give up his solitude. Vincent Freeman’s peace is in direct contrast to Phryne’s, who wakes up almost every night in terror from the silence and isolation.
What gives us peace is a heady topic for a murder mystery novel, and The Green Mill Murder handles it with aplomb.
Phryne comes down from the mountain and settles the Freeman estate between the two brothers. When she reports back to Mrs. Freeman what was decided on the mountain, she realizes that the fainting and feeble Mrs. Freeman is more terrible than she first appears.
Having ridden herself off the horrible Freeman estate mysteries, Phryne circles back to finding proof of who killed the man in The Green Mill and confronting them with her suspicions. What ensues is an excellent exploration of Phryne’s character; she is guided by her own moral code and not by the law.
The Green Mill Murder is a detailed exploration of the rightness of law and moral rightness, especially in light of war, a terrible inhuman war where millions died in truth and in spirit. It explores how people have gone on and what helps them bridge the gap between the glittering nightlife and the stark cold bright light of day.
The Green Mill Murder is a full-bodied mystery with many entertaining sequences. It also asks the reader to consider the cost of the war before this decade of peace and prosperity with nuance, gravity, and the usual Kerry Greenwood levity. This is one of the best books of the Phryne Fisher series.
Phryne Fisher Series Reviews
Phryne Fisher #1: Cocaine Blues
Phryne Fisher #16: Murder in the Dark
Kerry Greenwood Biography
Kerry Greenwood is an Australian author best known for her crime fiction, particularly the Phryne Fisher series. Born on June 17, 1954, in Footscray, Victoria, Australia, Greenwood has had a prolific career as a writer, spanning various genres including mystery, historical fiction, science fiction, and fantasy.
She studied law and English at the University of Melbourne and later worked as a solicitor for Legal Aid. However, her passion for writing led her to pursue a full-time career in writing.
Greenwood gained widespread acclaim for her Phryne Fisher series, which follows the adventures of a glamorous and independent female detective in 1920s Melbourne. The series consists of over 20 novels and has been adapted into a successful television series called “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries,” which aired in Australia and internationally.
Apart from the Phryne Fisher series, Greenwood has written other novels, short stories, and plays. She has also contributed to various anthologies and magazines.
In addition to her writing, Greenwood is known for her activism and advocacy work, particularly in the areas of reproductive rights and social justice.
Overall, Kerry Greenwood has left a significant mark on Australian literature, particularly in the crime fiction genre, with her compelling characters, intricate plots, and vivid historical settings.
Spring TBR
#1 Behind the Green Door by Mildred A. Wirt
#2 The Applegreen Cat by Frances Crane (1943)
Golden Age of Detective Fiction 
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