1991 historical detection, third in Greenwood's Phryne Fisher series
(1920s flapper detective in Australia). Everyone in one of the
carriages on the overnight train to Ballarat is chloroformed; Phryne
retains just enough consciousness to shoot out the window and let in
some air. When everyone recovers, it's found that an elderly passenger
has vanished. But why?
Another double-stranded mystery here, with the passenger's
daughter employing Phryne to look into what happened, and an amnesiac
girl on the train whom Phryne takes up since nobody else seems to want
to. Again the actual detection is all pretty straightforward, and
there's not much in the way of false leads, though the question of
motivation is left open until surprisingly late.
Rather unexpected is the way Phryne takes the abandoned girl, and her
found-sister, into her own household; considering her habits, and her
preference for avoiding children as seen in Flying Too High, it
seems a huge reversal to put herself permanently in loco parentis
and something that should perhaps have been approached with a bit more
soul-searching. (Though, to be fair, Phryne isn't the soul-searching
type; she makes a decision and does.)
There are more uncomfortable subjects dealt with in a casual manner,
and more good performances from the secondary cast. Nothing stellar
here but a solid series entry. Followed by Death at Victoria Dock.
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