Death By Water

A Phryne Fisher Mystery

By: Kerry Greenwood

Narrated by: Stephanie Daniel

Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

The divine Phryne Fisher returns in the 15th seductive installment in the classic Phryne Fisher whodunnit series. This one includes shipboard romances, champagne cocktails, erotic photographers, jealous husbands, mickey finns, blackmail, and attempted murder.

A succession of jewelry thefts from first-class passengers is hardly the best advertisement for a cruise liner, particularly when it is likely that it is a passenger who is doing the stealing. Phryne Fisher, with her Lulu bob, green eyes, Cupid's bow lips and Chanel traveling suits, is exactly the sort of elegant sleuth to take on a ring of jewelry thieves on the high seas - or at least, aboard the SS Hinemoa on a luxury cruise to New Zealand. With the Maharani - the Great Queen of Sapphires - as the bait, Phryne rises magnificently to the challenge.

©2005 Kerry Greenwood (P)2007 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd.

Critic reviews

"Brimming with glamour, high life, and a hint of debauchery, Greenwood's series delivers a literary glass of champagne, lifting readers' spirits while tickling their fancies." ( Booklist)

Wonderful story!

This Phryne Fisher book was impeccable. As an avid reader of the series it was so nice and refreshing to take this cruise along with Phryne and Dot meeting new characters and mystery. The references to Titanic are tastefully placed and are very interesting since the disaster happened fairly recently in Phryne's time. I love this one so much I'm thinking to read it again. Great story line and as always beautiful descriptions of the food and environment.

Great story, characters, narration.(but...).

Would you listen to Death By Water again? Why?

LOVE the whole "Phryne" series and the narrator does such a great job that I hate to quibble about this: I wish she'd quit trying to sing. She has a middling-pleasant singing voice but her pitch is off and it gets rather excruciating. On the whole, she is not alone, as most narrators come up with a monstrous "fail" when it comes to this. She's not quite as bad as some narrators tho.One was awful at singing to the point that I "returned" the book. Other than that, she does a terrific job with characterisations, voices and, esp accents. I'll just put my fingers in my ears for the singing.
As to a re-read, the characters and dialogue are so good that this is half the pleasure of reading Ms Greenwood's work. She creates a wonderful milieu that pulls right into the world of her characters.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

ALWAYS a great plot and it's hard to guess "who dunnit." I hate a mystery-plot where I have a good idea about halfway thru as to who the malefactor is, so appreciate that this writer can keep you guessing.

What about Stephanie Daniel’s performance did you like?

Voices, characterisations and ACCENTS! (a lot of narrators fall short..a HORRIBLE example being "Miss Partridge's Home for Peculiar Children" which inspired me to ask for a return/refund!)

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Thank God, it's Phryne!

Any additional comments?

see above about the singing.

Memories

This book reminded me of how intrigued I've always been oh the titanic. Thumbs up

Splendid cruise with great New Zealand scenes

Starting with trying to solve some jewel robberies on a cruise ship, Phryne and Dot run into some weird shipmates and a possible murder. There are also some anecdotes related to the Titanic which gives added poignancy to the story. Great read and more wonderful narration from Stephanie Daniel who gets more chances to sing - sounding very like Marlene Dietrich.

Death By Water

This elegant story line was so fun to listen to. I was intrigued the entire time.

Entertaining mystery w/ Phryne on the high seas.

This is my favorite Phryne. I loved the story, and the singing is minimal, thankfully. Phryne takes Dot on a cruise in an attempt to unmask a jewel thief. Along the way, we meet some interesting fellow passengers. The story is entertaining, the descriptions of the events, people and places are vintage Kerry Greenwood and are just lovely. Not the most intricate mystery, but enough twists to keep you involved in the story.
A refreshing romp to 1920s Australia and New Zealand alongside Phryne and Dot.

My favorite Phryne Fischer mystery.

This is one of her lighter mysteries and ship's voyage provides a lovely backdrop. Nicely done.

jewel thefts at sea

I do so love this writer. The Honerable Miss Phryne Fisher takes a cruise, partly to get away from an over crowded house. She finds much intrigue and a few plots in a gorgeous ship. She is hired by the Shipping company to get to the bottom of theifts aboard the ship,l. she is helped by her esteemed companion Dorothy, the intelligent crew, and a rat catching cat to fix.

A murder at Sea?

Missing jewels gets our girl on a big ship investigating. But things start happening and a man goes overboard. As usual a delightful journey with amazing narration

A great "who done it" with a fun flapper flair

Would you consider the audio edition of Death By Water to be better than the print version?

While this mystery would have been a wonderful read in hard copy, being able to hear Aussie or British accents added immeasurably to this story that depends so heavily on cultural and linguistic characteristics to add depth to the story. The journey would not have been nearly as satisfying on paper.

What did you like best about this story?

The interesting information you pick up throughout keeps the reader engaged between major plot moves and, while this is a murder mystery, getting to know all of the passengers aboard nearly did away with the need to even find a "body" to make it a complete story.

Have you listened to any of Stephanie Daniel’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is my first Stephanie Daniel's performance, and I was highly pleased. You forget that this is a single person, as it feels more like an entire cast. She really lends life to the people she's reading - you develop a sense of person that adds immensely to the enjoyment of the story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

The story and the performance were very engaging and I found that I really looked forward to getting back in my car to continue the journey. In fact, it wasn't unusual for me to take the long way home just to reach the end of a chapter.

Any additional comments?

I'm definitely going to find more stories by Kerry Greenwood and performances by Stephanie Daniels.