The blurb:
Phryne Fisher, her sister Beth and her faithful maid, Dot, decide that Luna Park is the place for an afternoon of fun with Phryne's two daughters. But in the dusty dark Ghost Train, a mummified bullet-studded corpse falls to the ground in front of them, and Phryne's pleasure trip suddenly becomes business.
I live not that far from Castlemaine, so this one had some novelty value for that alone—I know the hotel Phryne stays at in the novel, for example, though it's pretty much a wreck these days, sadly.
The story is engaging but relies a bit much on things working out that way because they had to—there's a degree of coincidence that stretches the suspension of disbelief more than a little. And, while I know Greenwood meticulously researched her novels, I do think that she significantly underplays the racism of the Victorian goldfields towards the Chinese miners and marketers. That said, one of the stories she cites, of a police constable placing himself between a mob and a Chinese camp, did happen: there's information available about it. But overall, the racism is generally downplayed a lot lower than what would have been the reality, I think. I also think Phryne herself gets more leeway than might be expected. On both, it does say something, though, that the queen of "I don't give a damn what people think" did still feel the need to smuggle Lin Chung in through a window for the night.
Overall, the usual Phryne romp, with the usual cast of characters, plus the temporary addition of a sister who I think never appears on stage again.
Started: 2 November 2025
Finished: 4 November 2025
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