Australia Books

Unfortunately I gave this gorgeous book away as a gift! It is visually beautiful, wonderfully written and leaves you wanting to book a ticket downunder

Michael Cooper's WINE ATLAS OF NEW ZEALAND is the first wine atlas dedicated just to New Zealand - a nation becoming known world-wide for its high quality wines. Michael Cooper has over 25 years experience researching and writing on his subject and is the perfect professional choice for producing a guide which reviews the nation's climate, soils, ten wine-making regions, and nearly 300 wine companies. Add color photos of labels, countryside and productions throughout and you have an important basic reference.

Here's a region-by-region profile to over 280 wine companies accompanying in-depth profiles of 10 selected New Zealand winemakers and packed with maps and new photos. Analysis of climate, soils and wine styles accompany an illustrated history of the wine industry and a regional organization just perfect for the destination-oriented New Zealand wine fan. But you don't have to be traveling there to appreciate the extensive geography and wine grape facts packed into Michael Cooper's Wine Altas Of New Zealand: with John McDermott's color photos gracing nearly every page, armchair wine fans have a lot to enjoy, too.

At the Montana New Zealand Book Awards 2003, announced 22 July, Wine Atlas of New Zealand, by Michael Cooper, won the Montana Medal for the supreme work of non-fiction. The judges' commented that "the final decision on the winner of the Montana Medal was influenced by our collective view that the Wine Atlas of New Zealand could not possibly be improved upon - it is elegantly written, superbly designed and produced and its impact on the community has been considerable. Michael Cooper has written many superb books on wine in New Zealand - this is unquestionably his Magnum Opus."

There's not much more to say than that this is a fantastic treatment of its subject. The book is well laid out, fantastically researched, beautifully photographed and a joy to look at (let alone read!). It is little wonder this won the Montana Book Award - Cooper has meticously researched his subject.
The book starts off with an introduction (as they tend to do) then explores the fascinating history of viticulture in New Zealand before tracing the impact of New Zeland wine on the world market. We also get to explore the most commonly grown grape varieties in New Zealand and how they are characterised in New Zealand wines.
General information out of the way, Cooper then explores in detail the wine regions of New Zeland with fantastic maps, photographs and notes on individual wines and wineries.
The book is also indespersed with profiles of key players in the New Zealand wine industry and history.
To sum up - its a beautiful book and a must for anyone interested in the area. It is by far the most comprehenive treatment of New Zeland viticulture, and worthy of the accolades it receives.

The only bad thing about Robertson Davies' Deptford Trilogy (FIFTH BUSINESS, THE MANTICORE, WORLD OF WONDERS) is that it had to end! Sparklingly clever, bawdy, poignant, erudite, and laugh-out-loud funny, Davies entertains in a wonderfully rich, old-world style.

A friend of mine (who recommended the books, and to whom I will be forever grateful) put it this way: "Reading Robertson Davies is like sitting in a plush, wood-paneled library--in a large leather chair with a glass of excellent brandy and a crackling fire--and being captivated with a fabulous tale spun by a wonderful raconteur."

This is the best novel of the century's best English language novelist. The plot is sure-fire (kid runs away with the carnival), the characters memorable (sideshow freaks, revealed to be--human beings! theater people, great and small, revealed to be--human beings!), the sins enormous (pederasty, pride, perhaps even murder), the virtues marvelous (love, devotion to love). The theme of this book, as with the other books in the trilogy, is search for self--the main character of this book lives four different lives during his life. This book works on every level; it reads well as a story, gives you something to think about, and stands up to any number of readings you'd care to give it. (I've given it at least five.)

The theme of the novel "World of Wonders" by Robertson Davies, is "search for self"(Warlton 4) Through ought the novel, there is a constant search for who the main character, Mangus Eisengrim, truly is. The majority of the novel is Mangus telling his life story. During this story, Mangus lives "four different lives"(Warlton 5) First he was born with the given name Paul Dempster, a Reverend's. At the age of ten he ran away with the carnival and became Cass Fletcher and controlled a mechanical card-playing machine as a carnival act. Later he named himself Fastus LeGrand and worked as a stunt double in a travelling play. He finally became Mangus Eisengrim, a world famous illusionist. Countless times during his story he asks the question, "Who was I?"(61).

At the beginning of Paul Dempster's life there was no trouble with who he was. He was born prematurely and so, right from the start, he was a survivor. He also was a Reverend's son, and his mother was known to others as a "hoor"(24). He knew exactly who he was, but anted to be someone else. After running away with the carnival, or as he said "The carnival ran away with me.", he recalls that he was "prepared to do anything rather than go home." At the carnival he became known as Cass Fletcher. This initial change in who he was was the first sign that there was a conflict with who he was.

His time spent as Cass Fletcher, roughly eight years, was the most conflicting time of his life. In the carnival Cass operated a card-playing machine called "Abdullah"(49). He would sit inside the machine spy on his opponent's cards and slip better ones into Abdullah's hand. At point in his life Cass spent most of his time inside this contraption, perfecting his spying and card slipping and when he ate, and that was seldom, he would do it inside Abdullah as well. He was almost never seen or spoken too. This neglect and abuse led him to believe that he was nobody. He mentions "I was Nobody... I did not exist.". At this time his "search for self" came to the most obscure solution possible. He believed himself to be Nobody. However, when he was seen and acknowledged, it was mostly when he was on stage as "Abdullah, the undefeatable card-playing machine". This caused him to think that when he was not Nobody, he was Abdullah. His answer to "Who [am] I?" was either Abdullah, an inanimate object and a machine to trick an audience, or nobody at all. It wasn't until he was about eighteen, when the carnival he was working for went out of business, that he escaped being trapped in Abdullah. He moved to France and became a street performer. His fake passport had "Fastus LeGrand" as his name. So finally he was no longer, and would never again be, Nobody.

Early in Fastus LeGrand's career as a street performer he was offered a job as an actor in a play called "Scaramouche"(162). He was hired as a stunt double for a man named Sir John. All Fastus had to do was walk a tightrope and juggle some plates, but he had quite a problem imitating Sir John. A fellow actor said that he couldn't "get Sir John's rhythm."(167). As he began to get the idea, he realized that he was again hiding from the audience as he had done with Abdullah.

Was this to be another Abdullah? It was, but in a way I could not have foreseen. Experience never repeats itself in quite the same way. I was beginning another servitude, much more dangerous and potentially ruinous, but far removed from the squalor of my experience with [Abdullah]. I had entered upon a ling apprenticeship to an [egotism].

Fastus had to become Sir John. Eventually he succeeded, so much so that he was later accused of eating Sir John. "You ate Sir John... You ate the poor old ham."(224). Another crisis in his identity. Fastus learned to walk, act, speak, move, stand and probably even blink exactly the same as Sir John himself. During Fastus's time with the play he was known to most as Mungo Fetch. The name was decided on by other actors who thought it sounded appropriate for a man whose job it was to copy someone else. Fastus LeGrand, the only name he picked for himself, was thought to be far too noticeable, and a stunt double was to be kept secret. Again he needed to be hidden from the world. But when Sir John retired, Fastus was no longer Mungo Fetch, nor Sir John. He was beginning to win himself back. Once again, he was known only by a single name. But "Fastus LeGrand was still not who [he] truly was, or who he was meant to be."(Pierce 318)

Soon after Fastus stopped acting in Scaramouche, he was hired to fix toys for an old rich man. It took months just to fix a single toy because of the minute tinkering took to perfect the movement. But there were hundreds of toys that needed to be fixed. So Fastus spent almost every waking hour of his time working on them. Thus, he had virtually no contact with the outside world. He was even given residence with his employer, so he didn't even have to leave the old mans mansion. Now, instead of hiding behind Abdullah or Sir John, he was hiding behind his work. It was during his time fixing toys that Fastus changed once again. As he continued fixing toys for the old man, Fastus met the old mans niece, Lisel, whom he fell in love with. Since Fastus LeGrand was not his real name and he didn't care for it much they decided to change it again. Fastus would by no means return to being Paul Dempster, and even less so did he want to go back to Cass Fletcher. So Lisel named him Mangus Eisengrim. Becoming Mangus was the "final conflict with who he was."(Pierce 553) Mangus was finally rid of his former lives and had come to the end of his search for self. He had answered the question "Who [am] I?". He lived life as Mangus and became a world famous illusionist and eventually returned to acting, since he had such a skill with imitating people. He was, from then on, Mangus Eisengrim.

I've just finished a Davies marathon: the whole Deptford trilogy in 3 days. I think it a testament to Davies' great storytelling ability that I could not put down any of the three books. I suggest reading them in close succession because the second book (The Manticore) sheds a lot of light on the other two books. It's interesting that in this book (the 2nd), we get 250 pages or so written from the point of view of a minor character: Boy Staunton's son. If you stop to think about it, the whole trilogy is structured around the question "Who killed Boy Staunton," so it shouldn't be surprising to read an account by his drunken son, the famous lawyer of his counseling sessions in Zurich. Rarely does one find such well-drawn characters these days in novels -- by the end, you'll feel like you've known Paul Demster for years, along with the simian Liesl, level-headed Ramsey and of course Demster's character, Eisengrim.

This book is a bit "deeper" than the first two as we find ourselves transported to an almost magic-realism portrait of myth and fantastical events in the World of Wonders. I actually enjoyed the first two books more although I still think this last book is a master work. Occassionaly Eisengrim's recounting of his life gets a bit tedious, but only because we are dying to resolve the mystery which finally gets solved in the closing pages. All in all, a memorable trilogy and a gripping read by one of the great 20th century writers.

Davies uses the 'accidental' revelation of a great magician's life--by the magician himself--to complete the Deptford Trilogy and answer the mystery: "Who killed...?" Davies is at his storytelling best here, spinning out a strange, fascinating life story that begins when a young boy is captivated by a carnival magic show. By far the best book of the trilogy, this novel stands brilliantly on its own and is head and shoulders above the two recent novels that use almost the same plot: Mr. Vertigo, by Paul Auster, and Millroy the Magician, by Paul Theroux

This beautiful reference book is full of beautiful photography of aboriginal art and Howard Morphy has researched this subject in great depth having lived with tribes in Arnhem Land. A great resource for those studying for degrees in Anthropology and Art History.

Over the past two decades, Aboriginal art from Australia has been gathering momentum as a major international art movement. Christie's, Sotheby's and other auction houses hold regular, successful sales of paintings and artifacts produced at Aboriginal settlements across Australia. Major historical figures such as Rover Thomas and Emily Kngwarre can command several hundred thousand dollars for a single painting. Even though indigenous people make up less than three percent of the population, their art in recent years reportedly accounts for about half of the total dollar value of all art sold in Australia.

The appeal of Aboriginal art to non-indigenous collectors is many-sided. On a purely aesthetic level, the work is multi-layered and vibrant. Western eyes familiar with Abstract Expressionism and other post-modern art movements have a conceptual bin in which to place Aboriginal painting. Those who dig beneath the surface appeal discover that many of the paintings record the creation myths of the Aboriginal people, documenting how the land was created by mythical Ancestors during the Dreamtime. Unlike much abstract western art, which concerns itself with technical issues - "flatness" or "shininess" or "color saturation" - Aboriginal art is about something complex and sacred that's been passed down from generation to generation for tens of thousands of years. Collectors with a political bent can take satisfaction in knowing that works purchased from reputable galleries and community art centers provide money to economically downtrodden indigenous settlements while helping to validate the importance of Aboriginal culture.

In this excellent book, Howard Morphy uses art scholarship, his experience in the settlements, and a deep empathy to place Aboriginal art firmly within the context of modern Aboriginal life. The book shows how art making is a part of ritual practices used to summon and honor the Ancestors who made the world. Art - whether it's done as rock paintings or sand drawings, body painting, wood carving, or the application of ochres to bark or acrylics to canvas - is a way of animating the past by making it come alive in the present. Only designated clans or individuals have the right to perform certain rituals or tell certain Dreaming stories. Art becomes a way of asserting and establishing those rights, as well as a way of establishing rights to the land where the dreaming story occurs. Their art also enables Aborigines to open up a dialog with the dominant European culture in a way that expresses and asserts the value of their belief system.

A significant part of Morphy's achievement is granting us access to the rich body of inherited myths, rituals and symbols that Aboriginal artists draw upon to create their art. Like all great religious art, the best of this work expresses eternity in the context of a present moment. Aboriginal artists such as Uta Uta Tjangala, Paddy Sims, and John Mawurndjul, like the Italian Renaissance masters, allow us to experience something sublime. A number of women artists have also created major bodies of work. Dorothy Napangardi, Judy Watson, and Eubena Nampitjin, for example, use sweeping lines and bold colors to tell their Dreaming stories and to express personal visions of everyday bush life. In the works of the great Aboriginal artists, we are witnessing the expression of an enduring vision that has triumphed over time and, since the arrival of the Whitefellas, extremely adverse social circumstances.

Morphy covers the evolution of this art from the Wandjina and Bradshaw rock art done thousands of years ago through printmaking and photography produced today by young urban Aboriginals. He also discusses the historical and cultural circumstances that led to diverse artistic expressions on bark and wood across Arnhelm Land, and is informative on the multiplicity of painting styles that evolved out of ritual practice in the central and western deserts. He provides us with a broad and sympathetic look at artists from southern Australia, where greater exposure to European settlers led to greater suffering and cultural disruption. The concluding section on art produced by urban Aboriginals is convincing in its assertion that even though it differs from the "traditional" art produced in the settlements, it still says something important about the Aboriginal experience.

The book is lavishly and expertly illustrated, and the reader will be struck by the sheer variety of forms and methods of artistic expression. The most rewarding way to see this art is to travel to the places where it's being created and meet the artists who do it. If that's not in your budget, the best public collection of Aboriginal art in the Unites States is the Kluge-Ruhe Collection, which is housed at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. (Howard Morphy is associated the Kluge-Ruhe Collection and helped to assemble it.) If you read the book, then stand in front of some of these paintings, you will tap into one of the world's oldest continuous cultures while simultaneously experiencing the "shock of the new." As Howard Morphy amply demonstrates, the effort richly rewards you at multiple levels.

Aboriginal art having always been a great influence on my own artwork ......., I looked for weeks to find a book of this caliber. This book by Phaidon press features gorgeous reproductions in full color, history and observations of Aboriginal culture, and art interpretation written in a friendly, engaging manner. If you want to learn more about Aboriginal art, you really couldn't do better than to start here.

This book is not your standard art history, by any means. It is the story of how the Aboriginals coped with the European indruders. They had much experience dealing with strange people from overseas but nothing prepared them for their encounter with Europeans. They were at first completely baffled and also almost wiped out. The people of Tasmania were literally completely eliminated--the last native of Tasmania died in the second part of the 19th century.
Using their wits and their art, they were finally able to get through to the Europeans, to make them understand and appreciate the beauty of their whole culture, to gain the Europeans' respect and admiration. Initially dismissed as rude doodlings of savages, Aboriginal art is now esteemed world wide.
The author takes great pains to explain how the Aboriginals' art prevades their whole way of life and how knowing their cultural ways makes understanding their art possible and visa versa. The book is fascinating, beautifully written and structured and its sometimes grim but finally triumphant story makes for wonderful reading. It is hard to put down once you start it. It must be of interest to all sorts of people, not just art lovers.

Imran Khan is perhaps one of the few mega stars in sports who are equally at home with a pen or a cricket bat. The book tells us about his experiences as a young lad in the 70's, his encounters with the Carribbean fast bowlers and how they terriorized his entire team including himself. Imran Khan is perhaps the only cricketing legend who does not indulge in self praise and this can be easily confirmed from this book; he dodges the most crucial subject i.e how he transformed a bunch of losers into a potent force which could take take on any team in the world on any ground. He however breaks a lot of idols in the book which so far have been passionately revered in cricket.

Anyone remotely interested in cricket and how it is played and why it is all about mental grit and inner toughness and not just skill and dexterity should consider "all round view" a text book.

A candid, no holds barred view of cricket especially as it pertains to Pakistan. Describes the greatness and pettiness of this game and the politics that surround it. We probably won't see a leader like Imran on the cricket field for a long time to come, but maybe he can become Pakistan's PM one day.

It's a very interesting and descriptive book on Imran's spectacular career and his road to glory. Leader's like this bring revolutions and change the face of earth.

LAHORI

Imran Khan, writes about his cricketing career.Besides that we can also read his veiws on a vide range of topics, including marriage , Pakistani culture as well as politics. Once I picked the book up I COULD NOT put it down. Highly recommended for the cricket fan.

It is so enjoyable to see your culture, with all its blind spots and weird traditions, through someone else's eyes. The author looks and listens with keen attention and wry wit, and the result is a thoroughly enjoyable read. You will learn about both Aussies and Americans in this delightful book, laughing at her funny observations, comical bafflement, and witty style.

People could be mistaken for thinking that Australia and America have so much in common....but it is so far from the truth. As I was reading the book I laughed out loud at situations the author was describing....was she somehow spying on my life? In true Australian style we are able to laugh at ourselves and our differences. Thanks Anne for a truly enjoyable reading experience. I gave it to an American friend to read and it opened her eyes to the challenges we face between our cultures too.

So, you're an American planning to visit Australia or suddenly exporting yourself down under. Or you're an Aussie thinking of coming to America. Read this witty book before you step into the thick of our cultures' differences. I wish I had laughed and pondered my way through this book before my first trip to Australia.

This book is most likely the best book that I have never read. I know the author quite well, and am proud of her accomplishments, who knows why she told me that I could write her a review on Amazon? The only complaint that I have about her book is that it does not properly disclose the dangers of high fructose corn syrup, or how prevalent this "syrup" is in America, as an Australian visiting this country, likely naive and bushy-eyed, they will have no idea of the detrimental effects! I am quite outraged by this omission, but none the less, I'm sure it was a great book. Oh, and I'm only guessing that she omitted this.

This book offers a fantastic opportunity to view some of Peter Lik's best known work - panoramic images of Uluru (Ayers Rock), Twelve Apostles, the Great Barrier Reef, and other Australian icons. To view the full range of Peter's books and posters visit PortraitAustralia.com.au

If you want to go or have ever been to Australia this is a must have book. It will intise you to visit or will remind you of all the natural beauty this amazing country has to offer. Peter Lik is a truley amazing photographer I have been to his galleries in Cairnes and Port Douglas in Australia and his work is breath taking. www.peterlik.com Also you can see what an amazing deal this is here at Amazon.com, this book usually retails for $70 US. Wonderful Masterpiece Peter!!

i just got this book as a present, and we're getting ready to go. very reminiscent of galen rowell's work (high praise) with lots of dawn/evening atmospherics. but this one is full of double page panoramics - nothing is lost in the crease - of the incredible australian landscape. get another book if you want people, animals or cities.

These are photographs of aspects of this vast country that many Australians never see. Contrast the reds of the desert with the greens of the rainforest. The magnificence of Uluru with the tranquillity of Dove Lake. The ageless beauty of the rain forest with the beauty of our beaches.

Australia is a beautiful place. This collection of photographs by Peter Lik makes that beauty more accessible to all of us.

Highly recommended to those interested in images of Australia.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I've been traveling through Australia on expedition (mostly in the Simpson Desert) and this book features awesome panoramic photography throughout the continent. Unfortunately, the references to "God" once again muddy its pages. You know what to do, though: get out that permanent marker, careful to keep the real beauty unscathed.

In this age of immense suburban sprawl and the drive by many to pollute this world as much as possible, we can be reminded of some of the beautiful places that still exist. This book is an example and what a terrific book it is. It's absolutely appalling one would take a permanent marker to this book to black out God's glorious name. He did, afterall, create this place that we all share as our home. God created it for us to enjoy and we ought to praise Him for that everyday... not black out His name.

Ken Duncan has managed to capture Australia beautifully. This is an an excellent buy for those who appreciate landscape photography.

This is a beautiful book of a gifted photographer. Just like the "America Wide" this book offers much joy and peace in browsing through its pages. Thanks God for giving Ken such talent and skills.

This was the first book I had read that really opened my eyes to the public manipulation a government was capable of. Cawthorne pulls facts together from very credible sources and uses them to weave cohesive arguments that are difficult to refute. This book should be more widely read, and portions of it should be used in Civics classes across the United States to teach our youth to be more objective about political motivations.
If any fault can be found with the book, it's the amount of detail it provides. Though, given the prevailing public "knowledge" of American POW's, it serves the author well to support his statements from many angles.

This was the first book I had read that really opened my eyes to the public manipulation a government was capable of. Cawthorne pulls facts together from very credible sources and uses them to weave cohesive arguments that are difficult to refute. This book should be more widely read, and portions of it should be used in Civics classes across the United States to teach our youth to be more objective about political motivations.

If any fault can be found with the book, it's the amount of detail it provides. Though, given the prevailing public "knowledge" of American POW's, it serves the author well to support his statements from many angles.

I have read Nigals book many times, more for my on information then anything. This book gives a definitive explantion and reasons behind why the U.S. Government refuses to deal with LIVE POWs rather then the remains of MIAs.

It is well researched and has given hope that the Vitnamese will one day come forward with men that I believe and KNOW are still under supervision by their captors. I could write more on this subject as I was one Nigal's informers.

I have a lot of veteran friends who worked on this POW issue, and I mean by that, attempting rescues of men in Laotian prison camps toward the end of the war. By defining the VN war solely within its own borders, we not only lost this conflict, but left behind many Americans who we would not recognize that were somewhere else than Vietnam. Then, the Paris "Peace" Accords really sealed their fate. Nixon and Kissinger should have been shown with their pants down to their ankles for their miserable "accomplishments" to end the war. The North Vietnamese let us bring our remaining troops home, then attacked; Thieu knew it was going to happen.
Nigel Cawthorne shows what happened to South Vietnam and our POW's once they got rid of the pesky Americans, who had been an intrusion for 25 years, after they demolished the French. We have yet to respect this enemy, and also all our vets who worked so hard in this hopeless fracas. The most amazing part of the book to was about the 3.25 billion dollars of reparations that Nixon agreed to, on White House stationary; that was the bargaining chip to bring these poor souls home. We violated them as well as ourselves by the bozo's we had in the Nixon Administration, and are still paying the price, both at home and overseas in IndoChina. I am glad that I never got shot down and suffered the fate of our military men who were sadly betrayed by this country and continue to be so. More and more, the experiences I portray in OUTLAWS IN VIETNAM were thankfully the only ones I still have to report...!

TAHIR SHAH is without doubt the most original travel writer of his generation... never before have I been so touched by, and become so involved in, a book. I am struck dumb by Shah's genius.

Read this book.

A fast gallop through the Indian sub-continent, Africa and South America, with a cast of eccentric characters perhaps unprecidented in modern travel writing. It put me in mind of Peter Flemming for the sheer pace and sense of adventure. Yet it was a hundred times funnier. Gives Redmond O'Hanlon a run for his money as the Number 1 funny travel writer at work today. Also, I notice it is easy to find in the UK, available in an Orion paperback, not out of print at all!

Tahir Shah devises a get rich quick scheme which brings him to India to seek his fortune. He also has other interests namely the mysterious Gond people who may have walked the earth when the earth was one joined land mass. However this book is so much more than that. India \ Africa \ South America are all experienced and observed from a most interesting angle. The author roughs it al the way. There are many side-splitting moments in this book. There is youth and vivacity in the words that flow. Tahir Shah is clearly in love with life. Incidentally while this book is truly excellent, his latest effort "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is I believe a masterpiece. You will not be disappointed in either book.

Beyond the Devil's Teeth, by Tahir Shah,is the funniest book of the year. Traces a haphazard route through India, Africa and South America, in search of GONDWANALAND. From sentece one of page one you can't put the thing down! Read it and split your sides with laughing

Kerry Greenwood's BLOOD AND CIRCUSES presents a Phryne Fisher mystery in telling of a bored woman who turns into an undercover detective who must abandon her entire life to investigate strange happenings at a local circus where animals have been poisoned and acts threatened.

First Sentence: Mrs. Witherspoon, widow of uncertain years and theatrical background, was taking tea in her refined house for paying gentlefolk in Brusnwick Street, Fitzroy.

Wealthy private investigator Phryne is bored until she is approached by Samson the strong man, Alan the carousel operator and Doreen the Snake Woman to investigate what started as a series of accidents at the circus. With one of the circus members now dead, Phryne gives up her life of luxury and her friends to go undercover as a trick rider with the circus.

There is a lot more going on between the covers of this book than first appears. Greenwood knows how to take diverse, interesting characters and build a great story around them with the mystery almost being secondary. Here we have the murder of an hermaphrodite who was the love of both a man and a woman. We are introduced to the hierarchy of the circus and Phryne's feelings of vulnerability and loneliness. There is a ex-con who doesn't know whether she has committed murder but who finds a bit of her soul in helping an alcoholic go through withdrawal. There is sex, there is profanity; this is not your average cozy. What it is is a great character-driven story with a unique character.

In Australia a concerned carnival worker Alan Lee asks his former lover Phryne Fisher to determine who is sabotaging Farrell's Circus and Wild Beast Show; Phryne agrees to investigate. The latest incident involved poisoning a horse, which led to the injury of a trick rider. This enables the socialite detective to go undercover as a trick rider since she is excellent with horses though she will need training to perform the act.

At the same time that Phryne joins the big top, a former employee of Farrell's Circus, hermaphrodite Mr. Christopher is found dead in a Melbourne rooming house. The police arrest another former performer Miss Parkes, who was just released from prison. However, Melbourne Constable Tommy Harris and Detective Inspector Robinson believe she did not commit this homicide. As they make further inquiries, Robinson nebulously connects a gangland murder to the circus incidents and the Christopher killing. Now he thinks his friend Phryne is in jeopardy even as she and one of the clowns share a tryst while she risks her life seeking out the culprit.

As in her previous adventures, Phryne continues to defy the dictates of late 1920s Australian society that demand a single women behave in a certain way; this time she has an affair with a clown. Her investigation is made fresh by the circus and its performers and other employees as they bring uniqueness to the tale. The support cast is very well developed, especially at the circus, the socialite's investigation and the police procedural. Series fans will appreciate this delightful historical whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Kylee J. Yeaman for Reader Views (2/07)

"Blood and Circuses" is set in 1920's Australia. Phryne (pronounced Fry-knee) is asked by some `carnie' friends of hers to help solve some suspicious happenings at Farrell's Circus and Wild Beast Show (the circus that their carnival trails). The final incident that pushes these friends to ask Phryne for her help is when one of the carnival `freaks' is murdered in his boardinghouse.

Phryne is a terrific character. She's witty, down to earth; unlike some of the other characters in the book. Lizard Elsie is a crack up! There are 20's era gangsters, a strongman, trick riders, a magician, acrobats, clowns, so many fabulous people to meet in the circus and the carnival.

Kerry Greenwood's writing is wonderful. I was transported to 1920's Australia through her words. It really remind me of the feeling I get while reading an Agatha Christie mystery, but being that the crime solver is a woman, it brought Miss Jane Marple to mind more so than Hercule Poirot. "Phryne looked around her dining room, which hung with pale damask. ... On the wall, opposite the big windows which opened onto her pocket-handkerchief sized front garden, hung seven oil sketched of dancing acrobats. ... Usually they refreshed her spirit. Today they looked as animated as dolls."

One of my very favorite scenes is about three-fourths of the way the way through "Blood and Circuses." It is a scene between Lizard Elsie and Miss Parkes (formerly of the circus) in their shared jail cell. Miss Parkes had been in a deep depression; not knowing whether or not you killed someone will do that to you. When Elsie gets sick and Miss Parkes takes care of her for several hours, Miss Parkes seems to realize that there are people who need/care for her and she comes around. We all need to be needed.

This book is for anyone who enjoys a nice mystery. It's just the right length (208 pages) for a weekend spent indoors or at the beach. There are one or two semi-racy scenes and some mild violence so I wouldn't recommend this for anyone under 13. I'm already planning on loaning this book to my mother for her to enjoy.

I hope that you pick up "Blood and Circuses" by Kerry Greenwood and enjoy it as much as I did.