The Honorable Miss Phryne Fisher is the main character in the Australian Broadcasting Commission's series of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. She is also the main character in the Phryne Fisher mystery novel series by Kerry Greenwood.
Overview
Described as an independent, glamorous and unflappable lady detective, Phryne Fisher is the leading character of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Set in the 1920s 'between-the-wars' Melbourne, Australia; Phryne breaks all conventional rules. She is as bold, aggressive or charming and sneaky as the situation requires. Carrying a pearl handled pistol, she shimmies up drainpipes or poses as someone else to get the clues she needs, it's simply part of the job to Phryne. Phyrne has a fear of spiders, although she would insist that she isn't afraid of them, she just likes knowing where they are.
Phryne is a wealthy aristocrat who lives in St Kilda, Melbourne in 1928. She is a 28-year-old (born December 21, 1900) detective who, with the assistance of her maid Dot (also described as her "assistant" or "companion"), and Bert and Cec (who are wharfies, taxidrivers and red raggers), solves all manner of crimes. Phryne is no ordinary aristocrat, as she can fly a plane, drives her own car (a Hispano-Suiza) and sometimes wears trousers. However, while displaying bohemian panache, she manages also to maintain style and class. Her personality seems to match exactly that of her 4th century BC namesake, Phryne.
Phryne's history
Phryne Fisher was born to Margaret and Henry Fisher and spent her childhood in Richmond, Melbourne. She had one sister named Jane who was kidnapped and murdered when Phryne was a child. The Fisher's weren't always rich, they were a poor family until World War I when several young men between the 'title' and her father died, thus making her father a baron and Phyrne an Honorable with an enormous fortune. After finishing school, Phryne ran away to France where she joined a French women's ambulance unit during WWI, receiving a reward for bravery and a French war pension. She then worked as a painting model for the artist Pierre S in Montparnasse after the war. She became very close friends with Pierre and his wife Veronique.
After several years here and there, Phryne moved from England to Melbourne temporarily to investigate for a family friend. She enjoyed the lifestyle so much she stayed on permanently. Through the course of the books, Phryne collects a personal maid, Dorothy Williams (who everyone refers to as Dot); two adoptive daughters, Ruth and Jane (whom she rescued from slavery); a cat, Ember; a dog, Molly; and two loyal servants, the Butlers. She also has relationships with a string of lovers, most notably Lin Chung, a wealthy Chinese man (whom she rescues in the city one evening). Lin is the only lover with whom she maintains a relationship for more than a few books and even goes so far as to make a deal with his grandmother that when he is married she be allowed to continue a relationship with him.