Murder in Williamstown, by Kerry Greenwood

Miss Fisher is so popular that her stories sell themselves, which is presumably why Kerry Greenwood keeps writing them. There seems no other reason than a nice little earner, as the tales have become hackneyed and sloppily written. This one is three separate detective stories smooshed into one, with Phryne’s adopted children pursuing their own mysteries. They could easily have started life as three separate short stories, which have been clumsily joined up and called a novel. There is more focus on food and fashion than plot and the historical and geographical references have been shoehorned in. Opium smuggling, a runaway Chinese lesbian, embezzlement at the Blind Institute and a perverted vicar. Sadly, the sum is lesser than the parts It is disappointing to see such an interesting and amusing character degenerate into writing by numbers.