Miss Phryne Fisher's Murder Mysteries

"Well, you should see what I can do with a garter..." Allow me to introduce you to Miss Phryne Fisher - girl about town, feminist (without being boring about it) and most importantly: Lady Detective! 

The scene is set: Melbourne in the late 20ties, speak easies, boot legging and murders én masse (Phryne only seems to know people who're involved in murders - wuhu, it's so great) 

She lives in a beautiful house (with red iron castings) along with her butler Mr. Butler, her faithful maid and companion "Dot" and her adoptive daughter Jane. Her closest friend and confidante is Dr. Elizabeth Macmillan (or Doctor Mac) and Phryne depends on her good friends Bert and Cec to handle the more unsavory aspects of her investigations. 

Miss Phryne works closely with the handsome Detective Inspector Jack Robinson and she is almost (well, all the time actually) on the murder scene before Jack and though it might irritate him in the beginning he starts to rely heavily on Phryne and her insight. There's lots of unspoken sexual tensions between them which makes for great chemistry/comedy/drama. 

Phryne Fisher is a woman of means and incredibly stylish which makes the series a visual joy. Her signature style is her bobbed hair, red lips and pearl-handled gold pistol. Because she grew up poor she possesses a strong social justice and after experiencing personal heartbreak (her baby sister got kidnapped) she makes it a point to live her life. She drives her own car, her beloved red 1923 46CV Hispano-Suiza, speaks Chinese and Russian, can fly a plane... well, let's just say that in every episode she masters a new skill :-)

 

Australian actress Essie Davis brings Phryne to life (the series are based on the books by Kerry Greenwood) and you can enjoy season 1 & 2 on Netflix. Season 3 is done and hopefully it soon airs on Netflix.