Ruddy Gore

Running late to the Hinkler gala performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore, she meets some thugs in a dark alley and handles them convincingly before they can ruin her silver dress. Phryne then finds that she has rescued a gorgeous Chinese man, Lin Chung, and his grandmother, and is briefly mistaken for a deity. Denying divinity but accepting cognac, she later continues safely to the theater. But it's an unexpected evening as her night is again interrupted by a most bizarre death onstage. What links can Phryne possibly find between the ridiculously entertaining plot of Ruddigore, the city's Chinese community, and the actors treading the boards of His Majesty's Theatre? Drawn backstage and onstage, Phryne must solve an old murder and find a new murderer, and, of course, banish the theater's ghost, who seems likely to kill again.

Kerry Greenwood (1954-2025) is the author of more than fifty novels, a collection of short stories and six non-fiction titles, and she was the editor of two acclaimed anthologies of crime writing. Kerry is best known for her beloved Phryne Fisher series, which inspired the internationally successful ABC television drama Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Across her remarkable career, Kerry created some of the most iconic heroines in Australian fiction, including the glamorous, fearless Phryne Fisher and the compassionate baker-sleuth Corinna Chapman. Since 1997, her books have sold more than 1.4 million copies worldwide. A gifted storyteller, a generous soul and a passionate advocate for creativity, joy and justice, Kerry's influence on readers, writers and the literary community has been profound.