Special Offer: Kerry Greenwood's First Phryne Fisher Mystery, Cocaine Blues

Every month or so this year Poisoned Pen Press has offered a selection of its ebooks for just 99 cents. We were checking this morning to see if there was a new June list — there isn't … yet — but we did notice one title we hadn't seen before at this price, the first Phryne Fisher mystery by Kerry Greenwood, Cocaine Blues.

The popular series character — she's appeared in some 18 or so mysteries to date — was introduced in 1989 in this tale of cocaine, communism and adventure. Phryne leaves the tedium of English high society for Melbourne, Australia, and never looks back. The London season is in full fling at the end of the 1920s, but the Honorable Phryne Fisher — she of the green-gray eyes, diamant garters and outfits that should not be sprung suddenly on those of nervous dispositions — is rapidly tiring of the tedium of arranging flowers, making polite conversations with retired colonels, and dancing with weak-chinned men. Instead, Phryne decides it might be rather amusing to try her hand at being a lady detective in Melbourne, Australia. Almost immediately from the time she books into the Windsor Hotel, Phryne is embroiled in mystery: poisoned wives, cocaine smuggling rings, corrupt cops and communism — not to mention erotic encounters with the beautiful Russian dancer, Sasha de Lisse — until her adventure reaches its steamy end in the Turkish baths of Little Lonsdale Street.

Although we haven't read this first title in the series, we have read eight others — you can find our reviews listed under Greenwood on Mysterious Reviews — and we can highly recommend them.

As of the date and time of this post, the Kindle edition of Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood was priced at 99 cents by the publisher and the iBooks edition (via iTunes) was free (though we suspect this may be a pricing error). Important note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of the sale is the price of the book.