Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

Season 1, Episode 4

When a young man is found dead in a bookshop at the Eastern Market, Phryne Fisher is plunged into the diverse worlds of Jewish politics, alchemy, and poison. She works her way through the mystery with help from the old faithfuls -- Bert, Cec, Dot, Dr Mac and Detective Inspector Jack Robinson. Ultimately, though, it's her stealth and wit that solve the crime - and all for the price of a song.

At a gala performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore, Phryne Fisher meets the gorgeous Lin Chung who has rescued the theatre's leading man from some thugs in a dark alley in Chinatown. The evening continues on unexpectedly with a bizarre death onstage. What links can Phryne find between the Chinese community of Little Bourke St, the illicit opium trade and the actors treading the boards of His Majesty's Theatre? Phryne must solve an old murder, find a new murderer, and banish the theatre's ghost who seems likely to kill again.

As a young woman in Paris after the war, Phryne posed for the famous artist Pierre Sarcelle. Now, 10 years later, Sarcelle's widow arrives in Melbourne asking for her late husband's paintings. When she suddenly disappears, Phryne discovers the connection between Mme Sarcelle and the death of an Australian war veteran who witnessed the 'accidental' death of Sarcelle at Montparnasse train station. As Phryne delves into this investigation, she remembers her own days in Paris and her first love.

Phryne investigates the puzzling death of a magazine columnist and author of fairy stories. To get to the truth, she must unearth the deceptions and rampant rivalries of the magazine's thoroughly modern working women -- and dig into the past of their token male employee. Meanwhile, Phryne rekindles her affair with the sensuous Lin Chung -- whose arranged marriage has stalled in a mire of family politics and intrigue. Directed by Emma Freeman and guest stars Anna McGahan, Roz Hammond, Deborah Kennedy and Jim Russell.