"Circus oddities and exciting men produce a thrilling series of challenges for Phryne."-Kirkus Reviews Phryne Fisher is bored. And then Alan Lee from the carnival arrives at her door. Alan and his friends want her to investigate the strange happenings at Farrell's Circus, where animals have been poisoned and ropes sabotaged. Mr. Christopher has been found with his throat cut in Mrs. Witherspoon's irreproachable boarding house, and Miss Parkes-an ex-performer-is charged with his murder. To be effective, Phryne must abandon her name, her title, her protection, her comfort-even her clothes. She must fall off a horse twice a day until she can stay on. Meanwhile, in Melbourne, Tommy Harris has to solve his own mysteries or Miss Parkes will certainly hang.Kerry Greenwood has written more than twenty novels, a number of plays, and is the creator of the Phryne Fisher series. In 2003 she won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Crime Writers' Association of Australia. www.phrynefisher.com