Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries focuses on the personal and professional life of Phryne Fisher Essie Davis , a private detective in late s Melbourne. The first season, set in , consisted of thirteen episodes and the second season was also thirteen episodes long, including a Christmas special. A third series, consisting of eight episodes, was commissioned in June and began airing from 8 May In , Miss Phryne Fisher returns to Melbourne after several years abroad. Shortly after her arrival, she is invited to a luncheon with John and Lydia Andrews, as well as her Aunt Prudence.
She arrives at the Andrews' manor only to learn that John was found dead that morning on the bathroom floor. Lydia is quite shaken and has no idea what has happened. The police suspect foul play and it is later revealed that John was poisoned with arsenic.
Phryne learns from Lydia's maid, Dorothy "Dot" Williams, that a housemaid named Alice Hartley recently left the Andrews' employment - a vital clue which soon leads to a cocaine smuggling ring and an illegal abortionist, known as "Butcher George". Dot stays with Miss Fisher, and learns to overcome her fear of electricity, including telephones. Phryne and Dot are travelling by train to Ballarat , so Phryne can collect her new Hispano-Suiza car. However, during the journey, they awaken an unconscious woman, Eunice Henderson, who was drugged with a chloroform-soaked cloth.
Also, her mother, Mrs. Henderson, seems to have vanished. They soon discover Mrs. Henderson hanging from a water tower where the Ballarat Train had earlier stopped. It is found Henderson had an argument with another passenger, Andy Cotton, who blamed her for the death of his wife, who died during childbirth when Mrs. Henderson was a hospital matron. Later, a young girl named Jane is found in possession of Mrs.
Henderson's jewels. Returning home to her new residence in St Kilda , Phryne analyzes the clues to try and discover who the murderer is. While Phryne is at the Green Mill dance hall, a man is murdered and her dance partner becomes a suspect. Phryne uses all her skills, including her ability to fly a plane, to uncover a trail of blackmail and murder. Phryne witnesses a shooting at the docks in the middle of a strike. Consequently, she gets to learn a lot about Latvians. When Saul Michaels, a young man, is found dead at the Eastern Market, Phryne is plunged into the diverse worlds of Jewish politics, the hope of a Zionist State, alchemy, and poison.
