Kerry Isabelle Greenwood (17 June 1954 – 26 March 2025) was an Australian author and lawyer. She wrote many plays and books, most notably a string of historical detective novels centred on the character of Phryne Fisher, which was adapted as the popular television series '' Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries''. She wrote mysteries, science-fiction, historical fiction, children's stories, and plays. Greenwood earned the Australian women's crime fiction Davitt Award in 2002 for her young adult novel ''The Three-Pronged Dagger''.

Early life and education

Greenwood was born on 17 June 1954. She grew up in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

suburb of Footscray, and lived most of her life in the Inner West. She attended Geelong Road State School (now Footscray Primary School), Maribyrnong College and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, where she graduated with

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(English) and

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degrees in 1979. Whilst at university, Greenwood worked at a women's refuge.

Career

In 1982, Greenwood was admitted as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria, and worked full-time as a

criminal defence In the field of criminal law, there are a variety of conditions that will tend to negate elements of a crime (particularly the ''intent'' element), known as defenses. The label may be apt in jurisdictions where the ''accused'' may be assigned some ...

lawyer for Victoria Legal Aid until becoming a professional writer. Since that time, she remained a locum duty solicitor for Legal Aid, practising in the Sunshine Magistrates' Court. She began writing books at sixteen, but remained unpublished. In 1988 she entered one of her eight novels for the Vogel prize; although not successful, one of the judges offered her a contract for two detective novels. In the 2020 Australia Day Honours Greenwood was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).

Personal life and death

Greenwood lived with a "wizard" the mathematician and author David Greagg. Greenwood died on 26 March 2025, at the age of 70.

Books

Phryne Fisher historical mysteries

Corinna Chapman mysteries

Delphic Women

* ''Cassandra'' (1995) * ''Electra'' (1996) * ''Medea'' (1997)

Spinouts (with Michael Pryor and Catherine Randle)

* ''The Bold and The Brave'' (2000)

Stormbringer

''The Broken Wheel,'' ''Whaleroad,'' ''Cave Rats'' and ''Feral'' are prequels to the ''Stormbringer'' trilogy. Characters in ''Stormbringer'' refer to events in those books, but are otherwise independent. * ''The Rat and the Raven'' (2005) * ''Lightning Nest'' (2006) * ''Ravens Rising'' (2006)

Novels

Collections

* ''Recipes for Crime'' (1995) (with Jenny Pausacker)

Anthologies edited

* ''Bad to the Bones'' (2002)

Short fiction

*"Jetsam" (1998) in '' Dreaming Down-Under'' (ed. Jack Dann, Janeen Webb) *"A Wild Colonial" co-written with Lindy Cameron (2017) in ''Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook'' (ed. Christopher Sequeira)

Non-fiction

* ''On Murder: True Crime Writing in Australia'' (2000) * ''On Murder 2: True Crime Writing in Australia'' (2002) * ''Tamam Shud: The Somerton Man Mystery'' (2012)

Television and film

The '' Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'' television series was filmed in and around Melbourne in 2011 and premiered on ABC1 on 24 February 2012. A second series was commissioned in August 2012 and filming began in February 2013 and aired starting 6 September 2013. A third series was commissioned in June 2014 and began airing on 8 May 2015. A film that continues the story started in the television series was released in 2022: '' Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears''. The TV series was redone by HBO Asia in 2020 as ''Miss S'', set in Shanghai in the 1930s instead of Melbourne in the 1920s. The show was filmed in Mandarin, Miss Phryne Fisher was renamed as Su Wenli, Inspector Robinson was renamed as Luo Qiuheng, and Dorothy 'Dot' Williams was renamed as Xiao Tao Zi. '' Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries'' (also stylised as ''Ms Fisher's MODern Murder Mysteries'') is an Australian television drama series which began screening on the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

on 21 February 2019. A spin-off of the original series, it is set in mid-1960s Melbourne, and revolves around the personal and professional life of Peregrine, daughter of Phryne’s half sister Annabelle. The premise is that Peregrine inherits a fortune when the famous aunt she never knew goes missing over the highlands of New Guinea, and she sets out to become a private detective in her own right, guided by the exceptional women in The Adventuresses' Club, of which her aunt was also a member.

Awards and nominations

* Aurealis Award for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction, Young Adult Division, Best Novel, 1996: joint winner for ''The Broken Wheel'' * Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award, Book of the Year: Younger Readers, 2002: honour book for ''A Different Sort of Real : The Diary of Charlotte McKenzie, Melbourne 1918–1919'' * Davitt Award, Best Young Fiction Book, 2002: winner for ''The Three-Pronged Dagger'' * Davitt Award, Best Young Fiction Book, 2003: nominated for ''The Wandering Icon'' * Davitt Award, Best Adult Novel, 2003: nominated for ''Murder in Montparnasse : A Phryne Fisher Mystery'' * Ned Kelly Award for Crime Writing, Lifetime Contribution, 2003 * Ned Kelly Award for Crime Writing, Best Novel, 2005: shortlisted for ''Heavenly Pleasures : A Corinna Chapman Novel'' * Ned Kelly Award for Crime Writing, Best Novel, 2005: shortlisted for ''Queen of the Flowers : A Phryne Fisher Mystery'' * New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Books, 2006: shortlisted for ''Journey to Eureka'' * Davitt Award, Readers' Choice Award, 2006: joint winner for ''Heavenly Pleasures : A Corinna Chapman Novel'' * Davitt Award, Readers' Choice Award, 2007: joint winner for ''Devil's Food'' * Ned Kelly Award for Crime Writing, Best Novel, 2008: nominated for ''Trick or Treat'' * Awarded Sisters in Crime Lifetime Achievement Award 2013 AU

References

External links

Phryne Fisher's website

Corinna Chapman's website

Interview with Kerry Greenwood at Allen & Unwin

Sue Ryan-Fazilleau, "Kerry Greenwood's 'Rewriting' of Agatha Christie", ''JASAL'' 7 (2007)
* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, Kerry 1954 births 2025 deaths Australian women novelists Australian crime writers Australian mystery writers Ned Kelly Award winners 20th-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian novelists Writers from Melbourne 20th-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian women writers Australian women mystery writers Writers of historical mysteries Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia People from Footscray, Victoria People educated at Maribyrnong College