Miss Fisher’s Murder Myseries, on Australia’s ABC, is the television adaptation of Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher series, with each episode covering one book. They’ve done a remarkably good job of adapating a 300+ page book into a one-hour episode without losing the heart of the story. At time of writing, there have been three episodes broadcast and I’ve missed the second.

The producers have been remarkably faithful to the adaptation. Essie Davis seems a touch to old to play Phryne, but who am I to complain that they’ve cast an actress too old rather than too young? And of course, I have to mention the costumes; they look like the network sank half their annual budget into Davis’s wardrobe.

Of course, Phyrne is, well, Phryne. (And it turns out it was pronounced Fry-Nee; I was saying it in my head like ‘prine’, to rhyme with ‘divine’, which seemed appropriate.) She’s impossibly glamorous, intelligent and witty, with a heart of gold for those in need and a nose for information – not to mention sense of perseverence – that leaves no mysery unsolved. I’m not saying anything which I haven’t already in my critique of the series; Phryne is about as realistic a role model to women as James Bond is to men, but hey, better Phryne than Bella from Twilight.

And I can’t believe in my critique of the series I forgot about Dr. Elizabeth ‘Mac’ MacMillan. She plays a very small role in the series as a doctor with a strong sense of social justice and a strong sense of awareness as to what it is to be a woman in a man’s world; naturally, she and Phryne are the best of friends. It’s nice to see Phryne interact with someone who is something akin to her equal, and I’m sorry that Mac doesn’t have a bigger role in the series, because Tammy MacinTosh owns the role.

Like the series it’s adapted from, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries is a bit of fun that bears no close scrutiny to anything resembling reality. But it still beats the hell out of much of what else is out there ‘starring’ women.

Thanks to Sunless Nick for this one!

This is linked to the Choose Your Female Posse challenge; this time, choose three women you would support. These are women who have been the heart and soul of the group, often keeping it together emotionally/spiritually/financially (or any combination) and don’t get credit for it. These are women you want to take aside and say ‘hey, I know you have a lot on your plate, lean on me for support for a while.

My picks:

Tara Mclay from Buffy. She basically existed to further Willow’s storyline as a witch and a lesbian. She did nothing but support and love Wilow for the better part of three years. When Willow’s addiction to magic finally forced Tara to leave her, she became a very minor character to how the rest of the Scoobys responded to Willow’s addiction. Oh, and just when it looked like Willow was on the road to recovery and she and Tara were going to reunite… a bullet meant for Buffy gets her. Which, of course, is only a means to Willow’s decend into rage-and-grief-fuelled madness. And for all that – she never complained that she got the bum end of the deal in loving Willow. Of course, I can’t exactly blame Amber Benson for not wanting to return as Tara-as-The-First after the way Tara was treated…

Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. She works out who’s responsible, how they did it and how to defeat them faster than anyone else. And Harry prolongs the conflict by ignoring her and insisting ‘No! Snape did it!’. Why didn’t Rowling call this Hermione Granger and the – oh, wait, because it would have been over in half a book. And yet Harry gets all the credit. She totes deserves a bestie who is all ‘Harry? What did he do? You’re the real hero.’

Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With the Wind. OK, I know this is going to be a controversial one, but… she spends the last two-thirds of the book supporting a dozen family members who barely recognise her contribution, let alone thank her or assist her. And when she’s willing to hussle and get out there and make money, she’s the object of scandal – no less by the very relatives who depend on her to keep a roof over their heads yet won’t plough the fields with her. Whenever I read the book, I want to be out there in the fields picking cotton with her, or in the dining room, sipping sherry, listening admiringly as she talks about the money she made today and the stupid Yankees she swindled it out of.

Your picks?

OK, so you’ve been accused to murder/extortion/embezllement. Except you, being the awesome Hathor subscriber that you are, didn’t do it. You’ve been framed or are the victim of inept police, take your pick. Who do you want on your defence team?

The rules: At least one has to be a real (in the fictional sense) lawyer.

My picks:

Shirley Schmidt. OK, Boston Legal was definitely The Alan and Denny Show, and Shirley spent most of her time trying to keep a lid on Denny’s ‘mad cow’ (Alzhemier’s) and seperate her constantly-squabbling revolving door of subordinates. But when she actually got to go to court, man did she shine.

Lisbeth Salander from – oh, if you don’t know who Lisbeth Salander is by now, what are you doing on a feminist site? If there’s CCTV footage of the real perp, a paper trail left by corrupt cops – you know she’ll find it. And make them pay for letting an innocent take the blame. In a way that makes them wish they had just fessed up in the first place.

Phryne Fisher from Kerry’s Greenwood’s 1920’s-set series. If she can apparantly do the entire Victiorian Police Department’s job for them, then she can certainaly clear my name. (Hee, hee. I just thought of the irony of Phryne Fisher being considered ‘Victorian’.)

Hey, guys! Thanks for this week’s challenge to Sunless Nick. If you suggest something and I don’t credit you when it’s published, I apologise in advance; I either had already thought of it and had it scheduled for publication before it was mentioned, or simply forgot who gave me the idea by the time I got around to writing the piece. But I’m really grateful for everyone’s suggestions, it’s twice as much as I could have thought up on my own! XXOO Gabs.

OK, this week’s challenge: Pick three women who are the top in their field whom you would pay good money to go to a lecture where they tell you what their job entails and how they got to the top of their game. (Bonus points if you have someone who’s had to prove she’s twice as good as the next best man to get every inch of her rung up the career ladder.) And let’s just ignore the inconvenient little detail that no way are various governments going to let these women talk about their successes to the unwashed masses…

My picks:

Dr. Temperence ‘Bones’ Brennan from Bones. Nothing gets past this forensic anthropologist – at least not in professional terms. I bet if the Catholic Church came to her claiming to have the bones of Christ, she could tell if they were real or fake with a bored glance.

Dr. Samantha Carter from Stargate: SG1. Given that the Gou’ld like to keep civilisations down technologically, she’s not only one of the brightest astophsyics minds on Earth, but much of the Milky Way, too. And she kicked McKay’s ass whenever they crossed paths.

Irena Derevco from Alias. Initially trained as a Russian spy to infiltrate the mind and heart of Jack Bristow, she hightailed it out of there when her cover was blown and succesfullly faked her own death by sucking the air out of car tyres while submerged underwater for several hours. Seasons 2-4 proved impossible to work out exactly which side she was playing for; I was always sure the end-game made perfect sense in her head. And since I refuse to acknowledge the existance of season 5, to me, she’s still out there, maneuvering and counter-maneuvering her way into out and out trouble.

OK, this week’s challenge: choose three women who have a knack for solving mysteries. Since I’m planning a Choose Your Investagative Team challenge later, for this one, amaetur sleuths only, please. Not in their work ethic, of course – just in the fact they don’t get paid for it. These are women who do it for fun (or just have a talent for finding trouble) and discovered a knack for unravelling the clues that no-one else can and finding the bad guy.

My picks:

Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher and Corinna Chapman. Is it cheating to have two characters from the same multiverse? I don’t know, but this is my series, so I can make up the rules as I go and change them when it suits me :p Oddly enough, no matter what the challenge, when I think of one, the other always comes closely to mind. They’re  such different women and yet Greenwood has imbued them with many of the same core characteristics; intellligence, perseverence, a sense of justice. All of which make for a great sleuth.

Val McDermid’s Lindsay Gordon. A journalist-cum-lecturer, she’s the first person her friends call when one of them’s in trouble with the law. I suspect the real reason McDermid moved her to California was that she had run out of friends in England to get in trouble. I liked how her journalistic skills come into play regarding her sleuthing ability, and how she manages to get results on the cheap (with the occasional wealthy backer) on account that she isn’t actually getting paid to do any of this.

Your picks?