The circus is in town, and St Kilda is having its first Flower Festival. And who should be Queen of said Flowers but the Honourable Phryne Fisher? She has dresses to purchase, cinemas to visit, and agreeable cocktails to drink. One of her flower maidens, however, has vanished. Phryne investigates the under-world with the help of Bert, Cec, her little beretta, and an old flame from Orkney, the owner of the most exclusive brothel in St Kilda, and several elephants. But then her own adopted daughter Ruth goes missing, and nothing will keep Phryne from retrieving her lost child. Kerry Greenwood is the author of more than 40 novels and six non-fiction books. Ms. Greenwood has received the Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award from the Crime Writers' Association of Australia.