'Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries' Season 1, Episode 1 Recap: "Cocaine Blues"

When Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries first arrived on PBS stations in 2013, it didn't air under the flag of the recently created Masterpiece Mystery umbrella. An Australian import that already had its first run on the niche streamer Acorn TV, it was secondary to shows like Silk and the recently created Endeavour. Reviewers admitted it probably wasn't enough to replacecBenedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock in most U.S. viewers' hearts.

But Miss Fisher was the little show that could. By the time Series 3 ended in 2015, it had a full-on cult following. But unless viewers caught it during the Netflix years from 2014-2018 before it went back to Acorn TV, chances are, they didn't watch the series in its original order. So for 2020, in celebration of the big screen release of upcoming film Miss Fisher & The Crypt of Tears, we'll be recapping the original Miss Fisher seires once a week, and digging in to all our favorite fashions, flirtations, and more. Join us, won't you, as one day, in the mid-1920s, The Hon. Miss Phryne Fisher returned to Melbourne after an extended stay abroad...

The series begins with the death of one Mr. Jack Andrews, as a girl named Alice runs off, leaving behind the maid Dot (Ashleigh Cummings). At the same time, Phryne (Essie Davis) is stepping off her steamer and into the arms of her friend, Elizabeth Macmillan, aka Dr. Mac (Tammy Macintosh), whose pants and hat suggest she's a very modern woman indeed. There's little time for talk, as there's an invite to lunch this afternoon from Mrs. Lydia Andrews (Miranda Otto) and Aunt Prudence (Miriam Margolyes).