Extra-Special Bonus QOTD 0

Kerry Greenwood:

“Eugenics,” said Jane. “It’s interesting. Restricting the breeding of the unfit. There’s a basic flaw in their argument, I believe.” She forked in some potato salad.

“Which is?” asked Phyrne.

“Who decides who is unfit?” asked Jane.

“There you have put your finger on the nub,” Phryne informed her. “Keep reading, and I think you will find that the unfit will cover any group which the writer does not like–Catholics, Chinese, Jews, Aborigines–and any group he is afraid of–the poor, for instance, who seem set to outbreed him. The only group that will be allowed to breed freely will be–”

“Him,” said Ruth . . . .

Greenwood, Kerry, Unnatural Habits (Scottsdale: Poisoned Pen Press, 2013) p. 58.

Aside:

Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher novels are set in and around Melbourne, Australia, in the late 1920s. They are wonderfully written, well-structured, and carefully researched. They are indeed the only mystery stories I’ve come across that have bibliographies.

I recommend them highly.

Kerry Greenwood makes words dance.

The Australian television series based on them is also a great watch, if you can find it streaming somewhere.