Raisins and Almonds is the ninth novel in the popular Phryne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood. With her lover Lin Chung in Shanghai, Phryne is enjoying the attentions of a beautiful Jewish boy, Simon Abrahams. But soon, his father summons her, not to reproach, but to hire her to solve a murder. Benjamin Abrahams tenant, Miss Sylvia Lee, has been arrested for murder when a young Jew from Salonika dies of strychnine poisoning in her Eastern Market bookshop. Everyone who knows Miss Lee is convinced she is innocent, but DI Jack Robinson has no other suspect, so Phryne has to find the murderer if Miss Lee is to go free. Plenty of curious clues (a cut finger, missing rat poison, some unsaleable books, old parchment drawings with unknown symbols, mystery customers, poisoned birds) soon have Phryne on the trail of the murderer. As usual, she has the capable assistance of Bert and Cec, but this time Dot takes on a much bigger detection role than usual, and even Phrynes adopted daughters, Ruth and Jane, are enlisted to gather information. The Jewish aspect means lots of references to, and interesting information about, the Torah, Kosher food, Rabbis and Zionist politics, but alchemy and the Kabala are also touched on. There are quite a lot of Yiddish words, so a handy Yiddish glossary appears at the end. An interesting plot with a few red herrings, but, as usual, Phryne manages to tie up all the loose ends with style and panache. Another Greenwood winner.