We are heavy-hearted to share the news of the passing of accomplished author, lawyer and longtime member of the ASA,  Kerry Greenwood OAM.

“Kerry is a legend among crime writers in Australia: a mentor, an inspiration, and a writer of beloved books so many of us hold close to our hearts. She was incredibly supportive of other writers and of writers’ organisations such as Sisters in Crime and the ASA. She will be sorely missed,” said Kelly Gardiner, Deputy Chair of the ASA and President of Sisters in Crime Australia.

Born in Footscray, Melbourne in 1954, Kerry was a prominent figure in women’s crime fiction and a founding member of Sisters in Crime Australia, as well as a prolific YA and children’s author. She published over 60 works and was most known for her Phryne Fisher detective series set in Melbourne in the 1920s. According to Kerry’s publisher Allen & Unwin, over 700,000 copies of Kerry’s books have been sold across Australia and New Zealand, with overseas sales sitting at around 700,000 copies.

“Kerry was wildly talented, enormous fun, extremely intelligent, always generous and eternally encouraging. Her success has been a true pleasure to witness,” said Allen & Unwin in a statement.

“My beloved friend and crime writing legend Kerry Greenwood died last week. Today with ‘her’ beloved David Greagg so very many of us said goodbye to her. She was my mentor and my soul sister. My Thursday visits with her were the highlight of my week: talking books and writing and watching reruns of NCIS and CSI together. I miss you dear friend but your legacy will keep us all entertained and inspired for years and years to come,” said Lindy Cameron, Vice-President of Sisters in Crime Australia, via Facebook.

Sisters in Crime Australia have also shared a tribute to Greenwood on their website.

Kerry enrolled in Bachelor of Arts (English) and Bachelor of Laws degrees at the University of Melbourne in 1972 – one of nine female law students in a cohort of around 200 – and graduated in 1979. In 1982 she was admitted to the Supreme Court of Victoria as a barrister and solicitor and she worked as a defence counsel for Victoria Legal Aid for over 20 years, offering free advice and legal representation to those in need.

“Because appearing in court seemed to me the most important thing I could do with my life, I volunteered. I didn’t want to sit in a cosy office anyway. I wanted to be doing Rumpole things, and be an advocate for those who had no voice of their own,” said Kerry in a 2021 guest article for Crimereads.

In June 2010, Kerry retired from Victoria Legal Aid to focus on writing.

Though she began writing at the age of 16, Kerry wasn’t published until 1989, when her novel, Cocaine Blues, was released. The novel was the first of the Phryne Fisher series, which now amounts to 22 novels, an omnibus and two short story collections. Murder in the Cathedral, the latest novel in the series, will be published later this year by Allen & Unwin.

In the Crimereads article, Kerry shared the motivation behind her choice of writing in the fictional crime genre when she lived a life working directly with true crime, saying, “One of the main reasons I write what some people call escapist fiction is that I know only too well how horrible real life can be. I don’t think people should want to wallow in second-hand grime.”

Kerry was also known for the Corinna Chapman series, which spanned 7 books, the Delphic Women series of 3 books, and the Stormbringer trilogy as well as its Broken Wheel heptalogy prequels. Some of her other work includes Out of the Black Land, the non-fiction work Tamam Shud, the cookbook and detective story parody Recipes for Crime (co-authored with Dr Jenny Pausacker), YA crime novel The Three Pronged Dagger and sequels The Wandering Icon and Danger Do Not Enter, YA historical fiction A Different Sort of Real: The Diary of Charlotte McKenzie, Melbourne 1918-1919 (an Honour Book in the Children’s Book Council Awards in 2002) and children’s books Evan’s Gallipoli, The Long Walk and Journey to Eureka.

She also wrote a number of short stories and plays, including The Troubadours with Stephen D’Arcy, contributed to several anthologies including Dale Spender’s Weddings and Wives, and edited anthologies including On Murder, On Murder 2 and Things She Loves: Why Women Kill. 

The Phryne Fisher series was optioned for adaptation by Every Cloud Productions, leading to the creation of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, which aired from 2012-15, spin-off Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, which aired from 2019-21, and a film, Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears, which was released in 2020.

Essie Davis, who starred as the titular Miss Fisher, shared via Instagram, “Our Darling Kerry. What a gift. My heartfelt condolences to dear David. Kerry gifted us one of the most powerful and positive and inspiring heroines in Phryne Fisher. She has rescued and empowered so many people. I’m so grateful Kerry chose me to embody her. What a blessing. Kerry’s spunk and flare and research and moral compass. A great fun and fabulous guide to life. Vale Kerry, you are one of the angels.”

Fiona Eagger and Deb Cox, producers of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, said via Facebook, “It is with a heavy heart that we let our fans know that the magnificent Kerry Greenwood passed on the 26th of March 2025.  She was our friend, inspiration, and the kindest & most supportive human we have worked with.  We will miss her terribly and are forever grateful to have been trusted with her wonderful novels and to have had the honour of bringing the brilliant world she created to the screen. Her legacy will live on – we need to be brave like Phryne and in Kerry’s words –  “go fly my pretty’s”. May your spirit soar, rest in peace Kerry Greenwood, forever in our hearts.”

“I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Kerry Greenwood last week. Kerry was a trailblazer for female crime writers in Australia, a champion of cozy crime and an incredibly warm and funny woman… When Kerry gave her approval for me to write the Ms Fisher book, Just Murdered, it felt like being granted a Royal Warrant. Vale Kerry Greenwood,” Sisters in Crime member Katherine Kovacic shared via Instagram.

Kerry was awarded the Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award 2003, the inaugural Sisters in Crime Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013 and the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2020. A mentor to emerging women crime writers, she sponsored the Malice Domestic Award for the best domestic crime short story from 2020.

Carmel Shute, a co-founder of Sisters in Crime Australia, said crime fans from all over Australia, and all over the world, were mourning the death of Kerry Greenwood. “Kerry was a wonderful writer, a mentor to many, and inspiration to the world. Her feminism, strong sense of justice, and love of fine clothes shine through in all her work. Phryne Fisher, the character she is best known for, is situated in the twenties but she is a hero for our times – bold, brave, smart, and sexy, and beholden to no man.”

Kerry became a founding member of Sisters in Crime Australia when the organisation was launched at the Melbourne Feminist Book Fortnight on 22 September 1991 – a time where there weren’t many Australian women crime writers – after she and Shute starred in a debate entitled ‘Feminist Crime Fiction: Confronting the Hard-boiled Head On’. 

In a 2008 interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Kerry was quoted as saying of her life, “I don’t regret anything. I’ve arranged to have on my gravestone ‘It has all been most interesting’,”which are the last words of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, an 18th-century writer.

With stories that have left a lasting mark on Australian writing and crime fiction, and a life filled with quiet yet generous support for those in need – be it a peer, friend, acquaintance, stranger or charity – that is indeed a fitting epitaph.

The ASA pays tribute to Kerry, her achievements, her unwavering passion for mentoring women’s crime authors, and her long-standing support of the ASA. We extend our condolences to her family, friends, readers and the writing community. Vale Kerry.