Customer Reviews

Death of an Old Goat

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I am biased in that I'm a sucker for detectives stories in an academic setting and for witty detective stories. In "Death of an Old Goat" Robert Barnard gives me both these elements as well as a satisfying plot. There's a wonderful cast of ignoble characters including nasty back-biting academics, ignorant prejudiced graziers (sheep barons), and Inspector Royle who at one point declares he doesn't have to catch THE murderer, just A murderer. Imagine RCMP Sgt Dudley Dooright with his moral compass reversed 180 degrees and his IQ halved -- that's Inspector Royle.

I have to admit I don't usually read detective stories. This one is as good as Carl Hiaasen! I found it on a bedside table while staying at a friend's house. "Death of an Old Goat" was so funny that I have now read it several times and end up buying a copy.

It is the story of a murder at a backwater university-- university is too good a name for it-- in provincial Australia. Maybe I like it so much partly because my father taught English at a place much like the one in the story, and the author has a keen eye for the petty faculty politics, backstabbing, social climbing, and oneupmanship in such places!

But the book's appeal goes beyond that. Years later, I can still see the characters and story vividly. The characters are hilariously observed and believable and the dialogue snappy and sharp. The brassy young Australian woman professor, the doddering eminent visiting lecturer, the hapless young Oxford graduate lost on the Australian scene, the rough and hearty Aussie landowners, and other memorable characters, plus the fast-paced clever story and the strong sense of dusty-outback place, made me love this book.

I confess to not being a reader of crime fiction, but I agree with others that the mystery takes second place to the satirical portrayals of the characters and what they reveal about Australian life. The mystery itself is puzzling but hardly suspenseful, and the solution to the crime is anti-climatic -- until the splendid kicker of the final paragraph. Mordant and hilarious.

This book is an extremely funny satire. It also gives a very close up and personal look at University life "down under". And the fun doesn't stop right up until the very last words. Barnard pokes fun at all kinds of golden age mystery writers, and his Royle creation is absolutely wonderful. I wonder were the cops in the Australia outback as bad as this in 1974? Read this book for a good laugh, and the mystery isn't bad either.

The murder-mystery plot seems to be secondary to the emerging details about the various characters. In fact, the primary character is probably the rural Australian psyche itself, and the individuals are all variations on that theme. To what extent is the book a satire of Australian life? I don't know; I've never been there. Is the book funny? Yes, wickedly so!