Customer Reviews

Death of a Swagman (Bony Boney)

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Death of a Swagman was written in the mid point of Arthur Upfields career and shows in his attention to detail and his ability to capture the feling of Australian country towns in the early part of our century. The story is a good detective novel in its own right with plenty of plots and action and red herrings. Bony's relationship with Rose Marie is used as a strong pivot point throughout the novel giving a useful viewpoint of the running of the town from a child's perspective. The advantage of this book over other bony novels is the character development of the subjects. This gives a depth and humanity which remains after the story is finished. The narrative of the swagmans lifestyle and its mythology is addressed here with great detail and provides a refreshing glimpse of a bygone era.

Death of a Swagman is the 9th of Arthur Upfield's Inspector Bonaparte Mysteries. A swagman is found dead in a pool of blood in a hut near the Riverina town of Merino. Bony only sees a photo of the hut but is convinced the man did not die there, and is intrigued enough to take the case. He arrives in town incognito, gets himself arrested and, as well as painting the Police Station fence a sickly yellow, he investigates as only Bony can. During the course of the investigation, he befriends the Police Sergeant's young daughter, and, at one point, momentarily doubts his usually infallible approach to crime detection. Bony pontificates several times about the difference between city crime solving and bush police work. As often happens in small towns, people may have more than one profession: to wit the wheelright who is also the funeral director, coroner and magistrate. And a secret noughts-and-crosses code for swagmen: who'd have thought? A few twists before Bony solves the case. It may be from 1945, but it's still a great read.

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