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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best of the Bony mysteries,
This review is from: The Lure of the Bush (Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte Mystery Series #1) (Hardcover)
By chance I discovered Arthur Upfield's Napoleon Bonaparte (Bony) mysteries a few years ago when I bought "Murder Down Under" at a used book store. Though it has his most memorable character, "The Spirit of Australia," the story's only an average one for the series. However I was hooked. The remote location (Australia's outback) of most of Upfield's stories, the aborigine ethnography that runs as a thread though most of them, and his character descriptions held my interest more than following the various mysteries to their solution. Soon I'd purchased all the books in the series except "The Lure of the Bush." For some reason it's never been reprinted in a popular edition and it was imposible to buy at a reasonable price. I had to get it through interlibrary loan. Though it's his first "Bony," it's the best. I highly recommended it. And while I'm on the first/best Upfield subject, I'll recommend his "Gripped By the Drought." It antedates the Bony series and is Upfield's best work, mysteries included. In fact I'll go a long way further: It's one of the best novels ever written. "Gripped By the Drought" has it all. Plotting, characters, and writing are all well done. The several universal themes that run through the story are equally well handled. It'll hold your interest and it's memorable. As happened with another book I reviewed recently, Urling Coe's "Pioneer Doctor," some publisher -Scribner take notice - needs to reprint this with an introduction. "Gripped By the Drought" shouldn't be forgotten.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bony's brilliant debut,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Lure of the Bush (Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte Mystery Series #1) (Hardcover)
Published in Britain in 1929 as The Barrakee Mystery, this is the start of a truly great detective series. It's packed with mystery, adventure, romance and atmosphere.
Napoleon Bonaparte (Bony) always solves his case thanks to his superior genetic makeup. His brain and his senses benefit from a felicitous mix of Aboriginal and white blood. He has the manner of a university man and the gaze of a native tracker. Which race confers his sense of humor and soft heart is unclear! An Aborigine named King Henry has been murdered on Barrakee Station. The police give up without finding any useful clues. And so Bony arrives one day disguised as a drifter seeking work. He'll close the case with great skill and sensitivity. Meanwhile we get to know the kindly Thorntons, their son just back from college, their beautiful orphan niece and a host of amiable servants and rough-and-tumble employees. Love breaks out where it shouldn't. Fights break out, sometimes just for fun. There's a great horse breaking scene, battles with huge fish - and an unforgettable chase over flood lands on horseback. Upfield's descriptions of the Australian outback are vivid and thrilling. You can hear the chuckling of the kookaburra and feel the red hot bite of the bulldog ant. Upfield knew his territory, having worked for years as a boundary rider, cattle drover, rabbit trapper, station cook and station manager. His characters sometimes reflect the racism of the time and place. So be prepared for attitudes from an era not our own. But Upfield's Bony is the ultimate antidote to racism, combining the best of black and white, nature and civilization. My advice is to buy all the Bony mysteries you can find, because they're fast going out of print. The Lure of the Bush is a good place to start.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good book, Damaged by Racism,
By Cathy C (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Lure of the Bush (Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte Mystery Series #1) (Hardcover)
This is the second Upfield I have read. Death of a Lake was quite good-a later book. Given the early date and that the book is written by a white man who decided at the last minute to make his main character half aborigine, I suppose you might excuse him. However, I found his blatant racism interfered with an otherwise interesting story. I can't go into details, or I will spoil the mystery. I have read many older authors who use racist terms and ideas for brief moments-here it constitutes an important part of the story.
If this bothers you at all, my recommendation is not to read the book. If I read another, I will get it from the library.
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