Enjoyable Australian crime fiction novel, written and set in outback Australia during the 1950s. This is the 18th Inspector Napoleon Boneparte novel written by English-born Australian author, Arthur Upfield (1890-1964).Inspector Napoleon 'Bony' Boneparte is sent to a vast outback sheep station disguised as a horse-breaker to investigate the mysterious and unsolved disappearance 18 months earlier of stationhand Ray Gillen. Gillen had previously won the lottery in Queensland - a lucrative motive for his sudden disappearance. One stifling night he went for a swim to cool off in nearby Lake Otway and was never seen again. Did he drown? Was he murdered? What secrets do the lake and/or the residents of the outback station hold? And thus the plot thickens.The Lake itself becomes a central feature of the novel. Lake Otway is a fictitious non-permanent lake (possibly based on Lake Eyre). It becomes a vast body of water every 20 or so years and then slowly dries up over the next 2-3 years as drought once again takes grip. It's evaporation runs parallel to the storyline - only when it dies back to bare earth in the intense outback heat will the mystery be solved. Overall, in keeping with the times, a nice clean-cut mystery with inferred sexual tension and not a swear word in sight. Occasionally I found the language perhaps a little dated, although in equal parts, I enjoyed the 'Australianisms' of the era. Cobbers rolled smokes, skinned rabbits, ate kangaroo steaks for breakfast and talked of their dusty outback travels around campfires heating the obligatory billy. The main character Bony spends most of this book impersonating a horse-breaker. He is part-Aboriginal and is laconic, even enigmatic in the way he goes about his business in this novel. Having not previously read any Arthur Upfield books, I only glimpsed the true authoritative police aspect of Inspector Boneparte towards the end of the book. Nevertheless, I liked what I saw and can see how Upfield managed to base some 29 mystery novels around him over 30+ years. More of a mystery to me, is why it has taken me so long to read one of these books. The descriptions were fantastic. I could feel the intense outback heat and the choking dusty grip of drought. I enjoyed Bony and the cast of outback characters, and found the plot strong enough to build intrigue and suspense throughout the book. I am glad I have discovered this series, albeit belatedly, and I will be back for more.
Cake in a Hat Box is the 19th in Arthur Upfield’s Bony series. The story starts with the discovery by a long-distance truck driver of the body of Constable Stenhouse in his jeep on the road to Agar’s Lagoon. Stenhouse, a competent policeman but not a well-liked man, has been shot, and his native tracker is missing. At first, it looks like, the tracker, Jackie Musgrove, has shot his Constable and cleared out with his swag and rifle. But the local blacks are making smoke signals and gathering purposefully. Bony happens to be in the town of Agar’s Lagoon due to engine trouble in his flight home from Broome, and as the case gets more interesting, he relishes being asked to help with the investigation. This Bony book is filled with a collection of outback characters, some stoic, some downright bizarre. Despite Bony’s occasional laconic attitude, Upfield gives us fast-paced novel with an original plot, a few twists, especially the motive and the murderer. Upfield’s extensive knowledge of the outback and the aboriginal shines through all his Bony novels. Is there really a cake in a hat box? Does Bony actually get his murderer his time? No spoilers here! Another enjoyable Bony installment.
Do You like book Death Of A Lake (1998)?
A wonderful series detective novel series, written from the 1920s to the 1960s. Most of the books in this series are set in or near towns or stations in the Australian bush. The books offer a wonderful sense of place and culture of the time, good mysteries to solve, and a half-aboriginal, half-white police detective called Napoleon Bonaparte, a character in the Sherlock Holmes mold. A few of the Napoleon Bonaparte books are set in larger towns or cities, but I think the books set in the bush are the best. Their settings are more evocative and the main character is at his best in the bush.
—Alaina Sloo
Depuis quelques mois, j'ai envie de découvrir la littérature australienne, un pays qui m'intrigue et m'intéresse beaucoup. De ma situation géographique, l'Australie c'est à l'autre bout du monde, l'endroit le plus éloigné, c'est très exotique! J'ai envie de découvrir leur façon de vivre, leur environnement, leurs coutumes. Avec La mort d'un lac, j'ai été ravie! L'intrigue policière n'est qu'un prétexte pour parler de l'arrière pays et des conditions de vie exécrables de ses habitants. La chaleur insoutenable, le manque d'eau, l'isolement sont le quotidien des travailleurs des exploitations du bush australien. En parcourant les pages de ce roman, on ressent la brûlure du soleil dévastateur, le manque d'air, le sable qui s'insinue dans tout les recoins. On est témoin de la détresse de la nature, des animaux sous cette température implacable qui n'épargne rien ni personne. Un roman qui a bien répondu à mes attentes!
—aBeiLLe
Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, half aborigine and half educated intellect, is a fascinating character. Arthur Upfield learned his craft and his characters while drifting from job to job over the continent of Australia over many years. I can't recommend this series enough. In this book, an unpleasant outback policeman is found dead in his jeep, and his aborigine tracker is missing. Bony becomes involved with a mysterious cattle family as he attempts to stop a native tribe bent on revenge. Kimberley Breen, cattle-driving beauty, is an especially compelling character.
—Joy
