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BONY, Aussie
crime fiction's No.1 detective! The Arthur W. Upfield page is at https://sites.google.com/site/upfieldbony/home YOUR REVIEWS of Bony novels are very welcome! CB&M Editor Page updated 8th April, 2012. |
| The BONY series | ||
| Listed by publication order | Listed by title, exc. "A" and "The" | Listed in reading order |
| The Barrakee Mystery The Sands of Windee, 1931 Wings Above the Diamentina, 1936 Mr Jelly’s Business, 1937 Winds of Evil, 1937 The Bone is Pointed, 1938 The Mystery of Swordfish Reef, 1939 Bushranger of the Skies, 1940 Death of a Swagman, 1945 The Devil’s Steps, 1946 An Author Bites the Dust, 1948 The Mountains Have a Secret, 1948 The Widows of Broome, 1949 The Bachelors of Broken Hill, 1950 The New Shoe, 1951 Venom House, 1952 Murder Must Wait, 1953 Death of a Lake, 1954 Cake in the Hatbox, 1955 The Battling Prophet, 1956 The Man of Two Tribes, 1956 Bony Buys a Woman, 1957 Bony and the Mouse, 1959 Bony and the Black Virgin, 1959 Bony and the Kelly Gang, 1960 Bony and the White Savage, 1961 The Will of the Tribe, 1962 Madman's Bend, 1963 The Lake Frome Monster, 1966 |
An Author Bites the
Dust, 1948 Bachelors of Broken Hill, The, 1950 Barrakee Mystery, The Battling Prophet, The, 1956 Bone is Pointed, The, 1938 Bony and the Black Virgin, 1959 Bony and the Kelly Gang, 1960 Bony and the Mouse, 1959 Bony and the White Savage, 1961 Bony Buys a Woman, 1957 Bushranger of the Skies, 1940 Cake in the Hat Box, 1955 Death of a Lake, 1954 Death of a Swagman, 1945 Devil’s Steps, The, 1946 Lake Frome Monster, The, 1966 Madman's Bend, 1963 Man of Two Tribes, The, 1956 Mountains Have a Secret, The, 1948 Mr Jelly’s Business, 1937 Murder Must Wait, 1953 Mystery of Swordfish Reef, The, 1939 New Shoe, The, 1951 Sands of Windee, The, 1931 Venom House, 1952 Widows of Broome, The, 1949 Will of the Tribe, The, 1962 Winds of Evil, 1937 Wings Above the Diamentina, 1936 |
Coming,
but in the meantime here's a review of THE NEW SHOE Other reviews below. |
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More to come! |
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More to come! |
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More to come! |
Mini Reviews
The Bone is Pointed
Way out west, a man has disappeared. No one seems to have liked him.
Bony arrives on the scene and is hit by a feeling of unease. Is he
being followed, and by whom? Soon Bony is mentally struck down,
knowing the bone has been pointed. Will Bony get his man, or die in
the attempt. Obviously he doesn't, but as usual the story grabs the
reader and just doesn't let up. 9/10
Bushranger of the Skies
Aka "Bony fights the air terror" and similar to "The
Sands of Windee". It's another long, detailed story, about a
family of settlers way out West. A wayward brother who flies around
dealing death from the skies, the local Indigenous Aussies and Bony.
This Bony has his work cut out, solving the hows and whys concerning
the death of a policeman and his sidekick. 6/10
Cake in the Hat
Box
A copper is killed in the outback of Western
Australia. Was it his tracker, or someone else who did
the deed? Traditional and white methods are employed by
the locals and Bony to track down the murderer. Another
great story, interesting characters and plot twists keep
the reader guessing. 9/10
Death
of a Lake
Out west in NSW during the hottest Summer on record, Bony takes on the
role of a breaker. A bloke on the run with a large amount of cash has
disappeared. Lake Otway is dying in the heat, rabbits are in plague
proportions and heading for the water. Yet another brilliant novel
with some harrowing descriptions of death by selection in the Outback.
10/10
Death of a Swagman
Bony in disguise; there's nothing unusual in
that. Bony at his methodical best, working his way into
the life of Merino. Is there a serial killer at work in
the district? Another great story commanding your devoted
attention. You'll have to keep reading non-stop. No time
to eat or do anything else; just keep turning those
pages! 10/10
Man of Two
Tribes
A woman acquitted of murdering her husband disappears from a train
crossing the Nullarbor. Bony takes on the seemingly hopeless search
for her and finds himself trapped in a cavern underneath the desert.
Another great story. 9/10
Madman's
Bend
Set during a flood down the Darling River, Bony finds himself trapped
by the rising flood waters quickly washing away clues. Was the
wife-beater Lush killed by the long-suffering daughter as she
believes, or was it a tramp passing through? Brilliantly told with
sparkling dialogue, a must-read; highly recommended. 10/10
Murder Must Wait
Four babies have disappeared in a small NSW town. A fifth has
disappeared and his mother is found dead. All the babies are boys. A
case for Bony, of course. An entertaining mystery which kind of wanders
off towards the end. Still a good read and recommended to all mystery
fans. 7/10
The Mystery of
Swordfish Reef
Bermagui on the south coast of NSW is the setting for this intriguing
mystery. Three men on a fishing boat disappear, boat and all. The head
of one, an ex-Scotland Yard man, is dragged up in a net. Bony arrives,
in the guise of a keen angler wanting to hook one of the area's
legendary swordfish. I've no interest in any kind of fishing, so was
amazed at the pull of this book, especially as our favourite detective
finds himself strapped in on the end of a fishing line, set for the
fight of his life. This is a brilliantly executed mystery novel. 10/10
The Sands of
Windee
A lengthy novel, the first of the series, longer
than other Bony novels, with more extraneous detail the
incidental characters. Is this a good thing? Well it took
me close to 90 pages before I could really "get
into" the story. Normally I find myself hooked from
the first page but my mind kept wandering due to the lack
of the main character's appearance in the early chapters.
The author seems to have adopted a different style in
this book. It just doesn't flow along so smoothly as for
example in "Venom House" or "Cake in the
Box'. Still, it gets you in but not one for the first
time Upfield reader. 6/10
Venom House
The Answerths by all accounts are a weird family, living
on their property surrounded by twin tributaries of a
river near the coast of Queensland. Bony, investigating
twin murders, soon finds himself submerged in their life.
A great novel, full of humorous touches, wonderful
characters and terrific dialogue. Why hasn't it been
turned into a movie? 10/10
Winds
of Evil
A mysterious murderer who seemingly moves through the trees and drops on
his victims has Bony questioning his ability to solve the mystery.
Another great story. 9/10
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