The MYSTERY OF SWORDFISH REEF

Rating:
Summary: The Mystery of Swordfish Reef
Review: Another Upfield success. Detection and Aussie "Abo" insight is the perfect match. An older series that needs to be brought back to press in a complete set.

Rating:
Summary: A combination mystery and big game fishing primer
Review: I enjoy reading this series.Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte ("Bony") leaves the bush to investigate a murder that occurred several months before at sea. Deprived of his usual bushmaster skills he must rely on others to read the sign of the sea. A solid mystery. You experience big game fishing with him as he solves the crime.

Rating:
Summary: Bony is the BEST!
Review: I've been reading Arthur Upfield's "Bony" mysteries for several years now, hunting them down as I can, as they were written in the late 40's and 50's. ...the books are absolutely awesome in their sense of the place that is Australia, the character delineations and the incredible world of "the tracker," someone who can read "the story of the bush" to tell what happened. In all of these mysteries, I've never figured it out before Bony did. The pace of the stories is slow, even languid, but the books are very well written, and full of information about a place most of us will never visit, and its culture. Sometimes Bony goes undercover, as he does here, and these are my favorites. "Bony" is Napolean Bonaparte, the detective: a half aborigine, half white man. He's smarter than anybody, and while he sounds like a pain in the neck, in the book his manners are smooth and charming. There is nothing vulgar (except drunkenness) in any of these books. I find them fascinating, and enthralling. Mystery at Swordfish Reef is one of my favorites.

Rating:
Summary: Bony is the BEST!
Review: I've been reading Arthur Upfield's "Bony" mysteries for several years now, hunting them down as I can, as they were written in the late 40's and 50's. ...the books are absolutely awesome in their sense of the place that is Australia, the character delineations and the incredible world of "the tracker," someone who can read "the story of the bush" to tell what happened. In all of these mysteries, I've never figured it out before Bony did. The pace of the stories is slow, even languid, but the books are very well written, and full of information about a place most of us will never visit, and its culture. Sometimes Bony goes undercover, as he does here, and these are my favorites. "Bony" is Napolean Bonaparte, the detective: a half aborigine, half white man. He's smarter than anybody, and while he sounds like a pain in the neck, in the book his manners are smooth and charming. There is nothing vulgar (except drunkenness) in any of these books. I find them fascinating, and enthralling. Mystery at Swordfish Reef is one of my favorites.

Rating:
Summary: Bony is the BEST!
Review: I've been reading Arthur Upfield's "Bony" mysteries for several years now, hunting them down as I can, as they were written in the late 40's and 50's. ...the books are absolutely awesome in their sense of the place that is Australia, the character delineations and the incredible world of "the tracker," someone who can read "the story of the bush" to tell what happened. In all of these mysteries, I've never figured it out before Bony did. The pace of the stories is slow, even languid, but the books are very well written, and full of information about a place most of us will never visit, and its culture. Sometimes Bony goes undercover, as he does here, and these are my favorites. "Bony" is Napolean Bonaparte, the detective: a half aborigine, half white man. He's smarter than anybody, and while he sounds like a pain in the neck, in the book his manners are smooth and charming. There is nothing vulgar (except drunkenness) in any of these books. I find them fascinating, and enthralling. Mystery at Swordfish Reef is one of my favorites.

Rating:
Summary: A Fish Story with Detective Interruptions
Review: The opening is quite promising with the disappearance of the Do-Me (kind of an unfortunate name) along with her captain, herone man crew and the angler who hired them. Then the angler's head with a gun shot wound turns up in a trawler's net. An attempt is made to investigate, but the police are stymied. So they send in Napoleon Bonapart, their best detective.

Then Boney starts to fish-- and he fishes and he fishes. I don't have any ethical problem with fishing as a sport, but I found myself feeling a bit indignant about the wastefulness of catching a 580 lb. fish for sport, hanging it up by it's tail on the "town triangle" to have pictures taken, then disposing of it after a few days when it probably rank.

Boney the fisherman is not nearly as interesting as Boney the detective.

Oh, as for the mystery, it was pretty obvious by mid book (if not earlier) who had done the angler in and why. The how was not as obvious though.

Unless you like long descriptions of fishing activity I recommend reading The Bone Is Pointed or one of the other books in this series instead.

Rating:
Summary: A Fish Story with Detective Interruptions
Review: The opening is quite promising with the disappearance of the Do-Me (kind of an unfortunate name) along with her captain, herone man crew and the angler who hired them. Then the angler's head with a gun shot wound turns up in a trawler's net. An attempt is made to investigate, but the police are stymied. So they send in Napoleon Bonapart, their best detective.

Then Boney starts to fish-- and he fishes and he fishes. I don't have any ethical problem with fishing as a sport, but I found myself feeling a bit indignant about the wastefulness of catching a 580 lb. fish for sport, hanging it up by it's tail on the "town triangle" to have pictures taken, then disposing of it after a few days when it probably rank.

Boney the fisherman is not nearly as interesting as Boney the detective.

Oh, as for the mystery, it was pretty obvious by mid book (if not earlier) who had done the angler in and why. The how was not as obvious though.

Unless you like long descriptions of fishing activity I recommend reading The Bone Is Pointed or one of the other books in this series instead.

Rating:
Summary: MORE LITERARY TYPE OF FICTION
Review: This book is quite different from most modern writings in fiction in that it is written in a more literary sense. The writing could be compared somewhat to a Hemingway novel. The entire environment and the characters are so richly painted and crisply defined that you not only enter the story but really feel it as well. The story takes place in an australian fishing village where you'll feel like you've lived for a while when you're done reading. If you're a person who likes the true mystery in a story this reading is for you. If you only like blood, gore and unending suspense and thrills with your mystery fiction I'd highly suggest you go elsewhere. The story is believable and well conceived as well as very well written for its time.
Anyone who enjoys fishing, especially deep sea, will really enjoy the book and it's attention to detail with respect to fishing for marlin. Just an added bonus for a few readers out there but another fine point that shows the author goes to great extremes in an unbelievably concise manner to bring in every detail. The overall story develops a little slowly, but the rich detail, believability and fine characters make this a great read for those who would enjoy a more literary fiction novel.