Wings Above the Diamantina

This is but yet another Grand Slam for Arthur Upfield. His numerous Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte mysteries are each a joy to the mystery reader, especially for those who particularly savor the works of Christie, Tey, Sayers, Rinehart, and Ellery Queen. Here the half-caste inspector (he's half Aborigine, half Caucasian) is called in to investigate a small (and stolen) plane that has landed in the Australian Outback with one passenger, a young lady who was apparently comatose when it landed! But the plot thickens as this gal's condition continues to deteriorate and "Bony" (as all his friends call him) is working against time to save her life. A drunken physician, a suspicious foreman, two indigenous farm hands, and many other colorful characters serve to heighten the reader's delight in this suspenseful tale. And it's not a spoiler to all Upfield fans to know in advance that Bony always solves his cases. This entry is at least as good as Murder Down Under. Highly recommended!

If you like detective novels you should enjoy this one. It is well written. Set in the Australian outback, the detective, Napoleon Bonaparte, is half white, half aborigine and makes full use of his native skills. He informs the reader of the progress he is making in solving the mystery as he discovers the clues, while still maintaining the suspense. This is an interesting and complex mystery.

Wings Above the Diamantina (1936) is one of several mysteries by Arthur Upfield set in the Australian outback, and featuring the detective Napoleon Bonaparte, who is part Aborigine and who retains and uses his bush lore to good advantage. Many readers who are only slightly familiar with Australia find the Upfield "Bony" novels fascinating in their vivid depiction of the bush, not only the appearence, but also the wildlife, weather, and how the natives and cattlemen alike survive. The mystery is to me of secondary importance, indeed I regret at times when it intrudes on the accounts of bush places and people. This particular novel, set in the early 1930s, will interest some readers with its description of social life on a cattle station, from the wealthy daughter of the owner who, though very intelligent, wears a dress hat and white gloves while visiting a cattle drive, to the bushmen who work on the station, all with sympathetic and accurate understanding. This is not serious anthropology of course (thank heavens), it is escape fiction, but all the same the reader feels that something about distant people and places is learned, and very enjoyably too. The writing is not of the high literary class (thank heavens again), but is very satisfactory. One is not apt to forget the description of the rare red sand cloud, for example, nor trying to cross the Diamantina, a river usually lacking even a particle water, when it floods to over 5 miles wide. If you like wild places this will interest you. I think Upfield's characters and settings beat Agatha Christie's any time. Four stars as a mystery, 3 as "literature," 5 for showing the bush in the 1930s. Who would work when they could go on walkabout?