THE CLUE OF THE NEW SHOE

Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte is the half-Aboriginal protagonist in Upfield's popular Australian mystery series. In this 1951 book, "Boney" is on special assignment to solve a murder in southeastern Australia. Peter Hosking does a good job bringing life to Bonaparte, who is supremely self-confident to the point of arrogance; pedantic; ingratiating to some and insufferable to others; and to modern ears, a racist. Hosking, who is Australian, does as well with the many other characters. He perfectly uses the tight vowels of Australian whites and the gentler speech of the Aboriginals, and his females are as believable as his males. This is a well-paced, involving reading of a dated book. R.E.K. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/ MAY 06]