THE BACHELORS OF BROKEN HILL

Arthur W. Upfield wrote many detective novels featuring Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte--Boney--born of a European father and an Aboriginal mother. They are stylized portrayals of the perpetual outsider, a man who succeeds in a race-conscious hierarchical organization because he never fails to solve the crime that confronts him. In this story, Boney is loaned by the Queensland CID to solve a series of poisonings in Broken Hill, a famous mining town in New South Wales. Peter Hosking's Australian accent, though strong, is always understandable to American ears. Hosking gives Boney a flippant, superior vocal characterization that pinpoints his personality. Not all of the other characters receive such clear characterization. The listener usually knows who is speaking from the context, though not always by the voice. These lapses do not detract from the pleasures of listening to this "Australian Poirot" in action. R.E.K. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 01]