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Book Review of The Mystery of Swordfish Reef (Inspector Bonaparte)

The Mystery of Swordfish Reef (Inspector Bonaparte)
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This mystery takes place in an environment new to Bony whose normal investigations have been restricted to crimes in the bush. While he does his investigation to solve the crime, he begins deep sea fishing and lands some outstanding fish.

Upfield is a fun author whose mysteries featuring Bony are fun to read. Bony is the nickname for Napolean Bonaparte, a detective of mixed parentage. His Aborigine mother gave him an intuitive of the bush but this novel begins on an island off the coast of New South Wales, known as Bermagui. Or, perhaps, one should say in the waters around Bermagui. Bony's bush talents are of little help as he works to solve the disappearence of a fishing boat and its occupants. Searches by other fisherman, police and small planes have failed to find any trace of the boat, its crew or the angler who hired them. The only trace is a thermos flask which could have blown off the boat's deck. Adding to the mystery of the missing is the discovery of the bullet ridden head of the angler who hired the craft. No other sign of the others is found.

It is months after the event, when Bony is assigned to investigate. However, this doesn't bother the intrepid Bony. His advice to young policemen holds true in this situation. "Never race Time. Make Time an ally, for time is the greatest detective that ever way or ever will be." Edward Marston, Introduction of The Mystery of Swordfish Reef, p. eight. And, so the story begins and to his delight, Bony learns to deep sea fish.