Retro Australia ( )

Library copy, recovered.

Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte is sent to the small seaside town of Broome to take over the investigation of the murders of two local widows. Bony attempts to find out what the two, then three, victims have in common but keeps finding that they led dissimilar lives, apart from their widowhood. And the town may be small but it has more than a few creepy men. ( )

Arthur Upfield The Widows of Broome, is a classic murder mystery with the charming Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte as the main character. Set in the isolated township of Broome on the north-west coast of Western Australia, Upfield captures the community atmosphere that exists in the outback communities of Australia. In solving the crime Bony is helped by a number of personalities that the reader cant help but like. Inspector Walters and his family are keen supporters of Bony, along with many others, even the town drunk, Mr Dickenson, is recruited to amateur detective status.

Set in the 1950's there is an appeal to a time when life was a little slower, a little simpler and the pleasures were the same. Having lived in a community similar to Broome when I was younger, it makes me nostalgic.

Upfield excells when his stories are set in the bush, not in a town setting. Bony's skills as a busman are of little use in this story, so not as good a yarn as other Upfield's books, hence the lower rating. ( )