UPDATE (October 2014)
All 29 of the Bony novels are now available for downloading to a variety of electronic devices, and the list for those is shown at the following link.
Arthur Upfield Novels Available For Electronic Devices
All of these should be available for any tablet or smartphone using the Android operating system.
All of the Bony novels are now being produced in Large Print and also in Braille
More Bony novels are coming out in Audio through Bolinda Audio.
All the Bony Episodes from the TV Series have been remastered, and will soon be available as download, some time in 2015.
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ARTHUR W UPFIELD AND DETECTIVE INSPECTOR NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
Link to the Official Arthur W Upfield website of Tom Thompson.
Link to the Arthur Upfield facebook page
Link to Biography of Arthur W Upfield by Travis Lindsey (pdf Document)
Link to the Carole Hetherington Paper, Bony at Home and Abroad: The Arthur Upfield Phenomenon (pdf document)
TonyfromOz And BONY
These titles and links below are for the posts on Arthur Upfield from TonyfromOz. This is just the Index for all the separate posts in this series.
There are two separate areas of reference.
The first is a series of Posts of my observations from reading through all these Upfield Novels. I took notes as I was reading each of the novels, and I have expanded those notes out into a series covering the many different aspects Upfield detailed, sometimes quite comprehensively in his Bony Series.
The second main heading details the 29 Upfield novels and my personal review of each novel. Some of those reviews are short and some are long, because some of the things in those novels requires further expansion also.
If you click on any of the highlighted titles, you will be taken to the separate post for that title.
I welcome, and will reply to, any and all comments you wish to make, be they here at the Home Page, or at any of these separate posts. I especially welcome comments from others who may have read any of Upfield’s novels in his Bony series because a variety of opinion always adds to the overall picture.
INTRODUCTION
Arthur W Upfield – A Uniquely Australian Crime Fiction Writer
NOTES ON UPFIELD’S CHARACTER BONY
Part 1. Arthur W Upfield – The Novels
Part 2. Upfield Commentary – Ray Brown’s ‘The Spirit Of Australia’
Part 3. Upfield Commentary – Jessica Hawke’s ‘Follow My Dust’ (Part 1) An Introduction to this book.
Part 4. Upfield Commentary – Jessica Hawke’s ‘Follow My Dust’ (Part 2) Swagmen and the exchange of books whilst moving around the ‘Outback’.
Part 5. Upfield Commentary – Jessica Hawke’s ‘Follow My Dust’ (Part 3) Telling the time by the stars.
Part 6. Upfield Commentary – Jessica Hawke’s ‘Follow My Dust’ (Part 4) Long range weather forecasting.
Part 7. Upfield Commentary – Jessica Hawke’s ‘Follow My Dust’ (Part 5) The Rabbit problem, Leon Wood, Snowy Rowles, and Journalism.
Part 8. Arthur W Upfield’s Novels – Three Non Bony Related Novel Reviews. Gripped By Drought, Breakaway House and The Great Melbourne Cup Mystery.
Part 9. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 1) An Introduction to this series of notes.
Part 10. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 2) Bony in Television.
Part 11. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 3) How Bony got his name.
Part 12. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 4) The anomaly of Bony’s age.
Part 13. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 5) Topical things in the novels at the time of writing.
Part 14. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part6) Upfield’s popularity in the U.S.
Part 15. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 7) Arthur Upfield and Political Correctness.
Part 16. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part Eight) Bony’s Education and Police Service Rank.
Part 17. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 9) Preface for the Posts on Tracking.
Part 18. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 10) The Science of Tracking (Part One).
Part 19. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 11) The Science of Tracking (Part Two).
Part 20. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 12) Preface for the Posts on Language.
Part 21. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 13) Language (Part One) The role of Skin Carvings in Aboriginal Language.
Part 22. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 14) Language (Part Two) The Role of Music in Aboriginal Language.
Part 23. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 15) Language (Part Three) The role of the small fires that the elders sat around.
Part 24. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 16) Preface for the Posts on the role of the tribal Shaman.
Part 25. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 17) The Role Of The Shaman (Part One).
Part 26. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 18) The Role Of The Shaman (Part Two).
Part 27. Tony’s Notes from The Bony Novels (Part 19) Aboriginal Tribal Etiquette.
Part 28. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 20) Lost Civilisation.
Part 29. Tony’s Notes From The Bony Novels (Part 21) The Closing Post
BOOK REVIEWS.
Where possible here, I am just detailing the basics from the novels, and some of the things worthy of mention that do not directly give away major aspects of the plot, the identity of the murderer, or how the investigation was resolved, because that is something left for the reader to find out for themselves, although with some of the novels, the Review is more in depth, necessitating detail of some of the plot lines.
The images of all the book covers I have with the Review of each novel are from the covers of the novels that I have in my personal collection of all 29 of the Bony books. These are not the original covers, but for the paperbacks that I have. Some titles indicate images with the spelling as ‘Boney’, and these were done to correlate with the TV production of the Bony series in the 70’s.
This is the listing for all 29 titles of the Bony novels. As the Review is posted the title will change to a link that takes you to the Review of that novel. Click on the link to be taken to the Review of the novel.
The Barrakee Mystery Also published under the title The Lure Of The Bush
Wings Above The Diamantina Also published under two other titles, Winged Mystery and Wings Above The Claypan
Mr Jelly’s Business Also published under the title Murder Down Under
Bushranger Of The Skies Also published under the title No Footprints In The Bush
The New Shoe Also published under the title The Clue Of The New Shoe
Sinister Stones Also published under the title Cake in The Hat Box
The Man Of Two Tribes Also published under the title Man Of Two Tribes
The Bushman Who Came Back Also published under the title Bony Buys A Woman
Bony And The Black Virgin Also published under the title The Torn Branch
Journey To The Hangman Also published under the title Bony And The Mouse
Valley Of Smugglers Also published under the title Bony And The Kelly Gang
The White Savage Also published under the title Bony And The White Savage
Madman’s Bend Also published under the title The Body At Madman’s Bend
UpfieldTony
Pat Hansen
Sat 08/05/2017
tony, i love the bony books. i do research on rare genetic populations and long ago when i was tracking genes i found where births with straight blond hair turned
black and rough after maturity i was not able to find anything at all about this color change. iw as reading the bony books and the last one that i could nto find was the ‘Barakee Mystery’. the solution to the msytery was the gene change for appearing white to changing to appear a different race .. i loved the books and know of a population that is still unrecorded and i have met several of them that would be called natural persons, no documentation they exist.
when i was writing a novel about them and had to assume probable things that no one knows,i foudn your pages and the part about young men having mentors was what i had been invisioning as being so. i hope you might want to contact me about this.
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Ken McMurtrie
Wed 04/02/2014
Hi Tony, noticed your comment on Jo Nova’s site, appropriately congratulating her on the blogging award.
PA Pundits continues to impress.
Any update on the ‘Bony’ DVD’s?
Best regards, Ken.
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Ken McMurtrie
Wed 11/28/2012
Hi Tony. Nearly 12 months since I commented and queried DVD releases. Any progress that you know of?
Great site, this! “Relentless pursuit of commonsense” is an admirable and unfortunately rare mission. Will tick ‘follow’.
Regards, Ken
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TonyfromOz
Wed 11/28/2012
Ken,
again, thanks for dropping by and leaving another Comment.
I regularly visit the Bony Publishing site for further information, and I have even inquired again as to the release of the original TV Series, which is being remastered for DVD release. The information says some time in 2012, but that year has almost closed now. I’ll see if I can find out any further information.
It surprises me that this Home Page here gets visits almost every day, and some of the information is accessed, again, on a regular daily basis.
I’m glad I went through the whole process now of doing this, as it involved just so much work. Those daily visits tell me I was on the right track, as there is still interest in the wonderful series of Bony novels.
Tony.
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Greg Isaac (@Mutawintji)
Wed 06/20/2012
Tony …. thank you for taking my comments so kindly.
I also left a comment on ‘Man of two Tribes’. The only novel that, in my opinion, contains a flaw.
Arthur greatly exaggerated both distance, space and time in most of his novels. But it furthers the stories and paints in two dimensional format what could not be experienced unless visits to these places were possible for the reader. So no sin.
I traveled to many of the locations … I have the books as well … sounds like we have the same editions …in softcover.
He is extremely popular in Germany. So popular, that at one point, in my travels I indexed, listed and made notes of accommodation, routes, etc and considered running exclusive tours that would be advertised in Germany. I had come to know the area very well.
But, inspired by the novels, my ‘investigations’ led me into archeological areas and more scientific understandings of anthropology.. I now pursue these as an amateur.
Arthur was always searching for an understanding of the deeper matters … And I can’t but help feel sorry for him as he stood on the ‘Walls of China’ and under his feet were a host of answers to many of his inner questions. The mungo magnetic excursion, Mungo Man, a great tribal leader, lived and died 40K+ years before the first pyramid was thought of. And more.
I also feel confident as classifying Arthur as under the autistic spectrum. A year or two ago he would have been classed as Asperger. But that is now an obsolete term.
I hope you don’t mind these rather frank remarks .. and please feel free to delete anything I say. no problems.
greg
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TonyfromOz
Wed 06/20/2012
Greg,
thanks again for the great commentary you have added with comments to some of these novels reviews.
I know that the original TV series bore not much resemblance to the novels, but that series is in the process of being remastered and put onto DVD, and is hoped to be released later this year. The Tom Thompson link I have at the top of the Post has details on this.
Incidentally, there was a second series made, again bearing no resemblance whatsoever to the original novels. That second series was in fact done by two German Companies.
I even hear that there are some tourist outlets in Europe that cater specifically for tours along what they term ‘The Bony Trail’ so that tourists can visit the settings of Arthur’s novels.
There is so much that can be gleaned from reading these wonderful novels, not only for people outside of Australia, but especially for Australians, and I’m just dumbfounded that his novels are not spread more widely within our own Country. It might seem that in this day and age, they might be perceived as from a time when political correctness was not in vogue, but these novels are as relevant today as when they were first written.
So again, thanks for adding your own commentary.
Tony.
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Greg Isaac (@Mutawintji)
Wed 06/20/2012
Great site and loved the summaries … I left a few comments on locales .. but if you don’t like just dismiss/delete
greg
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TonyfromOz
Wed 06/20/2012
Greg,
thanks for the wonderful feedback.
There’s no way I’ll delete or dismiss any of your comments. It’s great to know that there are fans of these Upfield novels out there, as they offer us a wonderful insight into not only the many areas of Australia that Arthur travelled to and incorporated into his novels, but also, the times that the novels are set in. I’ve replied to one of your comments at the Death Of A Lake comment you left.
Again, thanks for taking the time to read some of these Posts, and thanks again for such wonderful feedback.
Tony.
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TonyfromOz
Mon 12/19/2011
Ken,
In this huge body of notes, somewhere I think I mention Tom Thompson, who runs the Arthur Upfield Official Site.
I’ve been in contact with him now for nigh on 15 years, and we exchange emails every so often.
As I mentioned in one of these early Posts here, I wrote all these notes in the late 90’s.
Tom encouraged me to find some place to Post them onto the Internet, and after assuming the Editor’s position here, I asked the site owner, and he kindly allowed mt to do what you see here.
I know it’s huge, when you also take into account the ‘rundown’ of each of those Bony novels, and it needed a lot of work to break those notes up into separate Posts.
As to the re release of the original TV Series, that is still in train.
Tom is having each episode remastered and is going to release them as a consolidated DVD package, and that may actually be closer to fruition than you think.
Over the years, Tom has been chasing up all the Copyrights to all the Bony Novels.
There was some original problem with the branches of the family, and with the passing of time, those tensions have eased a little, and following the release of the DVD set, there may even be a re issuing of those Bony Novels as well.
Thanks for the comment here Ken.
Tony.
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Ken McMurtrie
Mon 12/19/2011
Hi Tony, What a networking experience this is!
Although I haven’t read or re-read any for some time, I have what hopefully are all his novels. I was hooked from a young age. My brother, mother and step-father were ardent fans.
Marvellous stuff! Fantastic empathy with the Australian bush and (early) people.
Maybe a year ago I came across a site talking about releasing the TV Series on DVD’s. After contact, they promised to let me know when release occurred. Not heard anything to date.Have you any knowledge of this?
(Anyway, have included PA Pundits site on my World Issue Links.)
Regards, Ken.
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