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Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte #18
Death of a Lake
On a vast sheep station in the outback, Raymond Gillen goes swimming in the lake one night and is never seen again. After the failure of local police to solve the mystery, Bony arrives disguised as a horse-breaker, and uncovers a story of sexual tension and murder. The lake is evaporating in the intense drought - only when it dies will the mystery be solved. Apart from its strengths as a crime novel, this is probably the best book ever written about drought in Australia.
233 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
10 people are currently reading
227 people want to read
About the author
Arthur W. Upfield
73 books112 followersAka Arthur Upfield
Arthur William Upfield (1 September 1890 – 13 February 1964) was an Australian writer, best known for his works of detective fiction featuring Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte ('Bony') of the Queensland Police Force, a half-caste Aborigine.
Born in England, Upfield moved to Australia in 1910 and fought with the Australian military during the First World War. Following his war service, he travelled extensively throughout Australia, obtaining a knowledge of Australian Aboriginal culture that would later be used extensively in his written works. In addition to his detective fiction, Upfield was also a member of the Australian Geological Society and was involved in numerous scientific expeditions. Upfield's works remained popular after his death, and in the 1970s were the basis for an Australian television series entitled "Boney".
Arthur William Upfield (1 September 1890 – 13 February 1964) was an Australian writer, best known for his works of detective fiction featuring Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte ('Bony') of the Queensland Police Force, a half-caste Aborigine.
Born in England, Upfield moved to Australia in 1910 and fought with the Australian military during the First World War. Following his war service, he travelled extensively throughout Australia, obtaining a knowledge of Australian Aboriginal culture that would later be used extensively in his written works. In addition to his detective fiction, Upfield was also a member of the Australian Geological Society and was involved in numerous scientific expeditions. Upfield's works remained popular after his death, and in the 1970s were the basis for an Australian television series entitled "Boney".
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 37 reviews
September 26, 2011
Enjoyable Australian crime fiction novel, written and set in outback Australia during the 1950s. This is the 18th Inspector Napoleon Boneparte novel written by English-born Australian author, Arthur Upfield (1890-1964).
Inspector Napoleon 'Bony' Boneparte is sent to a vast outback sheep station disguised as a horse-breaker to investigate the mysterious and unsolved disappearance 18 months earlier of stationhand Ray Gillen. Gillen had previously won the lottery in Queensland - a lucrative motive for his sudden disappearance. One stifling night he went for a swim to cool off in nearby Lake Otway and was never seen again. Did he drown? Was he murdered? What secrets do the lake and/or the residents of the outback station hold? And thus the plot thickens.
The Lake itself becomes a central feature of the novel. Lake Otway is a fictitious non-permanent lake (possibly based on Lake Eyre). It becomes a vast body of water every 20 or so years and then slowly dries up over the next 2-3 years as drought once again takes grip. It's evaporation runs parallel to the storyline - only when it dies back to bare earth in the intense outback heat will the mystery be solved.
Overall, in keeping with the times, a nice clean-cut mystery with inferred sexual tension and not a swear word in sight. Occasionally I found the language perhaps a little dated, although in equal parts, I enjoyed the 'Australianisms' of the era. Cobbers rolled smokes, skinned rabbits, ate kangaroo steaks for breakfast and talked of their dusty outback travels around campfires heating the obligatory billy.
The main character Bony spends most of this book impersonating a horse-breaker. He is part-Aboriginal and is laconic, even enigmatic in the way he goes about his business in this novel. Having not previously read any Arthur Upfield books, I only glimpsed the true authoritative police aspect of Inspector Boneparte towards the end of the book. Nevertheless, I liked what I saw and can see how Upfield managed to base some 29 mystery novels around him over 30+ years.
More of a mystery to me, is why it has taken me so long to read one of these books. The descriptions were fantastic. I could feel the intense outback heat and the choking dusty grip of drought. I enjoyed Bony and the cast of outback characters, and found the plot strong enough to build intrigue and suspense throughout the book. I am glad I have discovered this series, albeit belatedly, and I will be back for more.
Inspector Napoleon 'Bony' Boneparte is sent to a vast outback sheep station disguised as a horse-breaker to investigate the mysterious and unsolved disappearance 18 months earlier of stationhand Ray Gillen. Gillen had previously won the lottery in Queensland - a lucrative motive for his sudden disappearance. One stifling night he went for a swim to cool off in nearby Lake Otway and was never seen again. Did he drown? Was he murdered? What secrets do the lake and/or the residents of the outback station hold? And thus the plot thickens.
The Lake itself becomes a central feature of the novel. Lake Otway is a fictitious non-permanent lake (possibly based on Lake Eyre). It becomes a vast body of water every 20 or so years and then slowly dries up over the next 2-3 years as drought once again takes grip. It's evaporation runs parallel to the storyline - only when it dies back to bare earth in the intense outback heat will the mystery be solved.
Overall, in keeping with the times, a nice clean-cut mystery with inferred sexual tension and not a swear word in sight. Occasionally I found the language perhaps a little dated, although in equal parts, I enjoyed the 'Australianisms' of the era. Cobbers rolled smokes, skinned rabbits, ate kangaroo steaks for breakfast and talked of their dusty outback travels around campfires heating the obligatory billy.
The main character Bony spends most of this book impersonating a horse-breaker. He is part-Aboriginal and is laconic, even enigmatic in the way he goes about his business in this novel. Having not previously read any Arthur Upfield books, I only glimpsed the true authoritative police aspect of Inspector Boneparte towards the end of the book. Nevertheless, I liked what I saw and can see how Upfield managed to base some 29 mystery novels around him over 30+ years.
More of a mystery to me, is why it has taken me so long to read one of these books. The descriptions were fantastic. I could feel the intense outback heat and the choking dusty grip of drought. I enjoyed Bony and the cast of outback characters, and found the plot strong enough to build intrigue and suspense throughout the book. I am glad I have discovered this series, albeit belatedly, and I will be back for more.
February 11, 2011
emprunt bibliothèque...
À Porchester, grosse exploitation agricole des profondeurs du bush australien, les employés regardent avec anxiété l'assèchement inexorable du lac Otway. Un homme y a trouvé la mort dans des circonstances mystérieuses et chacun attend la réapparition du corps. Pour pouvoir enquêter avec discrétion et efficacité, l'inspecteur métis Napoléon Bonaparte, dit Bony, décide de se rendre sur place... en se faisant passer pour le nouveau dresseur de chevaux sauvages ! Avant de percer tous les secrets de ceux qui vivent sur là, il lui faudra d'abord gagner le respect des hommes et déjouer avec tact les avances des femmes. Un défi délicat...
Arthur Upfield, le père du roman policier ethnologique, exploite ici un phénomène naturel spectaculaire comme seule l'Australie sait en produire. Son intrigue bénéficie d'un cadre absolument unique. La disparition du lac et la progression de l'enquête policière se disputent le suspense, le tout dans une ambiance pesante de suspicion et de chantage. Passsionnant !
À Porchester, grosse exploitation agricole des profondeurs du bush australien, les employés regardent avec anxiété l'assèchement inexorable du lac Otway. Un homme y a trouvé la mort dans des circonstances mystérieuses et chacun attend la réapparition du corps. Pour pouvoir enquêter avec discrétion et efficacité, l'inspecteur métis Napoléon Bonaparte, dit Bony, décide de se rendre sur place... en se faisant passer pour le nouveau dresseur de chevaux sauvages ! Avant de percer tous les secrets de ceux qui vivent sur là, il lui faudra d'abord gagner le respect des hommes et déjouer avec tact les avances des femmes. Un défi délicat...
Arthur Upfield, le père du roman policier ethnologique, exploite ici un phénomène naturel spectaculaire comme seule l'Australie sait en produire. Son intrigue bénéficie d'un cadre absolument unique. La disparition du lac et la progression de l'enquête policière se disputent le suspense, le tout dans une ambiance pesante de suspicion et de chantage. Passsionnant !
July 25, 2019
Four and a half stars.
Despite the improbability of it all, this is a cracking page turner. Bony is a great character and the descriptions of the bush and, in this case, the drought are incredible.
Thoroughly recommended. !!
Despite the improbability of it all, this is a cracking page turner. Bony is a great character and the descriptions of the bush and, in this case, the drought are incredible.
Thoroughly recommended. !!
April 1, 2020
Great descriptions of country but characters and plot weren't too exciting. Very easily wrapped up and rushed ending that didn't ring true to characters.
October 20, 2025
Upfield's work is uneven. This novel is more about describing the outback than any real plot or story. He's done "bunnies on the move" before at the beginning of the series, but this time the bunnies are moving toward a water supply in their hundreds, and the men on the station merely trap them for their pelts.
I had no idea that my city gets as hot as the Australian outback during a drought but it does. For three days running we had temperatures of 50ºC in the late 90s...burned up my CPU because that was before people here had home air conditioning.
As for the mystery itself, again the denouement was rather flat, stale and unprofitable. But then that's not why Upfield wrote his books. Not much in the way of bushcraft this time even though it's set in the outback (he does seem to alternate one "bush book" and one not) but Boney is now a skilled horse breaker using very modern techniques. Today he'd be called a horse whisperer, though staring a horse in the eye isn't possible unless you're standing to one side; a horse's eyes are so placed that they can't see much of what is directly in front of them, so all that "human dominates animal by staring it down" falls rather flat.
The book did hold my attention, though I wondered about Upfield's issues with women, so three stars.
I had no idea that my city gets as hot as the Australian outback during a drought but it does. For three days running we had temperatures of 50ºC in the late 90s...burned up my CPU because that was before people here had home air conditioning.
As for the mystery itself, again the denouement was rather flat, stale and unprofitable. But then that's not why Upfield wrote his books. Not much in the way of bushcraft this time even though it's set in the outback (he does seem to alternate one "bush book" and one not) but Boney is now a skilled horse breaker using very modern techniques. Today he'd be called a horse whisperer, though staring a horse in the eye isn't possible unless you're standing to one side; a horse's eyes are so placed that they can't see much of what is directly in front of them, so all that "human dominates animal by staring it down" falls rather flat.
The book did hold my attention, though I wondered about Upfield's issues with women, so three stars.
February 27, 2018
The audio book begins with the usual warning that the publisher does not ascribe to Upfield's now politically incorrect views. However they do reflect popularly held opinions, particularly abour aborigines, in the 1950s.
The story moves a bit slowly in this tale because Lake Otway, a lake that had filled three years before because of flooding in the north, is in the process of evaporating and dying. There are wonderful descriptions of what happens as the lake gets shallower and shallower and smaller and smaller. At the same time the rabbit population blows out. The daily temperature is well over 110F and the outstation near the lake burns to the ground one night.
You can't help but be impressed by Upfield's detailed observations of life on Outback stations.
Bony turns up (undercover) to investigate the Ray Gillen's disappearance and discovers that all the hands living at the outstation have, unusually, stayed on since Gillen's disappearance, not taking holidays and so on. Something is keeping them all there.
The tension builds very well, and the narration by Peter Hosking is in a class of its own.
The story moves a bit slowly in this tale because Lake Otway, a lake that had filled three years before because of flooding in the north, is in the process of evaporating and dying. There are wonderful descriptions of what happens as the lake gets shallower and shallower and smaller and smaller. At the same time the rabbit population blows out. The daily temperature is well over 110F and the outstation near the lake burns to the ground one night.
You can't help but be impressed by Upfield's detailed observations of life on Outback stations.
Bony turns up (undercover) to investigate the Ray Gillen's disappearance and discovers that all the hands living at the outstation have, unusually, stayed on since Gillen's disappearance, not taking holidays and so on. Something is keeping them all there.
The tension builds very well, and the narration by Peter Hosking is in a class of its own.
February 23, 2021
There is much death in this book: the historical death that draws Bony to Lake Otway, the impending death of the transient lake, the innumerable deaths in flora and fauna from the desperate summer heat and its drying effects, and any other human deaths during the narrative. There is a vague sense, as I write now and reflect, that the inspiration for this book is in the vagaries of the environment, swinging from famine to plenty and back again. Almost as though this long-term event is what Upfield is really writing about – that the investigation of criminal matters is secondary.
I did enjoy the move back into the outback setting of western NSW. I feel at home there – in that ‘hard bastard’ country that covers millions of square kilometers. I miss it.
Perhaps the narrative pace suffers a little because of the lengthy and detailed depiction of the rabbit trapping process. Like the attention to big game fishing in ‘Swordfish Reef’. Perhaps it is Upfield trying to educate his urban readership as to what Australia is like way out beyond the tamed fringes.
I did enjoy the move back into the outback setting of western NSW. I feel at home there – in that ‘hard bastard’ country that covers millions of square kilometers. I miss it.
Perhaps the narrative pace suffers a little because of the lengthy and detailed depiction of the rabbit trapping process. Like the attention to big game fishing in ‘Swordfish Reef’. Perhaps it is Upfield trying to educate his urban readership as to what Australia is like way out beyond the tamed fringes.
February 7, 2022
Started off very well,strong beleivable characters,good traditional Bony territory of remote sheep station,sweltering heat,a lake drying up from the heat and dry conditions,Bony working undercover as brilliant horsebreaker,a man who had won a lot of money in a lottery gone missing..Good intriguing stuff.However there is an attractive mother and daughter combination who are working as cook housekeeper for the station workers.After these characters come in to the story it becomes a little confused and we are not really sure where we are,all the workers seem to be in love with the women and the women seem to be fighting over the unnattractive stationhands,even Bony has attracted the younger womens eye.Of course it is all about the station hand lottery winners money,where is it,who took it?,at the end of the story i was still not sure.
January 15, 2018
"Death of a Lake" is the 18th book in the Napoleon Bonaparte series. In my opinion, it is one of Upfield's better efforts, as the author puts our intrepid detective back in the wilds of Australia, away from the towns and cities where Bony appeared in the previous couple of books. Upfield's strength is the way he brings the Australian wilderness to the forefront and makes the reader experience the dust and heat of the Outback. A magnificent job of descriptive prose. The plot is also one of Upfield's best, as their are wheels within wheels as our protagonist solves a cold case death. Published in the early 1950's, there are elements of racism and sexism, but as any literature, of a certain era, they must be overlooked as of "the times" to be thoroughly enjoyed. A very good read.
August 20, 2019
This was recommended to me by a work colleague. Unfortunately time has not been kind to the Bony series with the expected racism and sexism running rampant throughout the text. The mystery was not particularly interesting and sometimes confusing and the characters were mostly broad-brush 'ocker Aussie' types. There was some tension whilst the lake was evaporating away to reveal a possible murder victim, but the best bits were during a fierce heatwave which has a devastating effect on all the outback inhabitants (human and animal!). Crime novels set in the Australian outback seem to be all the rage at the moment and you would be better served to pick up any of those than this antiquated tale.
February 13, 2025
The second of the Bony books I’ve read. Great prose, good character building, the mysteries are interesting but not fully formed. There is definitely some period racism but along with it is a really interesting main character who straddles two worlds and who is thoughtful and observant. The writing is evocative enough about the killing heat that I was sweaty in the middle of a cold February.
This book has lots of animal death, not overly described but definitely disturbing. Along with it are gorgeous descriptions of the natural scenery around the lake.
This book has lots of animal death, not overly described but definitely disturbing. Along with it are gorgeous descriptions of the natural scenery around the lake.
January 23, 2017
Huis clos dans la chaleur écrasante d'un désert australien au début du XXe siècle. Bony mène l'enquête sous couverture dans une exploitation au bord d'un lac qui est en train de s'assécher. Tous les protagonistes sont des suspects potentiels avant le dénouement final. Un policer à l'ancienne dans un univers peu commun.
June 7, 2017
Out west in NSW during the hottest Summer on record, Bony takes on the role of a breaker. A bloke on the run with a large amount of cash has disappeared. Lake Otway is dying in the heat, rabbits are in plague proportions and heading for the water. Yet another brilliant novel with some harrowing descriptions of death by selection in the Outback.
March 10, 2023
3.8*
Tựa tiếng Việt: Bí mật dưới đáy hồ Otway
In 1500 cuốn khổ 13*19 cm
NXB Phụ nữ, năm 1998
Truyện có ba cái chết:
1 người bơi rất giỏi nhưng bị chết đuối.
1 người bị giết nhưng ngụy tạo ra chết cháy.
1 người bị chết vì say nắng.
2 người đầu tiên thì có thể thấy trong các tác phẩm trinh thám khác, nhưng người thứ ba chết vì say nắng thì có lẽ cuốn này là duy nhất đề cập đến.
Tựa tiếng Việt: Bí mật dưới đáy hồ Otway
In 1500 cuốn khổ 13*19 cm
NXB Phụ nữ, năm 1998
Truyện có ba cái chết:
1 người bơi rất giỏi nhưng bị chết đuối.
1 người bị giết nhưng ngụy tạo ra chết cháy.
1 người bị chết vì say nắng.
2 người đầu tiên thì có thể thấy trong các tác phẩm trinh thám khác, nhưng người thứ ba chết vì say nắng thì có lẽ cuốn này là duy nhất đề cập đến.
July 27, 2017
Best story
The plot of this story is plausible and entertaining. The description of the dying lake and the consequences to the wildlife is amazing. However, some of the events are not for one with a quest stomach. No spoilers here. Great read.
The plot of this story is plausible and entertaining. The description of the dying lake and the consequences to the wildlife is amazing. However, some of the events are not for one with a quest stomach. No spoilers here. Great read.
October 17, 2023
Not really a literary masterpiece, but really interesting description of the effects of extreme heat somewhere in the Australian outback. The characters remain stereotyped and interchangeable. I think I rescued this volume as a leftover from a garage sale.
May 10, 2020
A wonderful mystery story/novel of manners from the 1930s Australian outback, with a hair-raising description of the blazing heat of an New South Wales summer.
July 1, 2021
Enjoyed this Inspector Bonaparte book on audio. I don't seem to tire of these books like I have of others if I have too much of a good thing. Am recommending to all I meet.
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July 17, 2021Joan, the young woman in this story is a sociopathic gold digger. I found it really tough going listening to the distress the animals and birdlife went through trying to survive in the heat.
April 12, 2022
Probably my favorite Arthur Upfield mysteries. All his books have a great "outback" feel to them, really take you somewhere new.
April 30, 2022
A great read, solid mystery, great characterisation and the vividly evoked setting make this a great read.
June 20, 2023
Exquisite writing describing Australian nature and the drought. Character development is excellent, as always.
July 19, 2012
Depuis quelques mois, j'ai envie de découvrir la littérature australienne, un pays qui m'intrigue et m'intéresse beaucoup. De ma situation géographique, l'Australie c'est à l'autre bout du monde, l'endroit le plus éloigné, c'est très exotique! J'ai envie de découvrir leur façon de vivre, leur environnement, leurs coutumes. Avec La mort d'un lac, j'ai été ravie! L'intrigue policière n'est qu'un prétexte pour parler de l'arrière pays et des conditions de vie exécrables de ses habitants. La chaleur insoutenable, le manque d'eau, l'isolement sont le quotidien des travailleurs des exploitations du bush australien. En parcourant les pages de ce roman, on ressent la brûlure du soleil dévastateur, le manque d'air, le sable qui s'insinue dans tout les recoins. On est témoin de la détresse de la nature, des animaux sous cette température implacable qui n'épargne rien ni personne. Un roman qui a bien répondu à mes attentes!
October 11, 2017
Another Bony novel that nearly had me missing my train station!
Lake Otway is a transient, filling every 20 years or so during a "big wet" and then drying out. While it was full a station hand went for a swim and never came back. His body has never been found. Bony sees the report and decides to investigate, under cover of some horse breaking.
Why is atmosphere at the Lake Otway outstation so tense and suspicious, with everyone watching each other? Why is everyone so keen to find the body, keen enough to regularly ride around the rapidly dwindling lake in scorching weather? Then an outsider confides to Bony that the drowned man had won a lottery and carried over 12,000 pounds in his suitcase - money which wasn't among the belongings listed in the disappearance report...
Lake Otway is a transient, filling every 20 years or so during a "big wet" and then drying out. While it was full a station hand went for a swim and never came back. His body has never been found. Bony sees the report and decides to investigate, under cover of some horse breaking.
Why is atmosphere at the Lake Otway outstation so tense and suspicious, with everyone watching each other? Why is everyone so keen to find the body, keen enough to regularly ride around the rapidly dwindling lake in scorching weather? Then an outsider confides to Bony that the drowned man had won a lottery and carried over 12,000 pounds in his suitcase - money which wasn't among the belongings listed in the disappearance report...
August 11, 2016
It took me a week to read this 188-page book. That's sad. Admittedly, I had less free time, but that's still a record slow pace for me. I did not find the story captivating. I didn't really care about the outcome of the mystery -- and I'm still not sure he wrapped up all the loose ends in the last chapter (or maybe he did, and I wasn't paying enough attention because I'd lost interest). This is too bad, because the back cover description had piqued my interest.
I almost rounded my rating up to 2 stars, because I'm taking the book out of context of the series, and I probably was in the wrong mood for this story... but, nah...
I almost rounded my rating up to 2 stars, because I'm taking the book out of context of the series, and I probably was in the wrong mood for this story... but, nah...
March 15, 2009
Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, half aborigine and half educated intellect, is a fascinating character. Arthur Upfield learned his craft and his characters while drifting from job to job over the continent of Australia over many years. I can't recommend this series enough. In this book, an unpleasant outback policeman is found dead in his jeep, and his aborigine tracker is missing. Bony becomes involved with a mysterious cattle family as he attempts to stop a native tribe bent on revenge. Kimberley Breen, cattle-driving beauty, is an especially compelling character.
October 2, 2015
A wonderful series detective novel series, written from the 1920s to the 1960s. Most of the books in this series are set in or near towns or stations in the Australian bush. The books offer a wonderful sense of place and culture of the time, good mysteries to solve, and a half-aboriginal, half-white police detective called Napoleon Bonaparte, a character in the Sherlock Holmes mold. A few of the Napoleon Bonaparte books are set in larger towns or cities, but I think the books set in the bush are the best. Their settings are more evocative and the main character is at his best in the bush.
May 27, 2015
Set in the scorching Australian Outback, a half-caste Aboriginal detective named Napoleon Bonaparte poses as an itinerant horse-breaker to investigate a mysterious death.
Australia. Outback. Detective. Mystery.
Of course I wanted to read this book! But though it was well-written (the terror really starts to build as birds start falling dead of heat exposure!), it was just okay for me. I found out afterwards that this is the 18th book in a series--and maybe if I'd started at the beginning, I'd have found the main character more compelling.
Australia. Outback. Detective. Mystery.
Of course I wanted to read this book! But though it was well-written (the terror really starts to build as birds start falling dead of heat exposure!), it was just okay for me. I found out afterwards that this is the 18th book in a series--and maybe if I'd started at the beginning, I'd have found the main character more compelling.
January 31, 2015
"Yair. You blows out in the end, y'know. You find that the sand hill beyond the next one's just the same, and that Orstralia is just a pancake dotted with pubs wot are all alike. Course, times have changed a lot. The coming generation is too sap-gutted with fruit juices and milk in their tea, and nowadays if a man has a go of the horrors he ain't liked. Once on a time, if a man didn't have the horrors he wasn't reckoned a man's shadder" (23).
Displaying 1 - 29 of 37 reviews