What do you think?
Rate this book
Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte #17
Murder Must Wait
In the little town of Mitford, New South Wales, four babies have been stolen—all boys, all under three months old, and all apparently neglected by their mothers. The local police have given up and the trail is cold. Then a fifth child vanishes, and the mother is found dead next to the empty cot. Inspector Bonaparte is called in, first to find the missing children, and only then to solve the murder...
260 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1953
11 people are currently reading
141 people want to read
About the author
Arthur W. Upfield
70 books111 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".
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
April 9, 2019
Just re-read this after many years. I had forgotten how good it was and it is very good.
Bony (despite the daft name) is an excellent character and the way he acknowledges the manifestations of his mixed race heritage is really well described. Upfield obviously had great admiration for the aboriginal people.
Quite an unusual plot for Bony as it was far more urban than usual. There is a bit of bushcraft in it but not as much as usual. The author played fair with the reader, providing plenty of clues which enabled me to more or less work out what was going on.
Like most of Upfields' work, I imagine that the description of the way the indigenous population have been treated could make quite uncomfortable reading for modern day Australians.
Bony (despite the daft name) is an excellent character and the way he acknowledges the manifestations of his mixed race heritage is really well described. Upfield obviously had great admiration for the aboriginal people.
Quite an unusual plot for Bony as it was far more urban than usual. There is a bit of bushcraft in it but not as much as usual. The author played fair with the reader, providing plenty of clues which enabled me to more or less work out what was going on.
Like most of Upfields' work, I imagine that the description of the way the indigenous population have been treated could make quite uncomfortable reading for modern day Australians.
June 21, 2018
A lovely sense of place for the Australian Murray River Country, from a perspective of 60+ years ago, where the political niceties and conventions of language were so different to women and aboriginals, and boy so much smoking! The patient and painstaking processes of Bony as he deals with murder and mayhem, whilst acknowledging his dual ancestry and allowing the reader to feel the power of the landscape and Australian indigenous culture was a delight to revisit. The language may be dated, but the originality and quality of Upfield's work still shine through.
May 30, 2025
Bony is called in when the white police give up. This time, it was to a small town in New South Wales after five male babies, all under 3 months, had been kidnapped. The mother of the most recent is found dead next to the empty cot.
With vivid details, Upfield brings to life the grandeur of the Australian bush.
With vivid details, Upfield brings to life the grandeur of the Australian bush.
February 20, 2017
"Murder Must Wait" is the 17th book in the Australian series featuring the half caste Aboringine detective, Napoleon Bonaparte. In Upfield's previous books, the wonder and beauty of Australia comes through as his protagonist travels to the many diverse and unique locales of Australia. In the last book and in this book, Upfield stays nearer the established townships and the reader misses out on the vicarious thrills of exploring the one of a kind Australian landscapes. His writing is still exemplary and he continues to detail the relationships of the whites and the Aborigines and Bonaparte's own inner struggle to act as a civilized Western citizen or revert back to his Mother's roots and once again become the free native of the indigenous peoples. The mysteries themselves are always imaginative and complex, and usually bring into play some of the Aborigine's culture and folklore. All in all, an excellent read by one of my favorite mystery writers but I do hope in the subsequent novels, Boney harkens back to the less known regions of Australia and Upfield continues to explore the nature of the Australian's original race. As a warning, these books were written prior to the 1950's and, in light of modern times, can be deemed to be both racist and sexist. Enjoy them for the mystery literature that they are and do not judge them against 21st century attitudes.
August 20, 2016
Something completely different -- a mystery set in New South Wales, Australia. Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte ("Bony") is sent to investigate the disappearance of five 3-4 month old baby boys.
Bony is half aborigines and is very vain about his reputation of having solved all of his investigations. He takes associates into his confidence, but not completely, and works closely with a young female policewoman.
The aboriginal community living just outside of town are of interest to him. Unfortunately (since the book was written in 1953) these people were terribly discriminated against and that shows up in the writing.
This is the 17th book in the series and I would like to find some earlier one to get more background on Bony.
Might be read alike for Hillerman's Navaho mysteries or Coel's Wind River mysteries as native communities come up against the white world.
Bony is half aborigines and is very vain about his reputation of having solved all of his investigations. He takes associates into his confidence, but not completely, and works closely with a young female policewoman.
The aboriginal community living just outside of town are of interest to him. Unfortunately (since the book was written in 1953) these people were terribly discriminated against and that shows up in the writing.
This is the 17th book in the series and I would like to find some earlier one to get more background on Bony.
Might be read alike for Hillerman's Navaho mysteries or Coel's Wind River mysteries as native communities come up against the white world.
July 21, 2023
Weirder one out of the series... but liked the cast of characters.
October 18, 2025
Five stars because after a summer slump I tore right straight through it without reading other stuff. Pacing is all in a story of this kind. Someone is taking very new babies right out of their homes, and one mother is killed in the process. But her murder is the one that must wait while Boney and Co. find the infants. Yes, it was common in those days for parents to leave a sleeping baby alone in the house "just for a few minutes" (ie an hour or more) or, in Australia and NZ, to park a baby in its pram outside a shop "to get the air" while they shopped.
The irony of a white Englishman pretending to understand Australian Aborigine psychology and culture never ceases to amaze me. This time around we have more of the Inspector's tracking abilities, but as always he drags in the "native dodge to leave no footprints" which honestly I don't think would work. Some kind of mark it would leave. At one point the author speaks as if the aboriginal people already had some form of birth control, but of course he does not elaborate (probably because he didn't actually know anything about it). I didn't care for either Boney or the author's attitude toward Alice, a policewoman he admits is skilful in many ways. The constant emphasis on both her plainness and masculinity juxtaposed with her love of babies makes it seem that both the Inspector and the author were calling her a loser. Because of course (?) she'd never find a husband. The last page annoyed me very much and very nearly cost the book a star.
The irony of a white Englishman pretending to understand Australian Aborigine psychology and culture never ceases to amaze me. This time around we have more of the Inspector's tracking abilities, but as always he drags in the "native dodge to leave no footprints" which honestly I don't think would work. Some kind of mark it would leave. At one point the author speaks as if the aboriginal people already had some form of birth control, but of course he does not elaborate (probably because he didn't actually know anything about it). I didn't care for either Boney or the author's attitude toward Alice, a policewoman he admits is skilful in many ways. The constant emphasis on both her plainness and masculinity juxtaposed with her love of babies makes it seem that both the Inspector and the author were calling her a loser. Because of course (?) she'd never find a husband. The last page annoyed me very much and very nearly cost the book a star.
September 23, 2019
“Murder Must Wait” by Arthur W. Upfield is an unfortunate mystery novel. Written in the early fifties, the plot relies way too much on sexist ideas and a non-liberal application of a casual racist attitude towards the aboriginal people. On top of that, the plot relies on an obsolete understanding of psychology. The sleuth Bony is described as a “virile male”. Enough said. Perhaps a mystery novel of its time. It hasn’t aged well at all. Of the Upfield novels, I can’t recommend this one at all. It’s an embarrassment.
Read
June 10, 2024I have all the paperbacks of Bony by Arthur Upfield and have read them all at least twice. They are that good. This title was unknown to me and I immediately ordered it. About 2 chapters in I had had enough. It’s crap! I kept searching the details of the publication to see if it was written by someone else ‘ in the style of Arthur Upfield ‘ but it purports to be written by him. It is so far below the level of the other 29 books that it’s only good for fire starter. I returned it forthwith.
June 7, 2017
Four babies have disappeared in a small NSW town. A fifth has disappeared and his mother is found dead. All the babies are boys. A case for Bony, of course. An entertaining mystery which kind of wanders off towards the end. Still a good read and recommended to all mystery fans.
February 21, 2021
Upfield shows some of the breadth of his knowledge of First Nation culture in this novel. His sympathies continue to lie with the people of the ancient culture even as the clash plays out seemingly differently within Bony himself.
July 1, 2021
This one starts off with stolen babies, and we are introduced to a wonderful rough diamond in the assistant Bony asks to accompany him, Alice. It is not gruesome. There are many interesting characters. Good story. Enjoyed again on audio.
May 5, 2017
It's been a long time since I read a Bony novel, but it stands up very well. A different sort of mystery, but very entertaining and enjoyable.
May 28, 2018
Upfield is usually excellent and this one is too
December 30, 2019
I greatly enjoyed this Outback mystery and even more when a policewoman joined Boney and added her personality and flare to it too.
December 27, 2020
Very interesting. Not my favorite but a good read.
June 18, 2023
Bony believes that solving the disappearances of the infant boys will lead to the murderer. Bony is always right.
January 27, 2014
Another easy reading Boney mystery.
Upfield is a complex person when he discusses Aboriginal culture: on one hand he supports the Mission system that was in place in the 1950s (when this was written), and yet, he talks about the golden days before white arrival.
Even Boney is not 100% sure of the murderer's identity till the last few pages, so altho you guess, you hit the same conundrum Boney did. The other main story - hence the title - is interesting with current & recent discussions on placing babies to better families from their birth families. It is really hard to determine Upfield's stance, because he is so vague about it. Tiny spoiler: I had to think why Boney was encouraging of Alice taking the baby on the final page, till I reminded it now was an orphan - for all intents and purposes. Women's intuition comes into play in various detection aspects - something that would be considered antiquated nowadays. Thank God! men are more involved with babies & their children.
Some parts of Riverina NSW are still the same as when Upfield wrote, other parts have been lost to progress. I could visualise Upfield's Riverina from my travels in the region. I really enjoyed the historical nature of this book, as I have with all of the others that he wrote.
I'm not so sure I want our current politicians, who hanker for this Golden Age, to read Upfield - it might reinforce their white male superiority concepts. For the agnostics, I think they would be horrified and stop pushing backward policies.
Upfield is a complex person when he discusses Aboriginal culture: on one hand he supports the Mission system that was in place in the 1950s (when this was written), and yet, he talks about the golden days before white arrival.
Even Boney is not 100% sure of the murderer's identity till the last few pages, so altho you guess, you hit the same conundrum Boney did. The other main story - hence the title - is interesting with current & recent discussions on placing babies to better families from their birth families. It is really hard to determine Upfield's stance, because he is so vague about it. Tiny spoiler: I had to think why Boney was encouraging of Alice taking the baby on the final page, till I reminded it now was an orphan - for all intents and purposes. Women's intuition comes into play in various detection aspects - something that would be considered antiquated nowadays. Thank God! men are more involved with babies & their children.
Some parts of Riverina NSW are still the same as when Upfield wrote, other parts have been lost to progress. I could visualise Upfield's Riverina from my travels in the region. I really enjoyed the historical nature of this book, as I have with all of the others that he wrote.
I'm not so sure I want our current politicians, who hanker for this Golden Age, to read Upfield - it might reinforce their white male superiority concepts. For the agnostics, I think they would be horrified and stop pushing backward policies.
November 13, 2013
Murder Must Wait is the 17th book in the popular Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte series by Australian author, Arthur Upfield. Although he usually prefers to deal with murder cases, Bony goes to the Riverina town of Mitford to investigate the disappearance of four babies after Sydney’s CID have been unable to make any headway. Just as he arrives, another baby is taken and the mother murdered. But Bony’s priority is the babies, and the murder must wait. And while he may be conceited, even Bony knows when he needs a woman’s input: he soon has the able Policewoman Alice McGorr from Melbourne assisting him. Are the murder and the disappearances linked? Is the theft of a native rock painting related to the case? Why are he and Alice being followed by aborigines? This mystery is set in 1952, long before the days of CSI, kinesics and DNA testing, yet Bony manages to cleverly deduce an awful lot from careful observation. A mended glove, shoe prints, a button, metal shavings, celluloid strips and hair-oil stains are all integral to the case. Upfield uses this novel to comment on the obnoxiousness of Australian sherry, anthropologists, the treatment of aborigines and the single-mindedness of novelists. And a mystery it may be, but Upfield’s descriptions are evocative and the atmosphere of outback NSW is marvellously portrayed: “….shortly after seven, when the sun-god was losing his grip on the world and showing his anger by splashing the sky with blood.” Another excellent read.
September 20, 2014
Four babies are missing in the town of Mitford, New South Wales. The babies were all male, all healthy, under 3 months old, and apparently all neglected or unwanted. The local police have given up. Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte is called in after a fifth baby goes missing, and this time, the mother is killed. Of all the cases he's worked, this one has him entering a foreign world of infants. He calls in an assistant on this one, Police Constable Alice McGorr for a little female insight.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a treat to see Bony working with a partner. But the domestic side is never allowed to overshadow the mystery. It's not at all warm and fuzzy, just a pleasant change and setting for this book. Highly recommended and worth searching for.
CMB
I really enjoyed this book. It was a treat to see Bony working with a partner. But the domestic side is never allowed to overshadow the mystery. It's not at all warm and fuzzy, just a pleasant change and setting for this book. Highly recommended and worth searching for.
CMB
June 6, 2012
This is definitely not my favorite Upfield. Most of his novels reek of one or another Australian locality -- or at least successfully appear to do so, I never having been to Australia. Here the scene is a town in New South Wales. To this outsider a sense of place is not recognizable.
Further, Upfield is especially good with social relationships between and within classes. So here. Nevertheless, the plot is wrought and the people less well drawn than often the case. Similarly, Upfield's descriptions of nature, which at their best rival Conrad's, are not quite up to his usual standard.
Further, Upfield is especially good with social relationships between and within classes. So here. Nevertheless, the plot is wrought and the people less well drawn than often the case. Similarly, Upfield's descriptions of nature, which at their best rival Conrad's, are not quite up to his usual standard.
September 16, 2013
I love the Upfield "Bony" books, having read them all initially in the early 1990s. This one does not have so much of his famous tracking skills, but still it touches on some of the Australian aborigine folklore that makes these books special. Peter Hoskings is a great reader for these books, and I hope that eventually all of them will be available for listening.
October 31, 2013
One of the differences with this Arthur Upfield novel and others is that the place of Mitford is fictional. The nature of the town is similar to either Mildura or Leeton or Swan Hill. The description of a creek leading from the river to the settlement could be either Swan Hill or Mildura. There are passages that rule Mildura out. The description about the roads point to Balranald.
August 29, 2017
Top Bony mystery. Bony is sent to investigate the disappearance of 4 babies in a remote country town. On the day he arrives not only is it discovered that a fifth baby has disappeared, but the mother of the latest baby has been murdered!
This time, though, if there's any chance the babies are still alive, the murder investigation must wait!
This time, though, if there's any chance the babies are still alive, the murder investigation must wait!
December 1, 2015
This novel was not quite as good as I thought it might be especially after reading "Venom House" it just seemed to be missing something maybe if It had more drama and captivating characters. Unfortunately It just seemed to flow along without much happening to catch the reader's interest.❤❤❤
July 27, 2022
Another excellent Bony adventure. This one had me turning pages longer and faster than the previous four I’ve read and has one of the stranger endings, but it’s well worth a read by Upfield fans and mystery lovers.
October 20, 2015
first book featuring Bonaparte.
April 12, 2017
The ending of this book leaves everything up in the air.
Quite frankly I can't think of anyone! I've read 5 of Mr. Upfielfd's novels and 3 of them have been five star value and one of them was a 3 star rank, the last a three and a half effort!!
Quite frankly I can't think of anyone! I've read 5 of Mr. Upfielfd's novels and 3 of them have been five star value and one of them was a 3 star rank, the last a three and a half effort!!
June 21, 2018
charming!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews