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Book Review of Bony and the Kelly Gang (aka Valley of Smugglers) (Inspector Bonaparte)

Bony and the Kelly Gang (aka Valley of Smugglers) (Inspector Bonaparte)
aardvark avatar reviewed on + 157 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3


One of my favorites among the 29 books in the Napoleon Bonaparte series. I wouldn't say the series is light on plot -- merely casual in pace, like its main character. The emphasis is on the setting and atmosphere of (usually) outback Australia, upon Napoleon as a fascinatingly unique character (part white, part Aborigine), and upon the interplay of the people among whom he is placed. Here he investigates the extended Kelly family of Cork Valley, N South Wales. They control the illegal liquor market in the area. Bony lives among them, grows to like them, but still must do his duty as the best police inspector in Australia.