Another vintage Bony mystery in the kind of setting where he is at his best, a small Australian country town, in this case Mitford in New South Wales, where a series of four thefts of babies has climaxed with a fifth which has escalated to include the murder of the child's mother ; even before the fifth case, the local police and the state police had admitted they were stymied and called in Bony, who arrives just in time to begin by investigating the fifth case. ( )

un opus modérément réussi, mais le charme de ce bon vieux Bony agit toujours ( )

"In the little town of Mitford, New South Wales, four babies have mysteriously disappeared--all boys, all under three months old, and all apparently neglected by their mothers."

This is a change from the usual Inspector Bonaparte story, where he must track a missing person across the outback. Also, unlike other books, he has a partner of sorts in this one, Police Constable Alice McGorr. She's up to the job, though, and I liked seeing Bony as part of the team, rather than fighting the system as he so frequently does. Even the ending is great. Really worth reading.

CMB ( )