Novels , Old And New

Probably no one would be more surprised that the late Arthur W. Upheld that his pre war books are still being re

printed not only in paperback

form but in hard covers.

The Bone Is Pointed, Which

was first published in 1938 has now been resurrected in much more glamorous form than the original and no doubt will add a few dollars and cents to the Upfield estate.

A quite-young Napoleon Bonaparte, detective-inspector, does his stuff in the Great Australian Outback although as usual with this author, the plot is less important than the background.

(The Bone Is Pointed. Angus And

Robertson. $2.25.)

The High Commissioner

by Jon Cleary. Cleary is not only one of Australia’s more successful novelists but one of its most prodigious travellers. The setting of this one is London, more precisely the Court of St. James among all the ambassadors and glitter of inter

national diplomacy.

With Cleary, of course, it could be almost anywhere—from Burma to Botswana—although this time the main characters are purely Australian and the plot is bang up to the minute.

At an international conference, the Australian High Commissioner is about to crown an outstanding career with a foolproof solution to “the Vietnam problem”.

At the crucial moment, however, evidence comes to light that the High Commissioner is none other than a murderer who did his wife in 20 years previously.

A bright young detective is sent from the Sydney CIB to London to arrest him—and although most readers who have Vietnam on their minds hope that he will drop dead, this he finally does, as the plot grows more and more tangled.

(The High Commissioner. Collins.

$2.85.) MENFREYA by Victoria Holt.

All the novels written by this author have a deceptive romantic air, as though they were prepared specially for little, lonely maiden ladies in

London bed-sitting rooms. But they are usually good reading and this one is no exception, despite the blurb on the dust-jacket that sounds like the synopis of a serial in Peg's Paper.

Menfreya is a house on a Cornish cliff top, inhabited by the magic Menfreys family—or magic to Harriet Delvaney, who tells the story and becomes entagled with these larger than life characters. The period is Edwardian and there is murder and mystery too. (MENFREYA. Collins. $2.85.)

When Eight Bells Toll By

Alistair Maclean. This author, like Cleary, is a fictional globe-trotter, but for his current novel he stays right in his native Scotland where, from a bleak bay in the Western Highlands, the hero sets out to discover why millions of pounds worth of gold bullion are being pirated right there in the Irish Sea.

Dead bodies, the Secret Service, and dour Highland humour are part of the ingredients. This author needs no reviews to sell his books these days; the fans line up for them

without prompting.-

JT.

(When Eight Bells Toll. Collins.

$2.85.)