Arthur W. Upfield

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Snowy Rowles, who committed the Murchison murders , next to James Ryan's car - a photograph by Arthur Upfield. The victims were eliminated just as they were in his novel The Sands of Windee . The murderer and Upfield had been discussing an infallible method of eliminating murder victims when Upfield was writing the novel.

Arthur William Upfield (born September 1, 1890 in Gosport , Hampshire , England , † February 12, 1964 in Bowral , New South Wales ) was a British-Australian author of crime novels .

Life

Upfield went to Australia in 1910 . He roamed the continent until 1914, doing odd jobs. After the end of the First World War , he settled in Australia forever. The nature and the people of the continent fascinated him.

The 29 crime novels about the detective inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte, which Upfield published from 1929 onwards, shaped the experiences of this time. Bony, the son of a white father and an Aboriginal mother, is an excellent tracker and criminalist who solves crimes that are almost unsolvable. The stories of Bony's ability to “read” nature, his patience and intuition, and his combinatorial acumen make for an exciting read. The book series was the literary template for the 1990 television film Bony: Fahrt in den Tod and the 1992 television series Bony and his Commissioner .

One of Upfield's novels, in which nature and time are successfully combined with the course of action and create tension as a separate process, is Death of a Lake , 1954, (German: The dying lake , 1955): In the extreme heat and dryness of midsummer In the southern hinterland of Australia, six men and two women wait on a lonely outpost for a lake to dry up. At its bottom is said to be the corpse of a man who disappeared years ago after a big lottery win one night while swimming in the lake. Disguised as a horse rider, Bony begins his investigation in the stifling heat.

Upfield puts the classic "who-dun-it" construction of the detective novel in an environment that is exotic for most readers. A skilful portrayal of the magnificent landscapes of Australia and its nature together with a representation of the culture of the Australian aborigines, which is rare in novels, give the crime novels Upfields a special role in this genre .

In addition to two awards, Upfield was also nominated for the Gold Dagger of the British Crime Writers' Association for The Cake in the Hatbox (German: The Black Well , US: Sinister Stones ) in 1956 . In German-speaking countries, Upfield's novels have been published since the mid-1950s in the Rote Reihe book series by Goldmann Verlag , which is continuously reissuing the books.

Awards

Works

The annual data refer to the original or German first editions. A German ISBN was given if it was already available when it was published.

Napoleon Bonaparte series

  • 1929 The Barrakee Mystery . Hutchinson, London
    • dt. Bony and the boomerang . Goldmann, Munich 1965
  • 1931 The Sands of Windee . Hutchinson, London
    • A lucky coincidence . Goldmann, Munich 1958
  • 1936 Wings Above the Diamantina . Angus & Robertson, Sydney
  • 1937 Mr. Jelly's Business . Angus & Robertson, Sydney
    • Mr. Jelly's secret . Goldmann, Munich 1965
  • 1937 Winds of Evil . Angus & Robertson, Sydney
    • Bony sets a trap . Goldmann, Munich 1961
  • 1938 The Bone is Pointed . Angus & Robertson, Sydney
    • Death spell . Goldmann, Munich 1965
  • 1939 The Mystery of Swordfish Reef . Angus & Robertson, Sydney + London
    • The head in the network . Krimi-Verlag, Wollerau / Switzerland 1943
  • 1940 Bushranger of the Skies . Angus & Robertson, Sydney + London
    • Bony and the death adder . Goldmann, Munich 1965
  • 1945 Death of a Swagman . Doubleday, Doran & Co., Garden City / New York
    • Bony is arrested . Goldmann, Munich 1964
  • 1946 The Devil's Steps . Doubleday, Garden City / New York
  • 1948 To Author Bites the Dust . Doubleday, Garden City / New York
    • The people next door . Goldmann, Munich 1957
  • 1948 The Mountains Have a Secret . Doubleday, Garden City / New York
  • 1950 The Bachelors of Broken Hill . Doubleday, Garden City / New York
    • The Broken Hill Bachelors . Goldmann, Munich 1957
  • 1950 The Widows of Broome . Doubleday, Garden City / New York
    • Broome's widows . Goldmann, Munich 1956
  • 1951 The New Shoe . Doubleday, Garden City / New York
    • The new shoe . Goldmann, Munich 1955
  • 1952 Venom House . Doubleday, Garden City / New York
    • The poison villa . Goldmann, Munich 1956
  • 1953 Murder Must Wait . Doubleday, Garden City / New York
    • Four times at new moon . Goldmann, Munich 1955
  • 1954 Death of a Lake . Doubleday, Garden City / New York
    • The dying lake . Goldmann, Munich 1955
  • 1954 Sinister Stones . Doubleday, Garden City / New York
    • The black fountain . Goldmann, Munich 1957
  • 1956 The Battling Prophet . Heinemann, London
    • The militant prophet . Goldmann, Munich 1958
  • 1956 Man of Two Tribes . Doubleday, Garden City / New York
  • 1957 Bony Buys a Woman . Heinemann, London
    • Bony is buying a woman . Goldmann, Munich 1958
  • 1959 Bony and the Mouse . Heinemann, London
    • Bony and the mouse . Goldmann, Munich 1959
  • 1959 Bony and the Black Virgin . Heinemann, London
    • Bony and the black maiden . Goldmann, Munich 1960
  • 1960 Bony and the Kelly Gang . Heinemann, London
    • Strangers are not welcome . Goldmann, Munich 1961
  • 1961 Bony and the White Savage . Heinemann, London
    • Bony and the white savage . Goldmann, Munich 1962
  • 1962 The Will of the Tribe . Heinemann, London
    • Who was the second man? Goldmann, Munich 1963
  • 1963 Madman's Bend . Heinemann, London
    • Bony takes the case . Goldmann, Munich 1964
  • 1966 The Lake Frome Monster . Heinemann, London
    • Bony in danger . Goldmann, Munich 1967

Standalones

  • 1928 The House of Cain . Hutchinson, London
  • 1930 The Beach of Atonement . Hutchinson, London
  • 1932 A Royal Abduction . Hutchinson, London
  • 1932 Gripped by Drought . Hutchinson, London
  • 1934 The Murchison Murders . Midget Masterpiece Publishing, Sydney
  • 1987 Breakaway House . Angus & Robertson, North Ryde NSW / Australia + London
  • 1996 The Great Melbourne Cup Mystery . ETT Imprint, Watsons Bay NSW / Australia

All standalones are not available in German translation

literature

  • Ray B. Browne: The Spirit of Australia. The crime fiction of Arthur W. Upfield . University Press, Bowling Green 1988, ISBN 0-87972-402-1 .
  • Klaus Johansen: Arthur Upfield. En bibliografi . Edition Bibliomanen, Odense 1995, ISBN 87-90011-71-6 .

Web links

swell

  1. ^ Digital Collections - Pictures - Upfield, Arthur W. (Arthur William), 1890-1964. Rowles standing beside James Ryan's car picture
  2. ↑ According to AustLit : "this is confirmed by his birth certificate although the year of his birth is variously listed as between 1888 and 1892."
  3. ↑ , also in 1965 & at Doubleday, Doran Co. Garden City / New York for the "Crime Club Doubleday" under the title The Lure of Bush published
  4. ^ At the same time in Wollerau, Switzerland
  5. ↑ also appeared under the title Winged Mystery by John Hamilton, London 1937 and under Wings above the Clayplan by Doubleday, Doran & Co., Garden City / New York, 1943
  6. ↑ published by Doubleday, Doran & Co., Garden City / New York, 1943 under the title Murder Down Under
  7. ↑ by Goldmann, Munich, only published in 1956
  8. ↑ 1944 by Doubleday, Doran & Co., New York, under the title No Footprints in the Bush appeared
  9. ↑ also appeared under the title The Clue of the New Shoe in 1955 by Pan Books, London
  10. ↑ also appeared under the title The Cake in the Hat Box in 1955 by Heinemann, London
  11. ^ Was also published in 1957 (but later) by Doubleday, Garden City / New York, under the title The Bushman who Came Back
  12. ↑ was also published in 1959 by Doubleday, Garden City / New York, under the title Journey to the Hangman
  13. ^ Was published in 1986 by Collier Books, New York, under the title The Torn Branch
  14. ↑ also appeared in 1960 by Doubleday, Garden City / New York, under the title Valley of Smugglers
  15. ^ Was also published in 1961 by Doubleday, Garden City / New York, under the title The White savage
  16. ↑ was also published in 1963 by Doubleday, Garden City / New York, under the title The Body at Madman's Bend
  17. ^ Completed posthumously by JL Price and Dorothy Strange
  18. ↑ 1972 at Goldmann, Munich, under the title threat Bony published
  19. ↑ The novel is said to have been written as early as 1933 and is based on a true story
personal data
SURNAME Upfield, Arthur W.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Upfield, Arthur William (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-Australian crime novelist
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Gosport , Hampshire , England
DATE OF DEATH February 12, 1964
Place of death Bowral , New South Wales , Australia