Bone lands by Pip Fioretti

I quickly became immersed in this historical mystery as I followed the path of mounted trooper Augustus Hawkins who discovered the bodies of three of the children of a wealthy landowner, brutally murdered on an isolated country road in northern New South Wales. He should have been patrolling the road as part of his duties, instead he spent time with the local schoolteacher. It is 1911, and Hawkins is a traumatised veteran of the Boer War, who suffers from terrible nightmares and drowns them in drink. Detectives are sent up from Sydney to investigate but they are out of depth in the unforgiving countryside. Hawkins is scrutinised by the detectives and he is determined to defend his honour and find the murderer. As he rides around the countryside, he uncovers dark secrets about people he knows well and the deep divide between the rich and poor, landowner and worker becomes increasingly evident.

What makes Bone Lands stand out as a novel is the rich historical background that Fioretti brings to the story. It is easy to imagine the large homesteads of the wealthy graziers, their flocks of sheep and the backbreaking work that the men must do to keep the properties going. The doggers, men are employed to kill dingoes, become used to the violence of slaughter, and piles of kangaroo, wombat and rabbit carcasses are common. The poverty of the very poor, with children dressed in clothes made from flour bags and suffering from scurvy is heart rending. The lot of poor women, the housekeepers and cooks, as well as the Aboriginal people, is also one of poverty and deprivation. The daughters of the rich must settle for marriage with men from their own class. Lack of birth control also makes their plight even more difficult.

The divide between the rich graziers and working people is pronounced. Even though Hawkins has gone to Kings, an elite school and is considered good enough to be invited to the Kirkbride’s home, he is not wanted as a suitor for the grazier’s daughter or even as an investigator of the three murders. But Hawkins cannot accept the verdict of the Sydney detectives and gradually uncovers the truth, with some surprises for the reader along the way.

Bone lands’ rich descriptive prose and wonderful historical background makes this a riveting read that is very difficult to put down. An interesting interview with the author can be found here.  I look forward to more books by Fioretti.

Themes: Murder, Historical fiction, Mystery,.

Pat Pledger