Death upon a Spear: A Novel

by Hosanna Brown

A light-hearted detective story set in various locations in Australia, including an Aboriginal reserve in Queensland.

184 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1986

About the author

Pseudonym of R.M.W. Dixon.

Reviews

[Owen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cannot really recommend this, in spite of the fact that there is some quite good writing involved and, as the cover suggests, it does attempt to tell the reader something about the position of Aborigines in Australia at that time (1986). However, a number of weak plot features, which I take to be an attempt at light-heartedness, coupled with a main character who is disguised as a male thanks to her name, and who may or may not be part-Negro, and who has some very odd relationships in the text, as though the author was ordered (or simply wanted) to "throw a bit of that in, too," all add up to the fact that it didn't work for me. On the other hand, I did finish the book so that I can also report that it deteriorates further towards the end!