What a pleasant little romp this book was. This Australian author has now written five novels with Rowland Sinclair as the central character, this book being the first in the series. The setting is Sydney, early 1930s; the depression is biting hard with no sign of economic recovery on the horizon. People are looking for alternatives to the current democratic and capitalistic systems they are living under. Communism and its reds under the beds is extending its reach as far as Sydney, appealing to the younger, educated, bohemian population. On the other side, the rise of fascism is appealing to the wealthy land and business owning sectors of the population who see communism threatening their own economic base.
Young Rowly falls somewhere in the middle. Youngest son of a very wealthy landowning family, he was too young to go to war, but his two older brothers both did, one not returning. He leads the life of the very wealthy young Sydneysider, but having been blessed with an artistic talent he is drawn to the bohemian side of life rather than the business of managing the family wealth. Much to the disdain of his older brother Wilfred. (Rowly drives a Benz, Wilfred drives a Rolls.) Rowly lives in the family pile in Sydney with three of his equally bohemian, communist leaning, but very poor friends - fellow artist Clyde, poet Milton, and the ethereal, beautiful and widely adored Edna.
Within this backdrop of rising political tension in Sydney, Rowly's loved uncle is murdered. Dissatisfied with how the police investigation is progressing, Rowly takes it upon himself to try and solve the murder and along with his three friends, ingratiates himself with the local fascist movement, putting himself onto a path of some danger, but, as you would expect, with a successful outcome.
The real hero of the story is the city of Sydney itself and the political-economic climate of the time. The author has researched the period and the city with some zeal. Each chapter is headed by a newspaper article of the day, and there is loads of detail on the personalities of the day, clothing, food, drinking habits, and other minutiae of daily life. This was really quite a bizarre time in the life of the average Sydneysider, and there were some very strange goings on, none perhaps more bizarre than the official cutting of the ribbon for the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge being upstaged by a fascist crack pot. The characters mentioned in the press of the day all feature in the novel, including the ribbon cutter, the state premier, prominent police officers, and political party leaders.
It is all highly entertaining in a very Agatha Christie sort of way, and with enough menace to keep the reader interested, although I would not say it is a page turner. Perfect really for a leisurely summer read.
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