Beat Not the Bones

ANNOTATION

A young Australian woman comes alone to Marapai on the island of New Guinea to find out why her husband committed suicide. It is hard to believe that drink and debt could have affected David Warwick, a distinguished anthropologist in charge of protecting the natives from exploitation. Stella must penetrate deep into the heart of the jungle to solve the mystery of her husband's death.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Suicide or murder? Newly arrived in Papua, where even the luscious vegetation seems to conspire with the bureaucrats to bewilder her, Stella Warwick is determined to prove her husband did not take his own life. Defying the patronising concern of officials, she ventures deep into the jungle, striding ever closer to the horrifying heart of the mystery

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

In this novel, a naive young girl travels to Papua New Guinea from Australia, determined to discover the truth about her late husband's death: Was it suicide or murder? The story fleshes out its characters: a sheltered girl on the verge of womanhood, father figures with unfatherly intentions, and men and women on the brink of nervous breakdowns. Geraldine Halls, writing here as Jay, has fused these elements into a suspenseful tale of terror. A world-traveling native of Australia, she spent several years working in Papua New Guinea, an experience that enabled her to landscape her story with an authentic tropical background and to create convincing anticolonial literature through her sensitive characterization of both the white administration and the native population. The work is enhanced by Australian narrator Paula Gardner, an actress who brings alive the feverish passions that fester in the New Guinea heat. Highly recommended for all popular fiction collections.--Sister M. Anna Falbo, Villa Maria Coll. Lib., Buffalo, NY

Anthony Boucher

As to the beautifully deft plot [Beat Not the Bones] I can best quote Charlotte Armstrong's,: "she pulls off something that so often fails -- wisking us to a revelation of a horrible secret and the secret turns out to be the horrible surprise you had hoped it would be. Her subtle picture of the interaction of an "advanced" and a primitive race is exquisitely detailed." -- New York Times Book Review

New York Times Book Review

Charlotte Jay works you up to the revelation of a horrible secret, and the secret turns out to be the horrible surprise you hoped it would be.

Chronicle San Francisco