Valley of Smugglers
by Upfield, Arthur W.
pub. by Detective Book Club - orig. Doubleday, 1961 isbn (none)
- 173 p. - a book in the Napoleon (Bony) Bonaparte series of mystery novels
Bony investigates the murder of a government agent who was acting
undercover. He goes undercover himself to an isolated valley inhabited
by Irish immigrants. Or their descendants. These people are wildly
independent and wildly anti-government. They refuse to pay taxes and go
out of their way to avoid paying, even the tax on television sets. They
do have a well hidden and large distillery which is illegal, and is
used to bring in extra income to the group, smuggling the illegal drink
out to sell. Bony lives among them for weeks (months) and grows to
admire their family centeredness, honesty (among themselves) and sense
of fair play. They celebrate their Irishness, and the memory of the
outlaw Ned Kelly (who is much like Jesse James in U.S. history). They
despise the Irish who work as police and for the government, viewing
them a traitors. This is a view into an immigrant society who keeps to
themselves for well over 100 years after setting up their group. The
end is thoroughly satisfying.
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