The eponymous orphan is nine-year old Johnnie, a street-wise, city-raised boy whose mother is dead and whose father is in prison. Johnnie is fostered by a newly-married couple living on a cattle ranch in the Australian outback. Stuart Heath, Johnnie’s foster father, was himself an orphan and hopes that exposure to wholesome country living will set Johnnie on the right track. Unfortunately, Johnnie hates the outback. He’s afraid of the bush, hates horses, dislikes cattle and finds country life tedious. He’s a rebellious, lazy liar who doesn’t fit in at home or school. His foster parents ultimately consider sending him back to the orphanage because they don’t know what else to do with him.

Then Johnnie witnesses a murder.

Of course, no one believes him when he tells the story. The last 2/3 of the book is taken up with a cat and mouse game between the murderer and Johnnie. The book is a thriller, not a mystery, and the reader’s hopes for Johnnie’s safety are repeatedly raised then dashed. Unfortunately, the ending is a bit dissatisfying, but is nonetheless refreshingly unpredictable.

Carlon, a native Australian, originally published this book and several other mystery/thrillers in the 1960s in England. They were rejected by Australian publishers. Carlon’s novels are now being reprinted for the first time in the United States. In spite of the focus on Johnnie, The Price of an Orphan is decidedly not a young adult novel (although it would be accessible to any reasonably literate teenager). The plot is driven by the difficulties faced by the adult characters. The book is refreshingly dated, lacking both a gory account of the murder and victim’s body and any silly faux Australisms like “bonzer” or “g’day mate” that one would find in a modern thriller set in Australia. Most of Carlon’s novels include child-witnesses to murder and examine the problems involved in trusting a child’s (formal or informal) testimony.

The book was entertaining, although I found the pace a bit uneven and irksome after a while. The reader can only hope that Johnnie is rescued so many times (only to have those hopes dashed) before beginning to hope that little Johnnie is killed just so the torturous irritation of hoping will come to an end and the book can safely be returned to the library. I rate the book a 0, and although I found elements of it exasperating, I will probably read another of her novels to see if this is an anomaly.

A bit more information about Carlon:

A brief biography (scroll down)

A briefer note that indicates Carlon wrote romantic fiction under the pseudonym Barbara Christie