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A cypher that looked like a child's game of noughts-and-crosses; a strip of hessian bag; the rhythmic clanging sound of the turning windmill suddenly breaking the silence of the night; the minister who seemed out of place as a churchman: these were some of the more puzzling aspects of the case of the murdered swagman noticed by the keen eyes of Robert Burns, alias Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, alias &quot;Bony&quot;.<br /> <br /><i>Our distinctive student of violence arrives incognito at Merino, in western New South Wales, and, as a first move, provokes the local sergeant to lock him up. The method in Bony's madness is that while serving a semi-detention sentence and being made to paint the police station, he wears the best of all disguises… Here again is a first-rate Upfield mystery, made warm by humour, by the background characters and his portrayal of the natural background scene.</i> – The Age<br /> <br /><i>Upfield at his best.</i> – Adelaide News

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An intriguing case for Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte begins on a calm October day in an Australian seaside near Bermagui. Three men set out to sea for a day's fishing… and do not return. Despite intensive searches, no trace of the men or their boat is found, until, weeks later, a passing trawler hauls in a gruesome catch – the head of one of the missing fishermen. It is quite clear that its owner was murdered with a pistol shot. But by whom, and why, is for Bony to find out.<br /> <br /><i>A thriller with a new kind of thrill.</i> – Sheffield Morning Telegraph

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Jeffrey Anderson was a big man with a foul temper – a sadist and an ugly drunk. When his horse The Black Emperor, an animal as mean as its owner, came home riderless, no one cared. And no one cared when no trace of the man could be found. But five months later, Detective-Inspector Bonaparte is called in – and he is determined to solve the mystery. With his usual tenacity he takes up the cold trail. What happened to Anderson, to his hat, to his stockwhip, to his horse's neck-rope? Bony must rely on his eyes and his wits to help him find the answers, for the local inhabitants, both black and white, are keeping their own secrets.<br /> <br /><i>Bony – a unique figure among top-flight detectives </i>– BBC

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When Bonaparte sets out to investigate two bizarre murders near the dusty little outback town of Carie, all the odds are against him. The crimes were committed a year before, the scent cold, and any clues that may have survived have been confused by a ham-fisted city policeman. As Bony follows the trail he is first threatened and then attacked by the mysterious murderer. It's a case that will tax his ingenuity to the limit… if he lives to see it through.<br /> <br /><i>Excellent set up for a story, good cast of characters, perplexing confusion of suspects, and perceptive unravelling of tangled threads</i>. – Kirkus Review

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Murder down under. The car lies wrecked and abandoned near the world's longest fence, the &quot;rabbit-proof fence&quot; in the wheat belt of Western Australia. There is no sign of its owner. Has George Loftus simply decamped, for reasons of his own? Or was it murder? Bonaparte suspects the worst and is determined to find the body – and the murderer.<br /> <br /><i>This novel is filled with Upfield's own philosophy about what creates murderers. We also find out a lot about Aboriginal tracking methods, as well as more information about Bony's family background.</i> – Mysteries in Paradise

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The discovery of a stolen red monoplane on the dry, flat bottom of Emu Lake meant many things for different folks. For Elizabeth Nettlefold, the chance to nurse its strangely ill meant renewed purpose in life. For Dr Knowles, brilliant physician and town drunk, it meant the revival of a romantic dream. For some it meant a murder plan gone awry, and for Bonaparte, it meant one of the toughest cases of his career.<br /> <br /><i>Bony – a unique figure among top-flight detectives.</i> – BBC<br />

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Why had Luke Marks driven specially out to Windee? Had he been murdered or had he, as the local police believed, wandered away from his car and been overwhelmed in a dust-storm? When Bony noticed something odd in the background of a police photograph, he begins to piece together the secrets of the sands of Windee. Here is the original background to the infamous Snowy Rowles murder trial.<br /> <br /><i>Napoleon Bonaparte my best detective.</i> – Daily Mail<br />

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Sinister stones… On a lonely dirt road in Western Australia a police jeep is found. In it is Constable Stenhouse – shot dead. His Aboriginal tracker has disappeared. Enter Inspector Bonaparte, who soon realizes that he is not alone in his search for the criminal. The local Aboriginal tribe is seeking vengeance too…<br /> <br /><i>Fascinating in its treatment of outback life, and reveals clearly the weakness Bony has for young women and for people in the cattle stations who have been abused by life and events. All in all, it is a creditable production.</i> – From <i>The Spirit of Australia</i> by Ray Browne.

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In the Grampian Mountains, two girl hitch-hikers have disappeared without trace, and the policeman sent to investigate has been murdered. Bonaparte visits the lonely hotel where the girls were last seen, and meets up with the suave proprietor, his strangely terrified father, an ex-US paratrooper with a penchant for knife-throwing, and a talking parrot…<br /> <br /><i>All in all, this is a high suspense drama, and a fine Upfield story.</i> – From <i>The Spirit of Australia</i> by Ray Browne.<br /> <br /><i>Bony – a unique figure among top-flight detectives</i> – BBC

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When Eric Maidstone was found dead near Bore Ten, just west of the Dingo-proof Fence, the first thought of those who discovered his body was that he might have been attacked by the rogue camel known as The Lake Frome Monster. But camels don't carry guns… and Maidstone had a bullet-hole in his chest which put the Monster in the clear. So who killed young Maidstone? Bony, disguised as a worker on the Fence, intends to find out…<br /> <br /><i>There are sand storms galore, there are mad camels, there is personal and professional deprivation, there are rabbits by the millions. In this typical Upfield country there is the boredom of loneliness, there is the sheer weight of the Australian outback; it is vintage Upfield…</i> – from <i>The Spirit of Australia</i> by Ray Browne.