The Barrakee Mystery (1929) is the first book in the Inspector Napoleon (Bony) Bonaparte mysteries by Arthur W. Upfield. Even though this is Bony's first recorded case, the half-caste detective already has a formidable reputation--he has never left a case unsolved. When King Henry, an aborigine from Western Australia, is found dead at Barrakee Station, land belonging to John Thornton--a prominent sheep rancher, Bony is sent to investigate because it is thought that the motives, if any, may rest in the aboriginal community. What might have been an accident in the tremendous thunderstorm is soon proved by Bony to have been deliberate murder--a murder using that most Australian of instruments, a boomerang. He will have to use all of his detective abilities to discover why King Henry was on Thornton's land and who had a reason to kill him.

Upfield's novels are always enjoyable. He provides motives for murder that are uniquely Australian as well as introducing readers to Australian life and environs of the early 20th Century. The stories are peopled with memorable characters representing a time and place far removed from my own and he vividly portrays their concerns of the time. We may not agree with some of their concerns--particularly when it involves race relations--but we can't say that Upfield tries to hide anything. Except maybe the murderer. But then that's his job. And he does it well in this debut novel. I did not spot the murderer and was satisfactorily surprised in the wrap-up.

Complete review posted on my blog My Reader's Block.