It is accessible online, for free. A century ago when Australia was being populated by immigrants and exiles from the British Isles author Arthur Upfield arrived to weave tales of murder, vice, and other mysteries. What Upfield exploited was the voracious thirst for content by newspapers throughout the continent. As far as I can tell most if not all his works first appeared in serial form. Barrakee shows up in at least six newspapers. You can access them by visiting TROVE , a special searchable collection of Aussie publications within the National Library of Australia. If you wonder what it was like to anxiously grab the paper each day for the next bit of a tale, Upfields collection is worth reading for Australian geography and climate alone. ( )

In the early decades of the 20th century, an aboriginal named King Henry returns to a remote area of New South Wales, Australia, after a long absence. He had left home in a hurry more than 10 years ago when he learned a white man had vowed to kill him. When word reaches King Henry that the white man is himself dead, he returns only to almost immediately suffer the same fate himself. But who killed him? Were the rumors of original threatener's death mistaken, or did someone else have a reason to murder him?

This is the first book in a series that spans nearly 40 years (1929-1966) and features a most unusual protagonist: The half-caste Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, who has become one of the most valuable police detectives in Australian law enforcement. Even after he appears to have identified the murderer of King Henry, he is content to let his colleagues undertake the massive search through an empty inland area filled with more sheep than humans, while he remains at Barrakee Station, the sheep station where the crime was committed to puzzle out the killer's motive — a much more interesting subject for his quick, insightful brain.

There's the usual complement of racist stereotypes and casual use of slurs by various characters, something that's all too common in books of this era. If it were a modern book I would find it unacceptable, but I make allowances for the standards of the time, while nonetheless deploring the ignorance.

I don't know that I've read any mystery series with such a fascinating and compelling detective at its center, and I'm looking forward to continuing with this shared read with Liz. "Bony," as Inspector Bonaparte is known, has little in common with our last shared Golden Age mystery series featuring retired English governess turned private enquiry agent Miss Silver, but I am already hooked. Besides the setting, the detective and the plot, there are unexpected flights of lyrical poetry like this:

The glory of the dying day laid over the surface of the river a cloth of crimson patterned with shimmering silver rings where the small perch leapt for flies. The colour of the cloth dimmed magically to that of glinting steel. A kookaburra broke off his laughter and slept. ( )

The detail of life in the bush of Queensland, Australia in the early 20th Century leaps out from the pages. The country is woven into the plot as it was so apparently woven into the culture of that time. Bony, a predecessor to Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn, is an engaging protagonist, the plot is a great Australian counterpoint to the British plots of the same era, and the evocation of time and place is glorious. I was sorry to bid farewell to this finely bound Doubleday Crime Club republication. Be prepared for perspectives that contrast with those of the early 21st Century. ( )

It would be easy to focus in a review of THE BARRAKEE MYSTERY on the politically incorrect (by today's standards anyway) attitudes and terminology. But as the publisher says, they reflected the attitudes of the times.

Peter Hosking does a wonderful job of the narration and that allowed me to reflect on other things: the descriptions of the outback and the toughness required of those who chose to live there. I was struck also by how the novel reflected Australia's bush heritage.

Born in England in 1890, Upfield moved to Australia in 1911 and fought with the Australian military during the First World War. Following his war service, he travelled extensively throughout Australia, obtaining a knowledge of Australian Aboriginal culture that he would later use in his written works. In addition to writing detective fiction, Upfield was a member of the Australian Geological Society and was involved in numerous scientific expeditions. (Wikipedia)

The bush heritage that I am reminded of were the works of Banjo Paterson and particularly the stories of Henry Lawson, even SUCH IS LIFE by Joseph Furphy. In later novels Upfield wasn't as expansive in his descriptions of the country, and focussed more on detective/crime elements, but there are a lot of mini-stories in THE BARRAKEE MYSTERY. There is a mystery element in the novel too, well structured, but not really all that difficult to solve.

Bony reminds me a little of Hercules Poirot: not only does he believe in his own superior detection skills, but he also dispenses his own form of justice. ( )

The is the first of the Napoleon Bonaparte mysteries written in 1929. Bony comes to a great spread in New South Wales to help solve the case of the murder of an aborigine King Henry. These early stories have a very different style that Upfield's later stories. This one has a wonderful sense of time and place. There is a great deal written about all the characters and least about Bony, although this unusual detective is clearly enough drawn to make me want to reread all the bony stories. ( )