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(Author's Preface)

I should like to state at the beginning of my book that what is stated in it on controversial matters is my own firm opinion, except where in a few cases the views of other people are published and their names given.

I wish to make it clear that though there were, and are, sharp differences of opinion on the subject of Fast-Leg-Theory bowling between myself and some Australians, there was always an atmosphere of complete cordiality between the teams on both sides. Although we differ seriously over my Fast-Leg-Theory bowling I have done my best in the following pages not to disturb that atmosphere.

Until now my side of the matter has not been heard. I have refused many tempting offers to break silence. As a fast bowler and a hitter by nature I have written strongly because I cannot express myself otherwise.

I hope very much indeed that in doing so, though I was one, of the aggrieved parties in Australia, I have given nobody half the offence from which I suffered so often on the last tour.

A belief exists that some of the things I have written about are not yet to be discussed.

Obviously I differ from that view. I do so because I feel that in a matter of such vital interest to cricketers as the possible admission by legislation of such a far-reaching principle as that bowlers may not bowl as they like, no cricketer can keep silent. I believe I have only written here what very many cricketers are saying. But I have written supported by first-hand knowledge.

For the many imperfections of style and language in my first book I beg the indulgence of my reader.

Yours Sincerely,

H. Larwood

When Inspector Bonaparte is called to the drought-stricken outback sheep station he finds that two men have been savagely beaten to death. Clues are scarce in this sun-baked, sand-blown country, but Bony's understanding of the bush and the people who live there - both black and white - leads him inexorably towards the killer…

 

When Upfield gets down to the point of interracial sexual relations, he in effect is writing on one of the topics closest to his heart. Here his picture is unusually poignant. Caught in the iron grip of separation from his kind, of loneliness, of sexual attraction, Eric Downer is a victim of life... - from The Spirit of Australia by Ray Browne.

Tucked away in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales is Cork Valley, inhabited by hard-drinking Irishmen. Here an Excise Officer looking for illicit whiskey 'stills' has been murdered, and it's Bony's job to find the killer. Disguised as a horse-thief, the Aboriginal detective hitch-hikes into the valley to meet a lawless lot…

 

 

Bony - a unique figure among top-flight detectives. - BBC

Three times a killer has struck in Daybreak, a one-pub town in Western Australia. Why should so many people suspect the strange 'bad boy' Tony Carr? Why were the local Aboriginal tribe far away from town at the time of the murders? Inspector Bonaparte finds this small community very tight, till the arrival of a job-seeking bloke by the name of Nat Bonnar…

 

Though lacking in some of the tightness that characterises Upfield's strongest books, this thriller is nevertheless a powerful success. The geography and geology are stark and proper setting, the people are alive and flexing with pain and apprehension... And here, as he so often does, he creates a major heroic character in Melody Sam who is unparalleled and unchallenged. - from The Spirit of Australia by Ray Browne.

 

Bony - a unique figure among top-flight detectives. - BBC

By a lonely roadside in the south-west corner of Western Australia, old-time Karl Mueller is roused from his drink-sodden sleep by approaching footsteps and the sound of whistling. What he sees on waking (or thinks he sees) is enough to make him stiffen with fear, and more than enough to worry the police into calling for Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte.

 

The disturber of Mueller's rest is Marvin Rhudder - once an outstanding theological student, now a convicted rapist and basher, a bloody savage whose recapture will put all of Bony's sleuthing and tracking skills to the test.

 

"Bony - a unique figure among top-flight detectives." - BBC

By a lonely roadside in the south-west corner of Western Australia, old-time Karl Mueller is roused from his drink-sodden sleep by approaching footsteps and the sound of whistling. What he sees on waking (or thinks he sees) is enough to make him stiffen with fear, and more than enough to worry the police into calling for Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte.

 

The disturber of Mueller's rest is Marvin Rhudder - once an outstanding theological student, now a convicted rapist and basher, a bloody savage whose recapture will put all of Bony's sleuthing and tracking skills to the test.

 

"Bony - a unique figure among top-flight detectives." - BBC

 

Arthur Upfield was Australia's first international crime writer when he first stayed at Bermagui around the time of Zane Grey's visit there in 1936. This book holds a previously unknown Bony story set in Bermagui, The Fish That Danced on its Tail, an unpublished story on Big Game Fishing, and stories on Marlin and Swordfish that Upfield wrote only for the Bermagui Anglers Club. Also included are a chapter from his classic Bony novel, The Mystery of Swordfish Reef, and the only other Bony story - A Wisp of Wool and Disk of Silver and many photographs from the Upfield family archives.

Deep in Australia's outback, a woman has been murdered, her daughter vanished. Ole Fren Yorky, a crazy wanderer, is known to have been in the area, and his footprints have been identified near the body. When he too disappears, even the Aboriginal trackers are baffled. Bony's approach changes everything...

 

It becomes one of Bony's great adventures... He pictures the merits of Aboriginal society. And he uses weather - in this case the threatening rising of the lake - to picture man's heroic stature. The setting, the events, the pace of telling the story, the style of telling it - all combine to make this a tight, effective crime novel. - From The Spirit of Australia by Ray Browne.

Während die Männer unterwegs sind, geschieht in der Mount Eden-Farm in Südaustralien ein abscheuliches Verbrechen. Mrs. Bell, die Haushälterin, wird ermordet, und ihre Tochter, die sieben Jahre alte Linda, ist verschwunden. Als Kriminalinspektor Napoleon Bonaparte, genannt ›Bony‹, an den Tatort kommt, sind schon fünf Wochen vergangen...

Für zwei mysteriöse Mode gibt es offensichtlich kein Motiv.
Inspektor Napoleon Bonaparte, der berühmte Bony, ermittelt in diesem Fall als Tramp verkleidet. Da versetzt ein neuer Mordversuch die Leute von Carie in Angst und Schrecken.
Bony stellt dem Würger eine Falle - mit dem vermeintlichen Mörder als Köder…

»Ein nackter Arm hatte sie umfaßt und hochgehoben. Sie öffnete den Mund, um zu schreien, da wurde ihr Gesicht grob gegen eine schweißige Brust gedrückt, und nun was es für Linda nicht mehr ein Tag wie jeder andere...«
Mount-Eden-Farm in Südaustralien: Während die Männer unterwegs sind, geschieht ein abscheuliches Verbrechen. Mrs. Bell, die Haushälterin, wird ermordet, und ihre Tochter, die sieben Jahre alte Linda, ist verschwunden. Kriminalinspektor Napoleon »Bony« Bonaparte übernimmt den Fall.
»Seine Krimis gehören zum Besten, was die australische Literatur zu bieten hat.« - Reclams Kriminalführer

Vor vielen Jahren verschwand King Henry spurlos aus Barrakee. Warum? Niemand weiß es.
Plötzlich kehrt er zurück - und wird ermordet. Warum? Niemand weiß es.
Aber das größte Rätsel: Wie wurde er getötet? Niemand weiß es.
Bis Bony kommt - Kriminalinspektor Napoleon Bonaparte...
Der Roman spielt in Australien.

Bony und die Maus.
In Daybreak, einem kleinen Ort mitten in Australien, geschich eine Reihe von Morden. Die Ermittlungen der Polizei blieben ergebnislos, bis sich Bony inkognito des Falles annimmt und sich auf ein riskantes Spiel mit dem Mörder einläßt.
»Upfields Bony-Romane sind für mich bei weitem das interessanteste Produkt australicher Literatur. Und einige von ihnen ... mit ihrer Mischung aus Land, Farmern, Eingeborenen, Mythen, Puzzle und ›Action‹ sind absolute Sternstunden des Kriminalromans.« Gisbert Haefs, Krimijahrbuch 1990

Als der Schafzüchter John Downer und sein Sohn Eric zurückkommen auf ihre Farm, ist der Arbeiter Carl Brandt spurlos verschwunden.
Statt dessen entdecken die beiden einen Toten, den sie noch nie zuvor gesehen haben. Er hält ein schwarzes Haarbüschel in der Hand, wie nach einem erbitterten Kampf. Brandt aber hatte blondes Haar...

»Die Vögel krächzten aufgeregt und flatterten zwischen den Zweigen hin und her, wagten aber in Anbetracht des sich rasch nähernden Flugzeuges nicht, ihr Versteck stürzte, sie duckten sich in die Zweige, als er ganz niedrig über die Palmen hinwegschoß. Und sie sahen das stählerne Ei, das der große Vogel fallen ließ.«
Nur um Haaresbreite entgeht Inspektor Napoleon »Bony« Bonaparte dem Tod aus der Luft. Wer macht inmitten der australischen Steppe mit einem Flugzeug Jagd auf Manschen?

»Seine Krimis gehören zum Besten, was die australische Literatur zu bieten hat.« Reclams Kriminalführer