Favourite mystery cover #18

Bony and the White Savage - Arthur Upfield

First published 1959; an Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte mystery, set in the Australian outback.

English-born Arthur Upfield (1890 - 1964) was sent to Australia in 1910 by his father, who was convinced his son was destined to be a failure. Upfield spent the next four years wandering the country, picking up odd jobs and spending time in Aboriginal communities.

After the war, which saw Upfield fight at Gallipoli, he returned to England with his wife. The marriage failed soon after and he returned to Australia and his nomadic bush lifestyle. In 1929 Upfield used his knowledge of the outback to write his first mystery novel: The House of Cain. He would go on to write more than 35 novels before his death in Bowral, NSW.