Man of Two Tribes (An Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte Mystery)

Man of Two Tribes by Arthur Upfield. I've read one or two Australian authors but as I like big cities this is the first book I've read placed in the Plain and it's the first I've read from Upfield. This features Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, known as Bony, a half Aborigine who always breaks the case. Bony isn't one of those superhero type detectives; he believes in hard work and perseverance.
Bony is sent out to the Nullarbor Plain to search for one missing murderess but instead finds a whole nest of murderers. I found this story gripping and so well done. I'm now a fan of Upfield.

Bony is sent to find a woman acquitted of murdering her husband who vanished from a train crossing the almost uninhabited Nullarbor Plain. An old dingo trapper (now died of natural causes) has left a record of hearing a helicopter the night she vanished, and Bony (disguised as the old trapper's nephew and heir) sets out with the old man's camels to retrace his route to his traps and see what he can find.Eventually, he finds someone has been collecting murderers (who had been released early, or in the woman's case acquitted) and keeping them in a cave under the desolate Nullarbor Plain. Bony joins them just after one of the murderers has been killed, presumably by another one. He manages to lead the party out of the cave to safety. The show more trek across the plain is really the climax of the book --the discovery of which one had done a second murder is really only a small detail. Bony has always been in favor of stern justice for murderers, but in the end he is happy to be an honorary member of the "Retired Murderers Institute" as they call themselves --presumably, this is Bony's second tribe (after the aboriginal one he was initiated into as a youth). show less

Bony is just as enjoyable as ever in this entry in the Inspector Napoleon Bonapart mystery series. If you have never read one of Upfield's books, Bony (Inspector Bonapart) is a half-white, half-aborigine police detective who is equally at home in both worlds, but his detective abilities shine in the bush. I love Upfield's descriptions of the Australian outback & the way of life lived by both whites & aborigines at that time (early to mid-1900's).

The Woomera Rocket Range, a collaborative effort between a number of International groups including the British and Australia, began immediately after World War II in 1946, with a joint project running until 1960. It is located in north-west South Australia, about 500 km north west of Adelaide. British nuclear tests at Maralinga, a series of seven nuclear tests were conducted within the Woomera area between 1955 and 1963. More recently, the Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre, a detention centre, opened nearby in 1999 and operated until 2003.

The focus in the opening pages of the story is a woman, recently acquitted of murder, who has disappeared without trace from the East-West railway travelling from Adelaide to Western show more Australia. There is some indication that she may have connections with international espionage and Bony is sent out on an undercover mission to see if he can locate her.

There are various Aboriginal legends associated with the Australian outback but here Upfield tells one about a monster, maybe a version of the Rainbow Snake, supposedly occupying the underground limestone caverns of the Nullarbor Plain which the train line traverses. This has the effect of both deterring aboriginal trackers from looking too closely for the missing woman, and also provides an explanation of any strange noises heard at night.

Bony of course is the "man of two tribes", being a half-caste aborigine, but his Queensland tribe has little in common with the Aboriginal people living on the Nullarbor, apart from the markings on his body that show he is a warrior of some note. At the same time he is a very articulate person, highly qualified with a university degree, and a reputation for never failing to successfully conclude a case.

An interesting story but I did feel that it stretched the bounds of credibility. Basing the story around the Nullarbor Plain and Woomera does show how in touch with current events Upfield was. At the time of publication 1956, 8 years before his death, he was 66 years old and there would be another 8 Bony novels. show less